Home Tournaments Calendar Weather Merchandise Sponsors

Go Back   Spearboard.com - The World's Largest Spearfishing Diving Boating Social Media Forum > Spearfishing Gear > All About Guns

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

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 02-20-2017, 09:17 AM   #1
spearq8
Registered User
 
spearq8's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 3,292
Testing Pathos Sniper 125

This summer I bought a Pathos Sniper 125 and recently got a chance to put it through its paces. The gun is identical in length to a Pathos 130 but this gun has a bladder and a more contoured shape. The muzzle has a band slot for each band (not sure if that is needed for a 2 banded setup) ... but the track is Enclosed Track. Had I known this gun was ET I would not have bought it as my experience is that an ET really slows shafts down and removes any flexibility with shaft choice. Anyway decided to do this test in 2 parts ... Part 1 was basically to test the default setup and then remove the ET and see how things would go. Gun came with a 6.75mm shaft @ 160cm ... which is just ridiculous as even at 7mm, the shaft will whip at this length. You can maybe get away with a 7mm shaft even at 165cm if you mod the handle ... but @ 6.75 it is just not going to happen. I think the default setup of the gun was similar to my optimized Pathos 82 setup ... but without the accuracy !!!

In Part 2 I pushed the performance by changing bands and putting on heavier shafts .... and got excellent results in both power and accuracy. Was able to even set it up with an 8mm shaft and pass the Tuna Penetration Test at 6 meters. It also did well with an old Sporasub 7mm @ 165cm shaft that I found in my workshop. But @ 7.5mm ... I didn't really have a shaft for that gun. I ended up hacking an old wired Salvimar 7.5mm shaft (I hate wired fins as they always slip the wishbone) and ended up having to put a cone on it and changed the flopper ... results in the end were decent. I think the sweet spot for this gun would be a good Sigalsub or Devotosub or Hunt 7.5mm shaft as it managed to pass the thick Tuna Penetration Test with the hacked shaft at 6 meters with quite flat trajectory.

I will put up Part 2 when I finish editing it.



Here is Part 2


Last edited by spearq8; 02-21-2017 at 04:51 PM.
spearq8 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2017, 08:56 PM   #2
juanacity
John
 
juanacity's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Seattle
Posts: 181
Re: Testing Pathos Sniper 125

Thanks for your time and effort to test and share!

I am surprised some large manufacturers haven't gotten this more correct yet. Your modifications all make sense to me but are more than I want to do. Some customization for the handle shape, bands and shaft choice seem inevitable. Besides that I can't understand why more of your general observations aren't more universally employed.
juanacity is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2017, 09:41 PM   #3
SEA_ARCHER
The Ocean is Calling
 
SEA_ARCHER's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Jupiter, FL
Posts: 349
Re: Testing Pathos Sniper 125

Awesome work! Can't wait to see part 2. You are making me not want to ever buy an ET gun again. Good thing there are still some great options out there in open track configuration.
SEA_ARCHER is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2017, 11:08 PM   #4
kwtony
Snorkel Master
 
kwtony's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Lower Keys
Posts: 5,588
Testing Pathos Sniper 125

Ive got my super modded 125 and a stock 125 going to compare. Itll be night and day i know but it still is fun to play. This is my 130 next to my 125. The 130 is a freakin tack driver as well as my 125


__________________
IG @kw.tony
kwtony is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2017, 12:58 AM   #5
spearq8
Registered User
 
spearq8's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 3,292
Re: Testing Pathos Sniper 125

I think ET is nice to load ... but really if you just spend a little time on a loading protocol and practice it, you can load your gun just as fast. If I had to put an ET it would be much much looser ... say wide enough to fit a 9mm shaft in. But it really is not necessary and it just kills shaft velocity ... way too much compromise IMHO.

As for the Sniper 125 performance ... I can't help but think that this gun was never tested in the water. I went back to my Pathos 82 test and one of the setups I tested there with 2 x 14mm bands was better than the default setup of this gun. I think this gun was tested at a much smaller size and then they just used the same setup and lengthened it. There is no way anyone can test it with a 6.75mm shaft and accept the results.

Stay tuned for Part 2 as it has a slightly longer 7mm shaft @ 165cm ... no shaft whip even at that length due to the handle mod. Also was able to get excellent results with both the 7.5mm shaft and my favorite Hunt 8mm shaft. With the Hunt 8mm shaft you really get into Bluewater performance. Really impressive to see how a gun can be transformed with a few little changes. I know I will get flamed by Pathos for this, but i have my fire suit on. I do think this testing and data helps them build a better gun.
spearq8 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2017, 05:22 AM   #6
kavachi
the deeper the blue.....
 
kavachi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 498
Re: Testing Pathos Sniper 125

thanks for the testing Majd!
kavachi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2017, 06:47 AM   #7
jstiver09
Registered User
 
jstiver09's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Venice, FL
Posts: 1,684
Re: Testing Pathos Sniper 125

Nice! I like testing the same setup with open and closed tracks. I hope these companies are grateful for all this information.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
jstiver09 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2017, 07:11 AM   #8
spearq8
Registered User
 
spearq8's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 3,292
Re: Testing Pathos Sniper 125

