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Old 01-09-2019, 08:38 AM   #76
Mikel_24
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Re: SEA HORNET Clone from CHINA!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by popgun pete View Post
Another update. The hollow tube ends where the screws penetrate do take-up water, so you can either let it out by taking a screw out or not putting that screw in when assembling the gun in the first place. The bottom screws are not entirely necessary and one will do rather than have two in any section as there are also screws on the side. Only exception is the muzzle as there are only two screws on the bottom. Of courses you could drill a tiny hole to let water both in and out so that dunking after use the salt will be removed or be very diluted by freshwater going in. A hot day and being all black the guns should dry out pretty quick, although the alloy barrels cool down fast in the shade.

I watched water dribbling out of the gun for about twenty minutes as for water to get out air has to get in, so it can be a slow process.
Couldn't you just install one rubber plug on each end to prevent water ingress? As long as you place them further in than the screws, you will be golden.

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Old 01-09-2019, 10:59 AM   #77
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Re: SEA HORNET Clone from CHINA!!

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Originally Posted by Mikel_24 View Post
Couldn't you just install one rubber plug on each end to prevent water ingress? As long as you place them further in than the screws, you will be golden.Mikel
Yes you could. However, one would expect/assume that a reputable manufacturer would make sure issues like this (and the trigger spring) would be addressed before releasing the speargun to the public.
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Old 01-09-2019, 02:07 PM   #78
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Re: SEA HORNET Clone from CHINA!!

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Originally Posted by Mikel_24 View Post
Couldn't you just install one rubber plug on each end to prevent water ingress? As long as you place them further in than the screws, you will be golden.

Mikel
There are already rubber plugs in place, but the water gets in the inch or so of tube where the screws penetrate. If the entire tube filled up with water then the guns would sink like stones, but are actually pretty good floaters. The reason we don't want saltwater in the tube ends is it can rot out the alloy over time. How watertight the plugs are only time will tell and how far down the guns are taken.
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Old 01-09-2019, 02:25 PM   #79
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Re: SEA HORNET Clone from CHINA!!

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Yes you could. However, one would expect/assume that a reputable manufacturer would make sure issues like this (and the trigger spring) would be addressed before releasing the speargun to the public.
Kevin the problem is right now we have no clue as to who made the guns, except that they were made in China. Maybe you can help us here if you remember whom you gave advice to with respect to the spears. What the guns need is a proper distributor and not selling through an eBay outlet that sells a wide variety of things such as the surface shooters and assorted fish/frog stickers.

P.S. Out of curiosity I bought one of these and it is quite well made, but molded from some hard shiny plastic that reminds me of unmodified styrene. The steel tipped (you screw them on) arrows are made of the same stuff and a grabber device holds their nocked tails. If the tails snap off then the gun shoots which could happen at any time. The same eBay seller was selling these as was selling the Sea Hornet clones.
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Last edited by popgun pete; 01-09-2019 at 02:47 PM.
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Old 01-09-2019, 02:29 PM   #80
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Re: SEA HORNET Clone from CHINA!!

For those with long memories here is what the original line drop handle timber gun parts looked like.
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Old 01-09-2019, 06:46 PM   #81
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Re: SEA HORNET Clone from CHINA!!

I don’t think I was dealing with the actual manufacturer of the speargun and that is likely why my requests to modify the trigger spring fell on deaf ears. As far a distribution, I was looking forward to selling the speargun had they been able to rectify the design issues. However, once I knew those changes were not going to happen, I gave up. Also, I was not likely to get exclusive distribution in the USA market so anytime they decided to sell “direct to consumer” at a cheaper price than me (as they are now) it would have caused big issues for me.
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Old 01-09-2019, 08:13 PM   #82
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Re: SEA HORNET Clone from CHINA!!

