View Single Post
Old 06-08-2018, 01:31 AM   #14
spearq8
Registered User
 
spearq8's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 3,292
Re: 130 Rob Allen Rollergun Review

I just came back from a local grouper spearfishing trip where I used a gun I made and pool tested 2 years ago. It was an 82cm Pathos where I put in a ballast and a roller kit. In my testing I found that with the roller, I would lose accuracy if I pushed the power up and I settled on a band load that gave me minimal pre-stretch. That thing shot super accurate (3 shots 1 hole at 4 meters) but it lacked power (did not pass the KM penetration test at 5 meters). I also used the best classic setup, which was 2 x 14mm small ID bands at 360% ... same accuracy but much more power (passes the KM penetration test at 5 meters). I also took my Abellan 110 on this trip, and first shot on the reef my shaft got lodged in so hard ... wasted like 30 minutes and 4 dives to pull it out. Decided to go with the roller 82cm setup ... and man I was stoning everything ... I had like 5 or 6 consecutive stone shots. But then I had this long shot on a grouper that was running away and I took a shot that I should not have taken, and was really lucky to land the fish as shaft didn't penetrate fully through the fish. I then switched to the classic 2 x 14mm setup ... and results were even better. I didn't have too much power where my shaft would lodge in the reef, but it was more than enough power to land even some pretty large grouper, plus loading the gun was much quicker. The accuracy I was getting with this 82cm setup was phenomenal ... with the classic 2 banded setup I had more power than I remember having with my old Riffe 120 default factory setup !!! The trip was actually a blast from the past as I have not hunted local grouper in like 20 years. It is pretty incredible how much technology has changed equipment.

So ... rollers certainly are an option, and I will say that the Pathos roller head is probably not one of the good heads (doesn't use bearings) and for sure you will get some performance improvement with a better quality roller. Maybe there are some new roller heads out there that deal with the problem of tail lift with pre-stretch (like the SEATEC), and this would solve the problem of keeping accuracy while pushing power up. Need to try those out. But really, you can't go wrong with the simplicity and power of a classic setup. I will try and put out a video of that 82cm setup in both roller and classic configurations shooting fish ... I was blown away by the performance of both setups and they really confirmed results of my pool testing.
spearq8 is offline   Reply With Quote