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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 09-22-2017, 09:19 AM   #31
Azure Recluse
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

Saw this photo on social media, not a bad advertisement for the king cobra by a very talented spearo (credit to Michael Jutt)
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Old 09-22-2017, 11:06 AM   #32
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Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

Quote:
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.


Everyone has their own opinion. I have owned both Oceanborn and Albacore...The Oceanborn is a very well built gun. You do have to reach for the trigger which killed my thumb when firing it...I am sure that could be modified. Also, it came with 4x16mm bands which did not perform well for me at all...but an easy fix. I believe that if you are a carbon fiber guy then it needs to be on the top of your short list. Ultimately, the things that made me decide to keep the Albacore was that it was much quieter when fired, I preferred the handle much more over the OB, and I am more of a wood gun guy.



I know of quite a few guys successfully taking big tuna with the Albacore. I have never heard anyone say they felt undergunned using the Albacore 130 either...and the 2 side by side testing done with the OB145 and the Albacore 130 (142cm real stretch), that I know of, the Albacore outperformed the OB in one and equal in the other.

Last edited by jstiver09; 09-22-2017 at 02:14 PM.
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Old 09-22-2017, 04:02 PM   #33
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

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Originally Posted by jstiver09 View Post
Everyone has their own opinion. I have owned both Oceanborn and Albacore...The Oceanborn is a very well built gun. You do have to reach for the trigger which killed my thumb when firing it...I am sure that could be modified. Also, it came with 4x16mm bands which did not perform well for me at all...but an easy fix. I believe that if you are a carbon fiber guy then it needs to be on the top of your short list. Ultimately, the things that made me decide to keep the Albacore was that it was much quieter when fired, I preferred the handle much more over the OB, and I am more of a wood gun guy. I know of quite a few guys successfully taking big tuna with the Albacore. I have never heard anyone say they felt undergunned using the Albacore 130 either...and the 2 side by side testing done with the OB145 and the Albacore 130 (142cm real stretch), that I know of, the Albacore outperformed the OB in one and equal in the other.
buy the Albacore, and with the change [vs the Bleutec] and all the good advice here on SB and Majd's Youtube, carbon sleeve it.
Easiest gun to shoot and it'll last for donkeys
If thats not enough grunt for you, cut those small ID bands down to 4X stretch
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Old 09-23-2017, 01:33 AM   #34
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

Actually the 400% stretch is a good point. If you have managed to control things with a handle mod, an 8.5mm shaft is really going to love that additional power. As mentioned in an earlier post, I accidentally setup the Albacore 130 at 390% or 395% stretch ... and performance went through the roof. At 7m the shaft went straight through the tuna test target ... at 8m it went through and stopped when the double wrap ended. You could still feel the tug at the end of the shooting line after it had penetrated the target. Accuracy was unchanged as even my friend who has never shot the gun, was able to put all his shots within 1" center of the aim point at 6m. No drop whatsoever all the way to 7m. I mean think about that ... you aim at something at 7m and the shaft impacts exactly there! I think few people would feel comfortable loading at 390% or 400%, but the Albacore can easily add 5cm to 6cm of band stretch to the stock without changing the shaft length ... this extra band stretch would allow you to get approximately the same power with only 380% stretch, because now you have additional 5cm to 6cm of band stretch.
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Old 09-24-2017, 06:02 AM   #35
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

Spearq8, is there any other gun in your experience that allows the bands to lay as parallel to the shaft as the Abellan? That is a beautiful sight
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Old 09-24-2017, 06:20 AM   #36
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra



On his first time using the OB 145. Enough said.
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Old 09-24-2017, 07:53 AM   #37
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

Damn, are we allowed to post fish pics on this thread?
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Old 09-24-2017, 02:38 PM   #38
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Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

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Originally Posted by Azure Recluse View Post
Spearq8, is there any other gun in your experience that allows the bands to lay as parallel to the shaft as the Abellan? That is a beautiful sight


It doesn't even look as if they are really parallel to the shaft rather stacked on top of each other. Rigid metal wishbones might help but even then it doesn't seem that the bands are truly parallel, are they?
Abellan seems like a really nice gun to me but I can't believe they are the only one 'who are getting it right'.
Sometimes it sounds like that is what we should believe if you listen to all the comments here. It is hard not to like them but I really don't want to ride the hype train.


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Old 09-24-2017, 02:41 PM   #39
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

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It doesn't even look as if they are really parallel to the shaft rather stacked on top of each other. Rigid metal wishbones might help but even then it doesn't seem that the bands are truly parallel, are they?


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No.

The metal wishbones do improve the sight picture. Any reasonable gun can be set up with the bands "parallel" to the shaft. It's a function of how the gun is rigged, not the gun itself.
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Old 09-24-2017, 02:51 PM   #40
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

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Originally Posted by Dr.P View Post
No.



The metal wishbones do improve the sight picture. Any reasonable gun can be set up with the bands "parallel" to the shaft. It's a function of how the gun is rigged, not the gun itself.