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I don’t think I was dealing with the actual manufacturer of the speargun and that is likely why my requests to modify the trigger spring fell on deaf ears. As far a distribution, I was looking forward to selling the speargun had they been able to rectify the design issues. However, once I knew those changes were not going to happen, I gave up. Also, I was not likely to get exclusive distribution in the USA market so anytime they decided to sell “direct to consumer” at a cheaper price than me (as they are now) it would have caused big issues for me.
Hmm, well as far as I can tell they have only sold a handful of guns and they took some time to sell, so eBay sales are not going to cut it. If I was selling these guns I would be importing all the parts in knock down form, no assembly whatsoever, and then equipping them with stainless spring steel shafts and spear tips. The rubber bands are tough stuff with no progressive stretch, so local bands would be sourced as their one's are no good. The tuna cord shooting line is OK and the coil spring line slides would not be trapped on the spear shaft as they are now. The guns should retail at around 250 bucks depending on the length, the cost of quality spears and spear tips probably defining the final price. The Ocean Rhino and Biller spears, and associated hardware, etc. should fit the guns with no problems.

Basically there is a good quality gun there just waiting to get out. Moreover "Sea Hornet" Australia have completely abdicated the scene as the owner has gone from bad to worse on business decisions. Old Chinese Proverb: first generation creates the wealth, second generation manages it, third generation loses it!

Last edited by popgun pete; 01-09-2019 at 10:57 PM.
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Old 01-10-2019, 04:01 PM   #83
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Re: SEA HORNET Clone from CHINA!!

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There are already rubber plugs in place, but the water gets in the inch or so of tube where the screws penetrate. If the entire tube filled up with water then the guns would sink like stones, but are actually pretty good floaters. The reason we don't want saltwater in the tube ends is it can rot out the alloy over time. How watertight the plugs are only time will tell and how far down the guns are taken.
One solution, if one is even needed if the enclosed volumes are able to drain and dry out, would be to fill the space with low temperature melting wax that would not cook the rubber bung already in place. This could be poured in with two screws removed with the other screws already in place. Similarly a polyurethane foam could be injected, one open screw hole for the stuff to go in and the other open screw hole to let trapped air out. Then the screws would be replaced. Problem is if you don’t completely fill the space then water will get in and may corrode out an albeit much lesser area. I had an Aquacraft gun where forwards of the sealing ring on the front handle boss it had slowly leaked and the alloy tubing there was as thin as paper with a few tiny pin holes developing in that location. I shortened the barrel tube, re-drilled the attachment hole and had a few more years out of it, but somewhere along the line the gun was lost or misplaced. Stored standing on its butt the trapped saltwater had worked over the adjacent alloy tubing.

Last edited by popgun pete; 01-10-2019 at 09:22 PM. Reason: additional comment
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Old 03-26-2019, 04:21 PM   #84
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Re: SEA HORNET Clone from CHINA!!

These guns are still being sold as when my browser failed to load up the page for a gun which seems to have been subsequently withdrawn from sale (an "old skool" pneumatic gun from the Ukraine) this appeared instead.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Shooter-...d=163571228934

I have failed to keep an eye of these, but they seem to be offered in small batches of 3 or 4 guns at a time.

Also other sizes like this one https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Shooter-....c100005.m1851, all from the same seller in Beijing, China.

The number of guns in circulation must be growing and all have that no good trigger spring made of ordinary stainless steel that ain't fit for the job.
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Old 03-26-2019, 05:13 PM   #85
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Re: SEA HORNET Clone from CHINA!!

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Originally Posted by popgun pete View Post
These guns are still being sold as when my browser failed to load up the page for a gun which seems to have been subsequently withdrawn from sale (an "old skool" pneumatic gun from the Ukraine) this appeared instead.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Shooter-...d=163571228934

I have failed to keep an eye of these, but they seem to be offered in small batches of 3 or 4 guns at a time.

Also other sizes like this one https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Shooter-....c100005.m1851, all from the same seller in Beijing, China.

