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All About Guns What's your weapon of choice, and why? Discuss the beloved speargun here!

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Old 09-10-2017, 05:34 PM   #1
mattthemat
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Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

Hey fellow spearos,
I am looking to upgrade my current bluewater gun. Right now I am using the Pathos 140 Carbon, which don't get me wrong, is a wonderful gun in its own right. But I am looking up upgrade to a more capable bluewater gun that can reach out past 20ft and still have power to penetrate a big fish. I've been looking at the Abellan Albacore 130 specifically and just want to know how it stacks up against other guns. I am cross shopping the Abellan with the Oceanborn 125 and the Bleutec King Cobra. I would love to hear from people that have experience with any of these or even better, several of these guns. Please don't recommend mid handles because I just like rear handles and am pretty set on that front (and yes I know how nice Ulusubs are).
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Old 09-10-2017, 09:39 PM   #2
2fishin2
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

Hands down the Abellan. I have used and own the Albacore and OB 125. Ive seen and held the KB. No questions asked.....
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Old 09-11-2017, 01:27 AM   #3
mattthemat
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

That much better than the OB 125 huh?
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Old 09-11-2017, 01:35 AM   #4
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

If you are not opposed to a systematic, analytical approach...:

OB 126


and then the Abellan Albacore:
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Old 09-11-2017, 01:54 AM   #5
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

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That much better than the OB 125 huh?
Not even in same league. The Abellan is a dream to handle and shoot. The OB, not so much.

First point is the OB mechanism does not do well at all with a bungie. It will misfire and cause a very dangerous situation.

The Abellan straight out of box is perfection
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Old 09-11-2017, 03:29 AM   #6
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

I have actually watched all those videos and yes, from watching them I should be able to make an easy decision. I guess I just wanted to hear from people who have handled them in hunting scenarios and get confirmation that the Abellan is the right choice.
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Old 09-11-2017, 03:31 AM   #7
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

As far as shaft setup goes, I would want to run a Mori slip tip for the tip. Would I be better going with a 5/16 or an 11/32 shaft?
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Old 09-11-2017, 09:32 AM   #8
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

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As far as shaft setup goes, I would want to run a Mori slip tip for the tip. Would I be better going with a 5/16 or an 11/32 shaft?
8 or better 8.5 mm shafts from GR Tarr and Red Tide Spearfishing. Even better double flopper shafts. He has access to the best shafts around.
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Old 09-11-2017, 10:58 AM   #9
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

just a quick note as my dive buddies have both guns and I've shot them all in the pool.

Abellan 130 is like 140 band stretch. My buddy uses a 11/32 shaft and can shoot 25ft no problem. This is his dedicated Tuna/wahoo gun

OB 125 is a good gun but not the same size. A more comparable gun would be the 145 (which my other buddy has and I have also shot). The OB125 compares more to a Denton 110 which is 120 band stretch

Anyway, they are all awesome guns. After watching everything in the pool, I wouldn't buy anything other than a Abellan, OB, or Ulusub right now.

So, if you want to go 8mm (5/16) shaft, go OB125 or Denton110. If you want a bigger BW gun with 11/32 then go OB145 or Albacore 130.
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Old 09-11-2017, 10:59 AM   #10
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

BTW, my buddy has a Abellan 120 (130 band stretch) for sale on the board now.
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Old 09-12-2017, 12:24 PM   #11
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

Thanks everyone for your inputs. Kind of a dumb question, but since I've never seen one in person, does the Abellan use a euro style or american style mech?
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Old 09-12-2017, 12:43 PM   #12
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

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Thanks everyone for your inputs. Kind of a dumb question, but since I've never seen one in person, does the Abellan use a euro style or american style mech?
It uses a euro mech. There have been wisperings that the new "Floridian" abellans (sorry for lack of a better term) might use the new Ermes double roller mech that can be used with american or euro shafts but you would have to contact Harry "greekdiver" for confirmation on that.
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Old 09-15-2017, 10:16 AM   #13
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

Lets set a few things right.

1. Bleutec changed their trigger design 2 years ago to eliminate the issue of the line release that is only created with double wraps due to excesive pressure on sear.

