Closing in about half an hour
These retail for well over $100. In Aus you now need a gun license for these not sure about NZ but this guy doesn't seem to mind/know.
Sea Hornet reputable brand
http://www.trademe.co.nz/structure/auction_detail.asp?id=19566287
I believe this is one of the models that has a fifing pin incorperated in it. Personally I wouldn't touch it. There are much safer versions out there that use a spear point as the firing pin.
If theres enough interest I could get a run made of the kind I use. Uses a .44mag shell. They're made of stainless and are really good to use, fast to reload too.
Too late now anyway. But it went for $36.50 not a bad price.
Yep horses for courses. They have a firing pin, but also a safety mechanism. When the powerhead is unwound/in safety the pin can't reach the shell if it was engaged. Benefit is you remove the shell when your travelling and can inspect, dry, replace the shell.
I use home jobs but they also have there downsides. Even if you seal the shell with nailpolish/superglue etc, after several dives and putting the shell and thin coating of nailpolish/glue under a fair amount of pressure on deeper dives, when it comes time to use them there caput after 3-6 months of use. The shells are siliconed into place so probably not the best to go digging around in there to get the shell out to replace and you can't see any corrosion or oxidisation without doing so.
Is it 5:30 yet? suppose I better think about doing some work
I'll have a yarn to my mate Brownie and see what it would cost for the stainless and the rubber tube, then some time on the lathe. I'd be guessing but I'd say they'd be $20ish?
Ammo is available from any hunting shop if you've got a firearms liscence (or know someone who has). Can't ship them with ammo.
Fellas,
How is it on the ears when they go off? Just wondering if water transmitting souond better than air makes much difference at that range.
Do you carry them 'as protection', or do some of you want to shoot sharks?
You might need a firearms license to posses these in NZ. some proposed changes to firearms laws (might even be passed now) were altering the definiton of firearm, and might well capture these.
Out of curiosity, what do you use these for???
As Matt B asks, security or hunting??
Usually only carry when diving agro shark spots like white or kings for piece of mind. Have never really had any hassles in NZ with them.Been diving beside guys whom have though (no plat) i.e. shark eats fish, shark gets stimulated and wants more mmmm that scrawny looking slow thing might be tasty. I dont see them to much different than dogs you get good ones you get bad ones, most of them are fine, they are great looking creatures but you get the odd physco agro that can't control themselves. Or they start associating spearos with food and become consistent resident hasslers, they might deserve a poke. Were not on the food chain for the most part and I don't eat them so why kill a pretty cool creature just doing its thing.
Definately protection- I haven't used them unless I've had to and that is only a coupleof times. As for their effect on your ears, make sure you look directly at the fish when you pull the trigger, make sure it's in 'clear' water or the shockwave will bounce back off the bottom and double its effect on you. Its a pretty wierd feeling having a shockwave run through your body.
Hansen, the type of head I use doesn't need silicone to hold the shell in place, its held in my the rim of the case. (the ammo still needs sealing with nailpolish, I find cherry red works well and matches my kit )
As for their legality. Well its kind of a grey area. Without a firing pin the thing is no more than a bullet holder, its not until its on the spearshaft that it becomes a firearm. None the less, it would be legal for me to supply you with a peice of stainless and a peice of rubber tube, what you do with it after that is up to you (hence sourcing your own ammo)
If you're goin to the nationals I'll show it to you. Its much more simple than the ones you make with silicone, and its reloadable.
If it was a perfect world we'd all be able to shoot fish and the sharks wouldn't bother us. Pity really, I hate having to shoot the poor buggers (except maybe that one at Rabbit )
Read Randoms report on the Rabbit Island one, if the bullet goes off it farks the shark, if it doesn't it just gets pissed off
i prefer the slice your dive buddy open like a stuck pig, and sneak off while the shark is busy method.
Eric (my dive Buddy) is cheap and I don't need a licence to bring him along. Other benifits are he comes with his own boat and often brings after dive snacks.
Me and a friend shot a big ass bronzie at rabbit last year, the only problem was I was still experimenting with design. We had one misfire and one go off but the bullet was only a .32 cal (WW2 ammo at that) We ended up bailed up on the rocks by one really really pissed shark. Since then I've learned that you need the right tool for the job and won't reccomend anything under .308 in rifle shells or.44mag in pistol ammo. (BTW pistol ammo is preferred as the powder is different, it burns faster and therefore more close range bang)
Phil Clow and I were diving the frontside of a pinnacle in northern New Caledonia where I'd just lost a macca doggie (easy 50+kg), so I was berlying hard using a lot of scad, like an albacore tuna but has a tail like a mackerel and is related to a trevally. There had been an 8ft whaler cruising around eating the berley and coming in close but it wasn't aggro while I was shooting and cutting up the berley. Until.....
Phil shot a trevally, a nice one at that, but it made the shark go ballistic. It was snapping at the fish and charging us, had its pecs down low and its back arched. Sketchy stuff.
Well I put the plan into practice and as it swam away from phil who had just poked it, it came under me, just off the side of the bombie. I lined it up and let strip. Perfectly on the centre line just back from the head, maybe a little too far back. The shock wave was cool, went strait through my body, the shark just started twitching and did a bit of a circle coming back at me with its mouth snapping. It obviously couldn't controll itself but it was coming at me anyway. It got to the end of my gun and just rolled over dead as a dead dead dead thing.
Dwane Herbert swam down and stuck a shaft into it and we hauled it onto the boat to do an autopsy. The shot was too far back (shoulda been in the head but I rushed it) the projectile went right through the fish, but the shockwave had broken the spine and bruised a huge ammount of flesh.
Dwane has a photo of him holding the thing. Garry and Dwane were on the other side of the bombie and they felt the shockwave once I'd fired, put the sh*ts right up them.
used for piece of mind (mine) and protection = comfort in water
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