Aren't the bands slightly angled 'downwards ' to keep the shaft on the track? If they are perfectly parallel could this potentially interfere with accuracy? Maybe in that case there is a potential of lifting the shaft?
Just trying to learn from the experts.


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Old 09-24-2017, 09:25 PM   #41
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Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

Of course the bands are angled slightly downwards since they wrap around the front of the gun a cm or two below the level of the shaft. There is no hype train with Abellan guns. No magic either. Just a very well designed gun that comes dialed in and accurate out of the box. If you dislike a gun for that, then your mistake.

I have to disagree with Dr. P that bands lying flat are only a function of the way it is rigged. Many guns with a traditional band slot and 3 or more bands will not lay flat (at least near the muzzle) not matter how you rig. Individual band grooves can re-route them to a good alignment but often times costs band stretch. It is very difficult to have a 3+band gun where the bands truly lie correctly.


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Old 09-24-2017, 11:23 PM   #42
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

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Originally Posted by jstiver09 View Post
I have to disagree with Dr. P that bands lying flat are only a function of the way it is rigged. Many guns with a traditional band slot and 3 or more bands will not lay flat (at least near the muzzle) not matter how you rig.
Agree 100%. It isn't until you play around with a few multiband guns in the water and on dry land that you realise this.
I used to own a big American cannon (thick 9.5mm shaft...4 bands.. double wrap... the lot) and no matter how you load the bands, they would not lay nice and flat... very noticeable muzzle flip. I sold it for less than half what I paid.
These new European rear handled tuna guns make me drool. I'm gonna keep saving my pennies until my next trip up north

This is a great thread! Would love to hear more from the guys who kill it with these high end guns
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Old 09-24-2017, 11:29 PM   #43
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

Cyprus Spearo, Cameron Kirkconnell cannot be compared to us mere mortals, we all know he could taken that fish with a lot less

I did have the honour of handling a 125 Oceanborn and it seems like a ripper of a gun. We were at the boat ramp after a long day and spotted another dive boat heading over to clean some fish. It made all the other guns on the rack look tiny in comparison. Heard nothing but praise for it, and the esky was filled to the brim so I guess it works
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Old 09-24-2017, 11:42 PM   #44
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

Another gun that really piqued my interest is the Teak Sea Hyperion 135. Seems like it would perform really well but I don't think many people have it in the States. It really seems to check off all the things that make a speargun shoot and handle well. Good mass, high handle, bands laying high up and in line with the spear, open track, even has a cuttlefish shaped body. The only thing missing is probably the anatomical handle vs. the universal one it has to channel recoil better. But that's something that can be fixed. Does anyone have experience with this gun?
Here are pics of the gun and a screen grab of the bands loaded up:
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Old 09-25-2017, 03:03 AM   #45
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Re: Thoughts on Abellan Albacore 130 vs Bleutec Oceanborn 125 & King Cobra

What makes a gun shoot well is gun design and not gun label. A shaft has no idea what gun is shooting it. Gun label can give information on what to expect in terms of service from the manufacturer, or quality of components used and quality and attention to detail of the finished product. I find that with the Albacore, I can only consistently let the bands lay flat if I use a wider metal wishbone for the third band. This is especially true if you have a shaft that has the shark fins next to each other. My good friend Andrea showed me a trick he uses where he grinds off the front of the band (after the constrictor knot) and really shaves it down quite a bit almost to the wishbone ... this way the bands fit really well next to each other. The type of insert also has an effect on how the bands lie ... the plastic inserts tend to bulk up quite a bit the band. I like to use a metal insert for first band then plastic for second and then titanium wishbone for third ... this really gives an absolutely clean sight picture every single time without having to manually push the bands around. If your bands are not lying flat, for some reason that shot will not come out good or at least accuracy will suffer. Not sure if the non symmetrical sight picture is what causes that or if it is actually that the bands push the shaft differently. I can't ever see myself shooting a 3 banded gun without a wide 3rd band wishbone anymore. Unless the Andrea trick works (need to give it a try).

As for posting pictures of fish caught with a gun ... of course nothing wrong with that. I always like to see pictures of nice fish caught. But it really doesn't tell much about how the gun shoots. I think there was an attempt to catch that size fish with a pole spear but apparently the pole spear got damaged in cargo. If that same picture was with a pole spear, would that make the pole spear the correct weapon for the job for everyone?
Now with regards to the OB 145 ... please stop making it sound like that is the gun to get for everyone. That gun is just too light and the handle is not right for the type of recoil it generates and is extremely difficult to control with a heavy shaft and full band load for the majority of people. Nothing wrong with Bleutec guns ... I have more BT guns than any other brand gun at home, but the OB 145 is just too much power for that platform and that handle. I have seen two pictures of people with faces smashed and jaws broken because they were unaware of how much recoil that gun has. That gun needs to be shot with 2 hands or you must have some really long finger where you can reach the trigger without extending your wrist or maybe keeping it at 3 bands and removing one band. Or at least you should be aware that the gun has recoil and you should take steps to deal with it.

Last edited by spearq8; 09-25-2017 at 03:40 AM.
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