2. Comparing apples and Oranges. As stated above the Albacore 130 can only compare to a Oceanborn 145. Go shoot an Oceanborn 145 with the same setup and then you be the judge. Several guys here in Cali took their Albacores to shoot tuna and I still have not heard of one landing a descent fish. literarry hunderds of tunas were landed with the OB 145 by 3-4 guys I know shooting the OB 145.

3. I can give you a list of several guys that compared 2 guns and owned the 2 guns and are now using the OB. So as you can see it depends on who you are talking to.

I have customers that love their Abellans and I have customers that love their OB.
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Old 09-16-2017, 01:18 AM   #14
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

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Originally Posted by Cyprus_Spearo View Post
Lets set a few things right.

1. Bleutec changed their trigger design 2 years ago to eliminate the issue of the line release that is only created with double wraps due to excesive pressure on sear.

2. Comparing apples and Oranges. As stated above the Albacore 130 can only compare to a Oceanborn 145. Go shoot an Oceanborn 145 with the same setup and then you be the judge. Several guys here in Cali took their Albacores to shoot tuna and I still have not heard of one landing a descent fish. literarry hunderds of tunas were landed with the OB 145 by 3-4 guys I know shooting the OB 145.

3. I can give you a list of several guys that compared 2 guns and owned the 2 guns and are now using the OB. So as you can see it depends on who you are talking to.

I have customers that love their Abellans and I have customers that love their OB.
I have had both the abellan ,mine was a Denton 130 it was one of his first 130 guns before they became the beefed up Albacore ,and a Oceanborn 125 ..both shot fish no problem...
I've had my OB for around four years but sold my Abellan as I personally preferred the way my OB handles..but both very nice guns
Haven't really had any issues with the line release as I am careful not to put too much pressure on it with a double wrap though it will sometimes pop off when running a breakaway..
I'm wondering if the new trigger mech would fit in the older guns as I have three Bleutec guns and if so is there any other advantages besides the line release over the older mech..thx
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Old 09-16-2017, 03:07 AM   #15
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

The OB 125 is a very nice gun and if compared with a Denton 120 (with 132 band stretch) it would be a very hard choice and I would probably go with the OB 125 ... especially now that it has the trigger fixed. That gun is deadly accurate! The additional power you can add is also very useful if using an 8mm shaft, and it really swings beautifully. If using only 2 bands, it would a much more difficult choice. The OB 125 is actually only about 6 cm or 2 inches smaller than the Albcore 130 (if you measure with full metal cage on the A130) ... but the OB 145, that is just a huge gun. I actually had planned to buy the OB 145 but to be honest, that gun had just way too much recoil for me to shoot comfortably. If I remember correctly it had around 155cm of band stretch !!! With a 180cm @ 8.5mm shaft and 3 or 4 hot bands ... that is a ton of recoil and you really need to be careful. I also don't like the fact that the palm to trigger finger is a whopping 73mm ... I wear large gloves and for me to be able to put my palm properly over the handle I need about 58mm to 60mm. With 73mm I would be really setting my wrist up to get busted ... and if my thumb is not able to hold on to that gun ... it is going to go straight back into your face. So unless you have really long fingers that gun is going to be brutal if shooting one handed without modifying the handle. Maybe that gun should only be shot at full power with 2 hands ... similar to a mid handle. I would have attempted a handle mod but the stock is CF and I really don't like the idea of removing CF from the handle as that might affect the structural integrity of the handle. With that much power this could be dangerous. So between the Albacore 130 and the OB 145 I would go with the AB 130 as it is very controllable even one handed (trigger to palm distance only 58mm). The Albacore 130 with a good setup has plenty of power for any fish on planet earth ... that power is also very controlled and has very high accuracy. If someone is not able to land a big fish with a properly setup AB 130, I would not blame the gun.

As for exchanging the trigger ... I am actually also very interested in that. If it identical size with identical pin slots ... my guess is you just cut off the line release with a dremel and punch out the side slot pins and you put in the new trigger. Would be a very useful upgrade. I actually have quite a few OB guns and would like to change triggers on them. One of the things I disliked with the old trigger is that there is no way to remove the trigger and clean it as the line release is welded on over the CF. Also whoever did the welding did not purge properly with Argon gas and thus the weld is contaminated and introduces rust to the trigger. If you could remove that trigger then it would be less of a problem ... but as it is ... you can't do much.
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