The number of guns in circulation must be growing and all have that no good trigger spring made of ordinary stainless steel that ain't fit for the job.
They don't seem to care that their triggers are defective or at the very least unreliable. That is one of several reasons why I passed on the opportunity to sell them in the USA. Someone is likely gonna get hurt with one of those spearguns down the line.
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Old 03-26-2019, 11:24 PM   #86
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Re: SEA HORNET Clone from CHINA!!

One could alert the authorities to potentially dangerous weapons being distributed to the public, but we don't want a speargun witch hunt as who knows where that might end up! Pandora's Box and all that with loopy zealots fervently denouncing spearfishers as no better than baby seal clubbers and axe murderers. Maybe it will be prudent to inform the seller by pointing him to this thread and spur them to fix it. I have already changed the springs in the guns that I bought as the risk was too great.
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Old 03-27-2019, 06:54 AM   #87
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Re: SEA HORNET Clone from CHINA!!

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Originally Posted by popgun pete View Post
One could alert the authorities to potentially dangerous weapons being distributed to the public, but we don't want a speargun witch hunt as who knows where that might end up! Pandora's Box and all that with loopy zealots fervently denouncing spearfishers as no better than baby seal clubbers and axe murderers. Maybe it will be prudent to inform the seller by pointing him to this thread and spur them to fix it. I have already changed the springs in the guns that I bought as the risk was too great.
Believe me, I tried very hard to get them to understand the design issue with the spring they were using but I was never able to get any traction so I eventually just gave up. I don’t think the company I was dealing with was the actual manufacturer of the speargun. They were likely just a representative or reseller of the speargun as I believe is quite common in China. Therefore, I have no idea if my concerns were ever conveyed to the actual manufacturer.
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Old 03-27-2019, 11:34 AM   #88
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Re: SEA HORNET Clone from CHINA!!

I will contact the seller and send him this thread reference and my own expert commentary. The prospect of a loss of business and legal action by the State for selling potentially flawed weapons will be a concentrator of attention. The fix is easy and the main problem will be how many guns have already gone into the market, as for the rest they need to reclaim their stock and replace the defective springs. For resourceful divers in the West that encounter any problems they only need search for answers and they will surely find this thread. We do not want officialdom intruding at this stage as a more general sweep of underwater weapons may prove to be uncomfortable as bureaucrats decide whether to put all homemade guns "through the hoops". Some stones are best left unturned. If you disagree with these sentiments then just query someone who has been “through the hoops” and ask Jay Riffe when a careless diver shot his instructor in the back with one of Jay’s guns. His quality product and guns like the Ocean Rhino discussed here are completely thought out and made by experienced people who know what they are doing, not by a bunch of Chinese looking over an imported weapon and thinking that they know how to copy it.
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Old 03-27-2019, 05:14 PM   #89
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Re: SEA HORNET Clone from CHINA!!

Sent to the eBay seller who is the conduit for these guns.

I have purchased two of these spearguns and you should be aware that the biasing springs in the trigger mechanism make them very unreliable as they can jam and neither load nor fire depending on when the jam occurs. I have replaced these leaf metal springs myself as I completely understand the trigger design, but others will not and you could get into serious problems for legal liability if a gun misfires when least expected and kills or badly injures somebody. The leaf springs you use now are of the wrong type of metal and length so you need to make changes otherwise you risk your spearguns being seized by the authorities and banned. This is a friendly warning to save you from very big trouble. The attached photos show what you need to do. For guns already sold you need to send a message to owners and they can have them fixed with replacement springs.

If the guns cause trouble then we collectively may also experience the backlash, so better to get this fixed without trashing the sport in general.
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Old 03-27-2019, 05:34 PM   #90
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Re: SEA HORNET Clone from CHINA!!

I am not an engineer but IMO the spring is too long and not made from the proper type of stainless steel, it should be “spring stainless”. Also the thickness or gauge of the steel seems a little thin.
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