Quote:
Originally Posted by jstiver09 View Post
Nice! I like testing the same setup with open and closed tracks. I hope these companies are grateful for all this information.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I could have saved them a whole lot of trouble if they would have just asked

I think this thing with the disadvantages of ET were discussed here quite a few times before ... so the result are not surprising at all and I already have done a similar test years ago with a Riffe Metal tech with ET and without ... results were similar. The thing is that with a 125 gun, you should be looking at 7.5mm and 8mm shafts ... which will not fit in the ET of this gun ... so you don't even have that possibility unless you open up the track.
spearq8 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2017, 10:01 AM   #9
chrishb7
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: oc
Posts: 82
Re: Testing Pathos Sniper 125

What size shooting line are you running on these guns. What have you found to be the best compromise between strength and not slowing down shaft speed?
Chris
chrishb7 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2017, 10:07 AM   #10
Diving Gecko
Shooter & Shooter
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 955
Re: Testing Pathos Sniper 125

Thanks so much, Majd, this is awesome.

It's almost like Pathos came at this from the wrong end? Perhaps they settled on the 6.75mm shaft and then really wanted that to work and felt ET could keep it a bit in check. Thereby reducing the true potential of the gun. Just speculating here, obviously.
But it is kinda interesting how possibly the most popular euro brand these days don't seek out the full potential of their newest gun. Could just be strategy as in feeling they need an ET in their product range and perhaps knowing that the vast majority of spearos still think 16-18mm bands and ETs are the bees knees. Easier to sell this to them than having to educate them. Again, purely speculating but I would certainly love to be a fly on the wall in their engineers' meetings.
Funny thing is, their competitors don't really push fully either, so I actually see these videos helping potential sales for Pathos - they prove you can mod the gun to shoot amazingly.
If I was really into band guns, this is probably the one I would get for a longer gun. Tinker with it and have a poor man's Abellan;-)

Thanks again for your efforts and sharing all this hard work

Last edited by Diving Gecko; 02-21-2017 at 10:28 AM.
Diving Gecko is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2017, 12:22 PM   #11
HurricaneBK
Registered User
 
HurricaneBK's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Miami, FL
Posts: 1,322
Re: Testing Pathos Sniper 125

Quote:
Originally Posted by Diving Gecko View Post
Thanks so much, Majd, this is awesome.

It's almost like Pathos came at this from the wrong end? Perhaps they settled on the 6.75mm shaft and then really wanted that to work and felt ET could keep it a bit in check. Thereby reducing the true potential of the gun. Just speculating here, obviously.
But it is kinda interesting how possibly the most popular euro brand these days don't seek out the full potential of their newest gun. Could just be strategy as in feeling they need an ET in their product range and perhaps knowing that the vast majority of spearos still think 16-18mm bands and ETs are the bees knees. Easier to sell this to them than having to educate them. Again, purely speculating but I would certainly love to be a fly on the wall in their engineers' meetings.
Funny thing is, their competitors don't really push fully either, so I actually see these videos helping potential sales for Pathos - they prove you can mod the gun to shoot amazingly.
If I was really into band guns, this is probably the one I would get for a longer gun. Tinker with it and have a poor man's Abellan;-)

Thanks again for your efforts and sharing all this hard work
I'm just trying to figure out the rationale behind a 6.75mm shaft on a 125cm gun. For smaller fish, sure a thinner shaft might have it's uses, but if you're using a 125cm gun you're likely hunting larger fish or at least shooting fish at range where the added mass of a larger shaft is helpful. The cynic in me says perhaps they want to sell more shafts as they get bent up by larger fish with the speargun itself being sold near cost and shafts being the "high margin" item like razors and blades. I don't think speargun manufacturers think along those lines but who knows. When I used to use 7mm shafts I used to go through quite a few, it seemed like any decent sized grouper had a better than even shot at pretzeling a shaft, switching to 8mm shafts has all but eliminated the need for new shafts - maybe I need to shoot bigger fish

As always Majd excellent work, Pathos can thank you for at least two purchases from me so what you're doing definitely helps the brand. Surprised you haven't come out with your own line of spearguns yet.
HurricaneBK is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2017, 12:36 PM   #12
jstiver09
Registered User
 
jstiver09's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Venice, FL
Posts: 1,684
Re: Testing Pathos Sniper 125

Because Pathos has just recently released ET version of their guns, I bet people begging them to offer ET is why they did it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
jstiver09 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2017, 12:37 PM   #13
Ron S
Registered User
 
Ron S's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Truckee, CA
Posts: 4,924
Re: Testing Pathos Sniper 125

One of the reasons I didn't buy a Pathos last time around is that from your testing it seems that their trigger steel needs to be replaced even on a stock, non-overpowered gun. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
Ron S is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2017, 12:54 PM   #14
Nix
Registered User
 
Nix's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Costa Rica/Trinidad & Tobago
Posts: 833
Re: Testing Pathos Sniper 125

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron S View Post
One of the reasons I didn't buy a Pathos last time around is that from your testing it seems that their trigger steel needs to be replaced even on a stock, non-overpowered gun. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
The D'Angelo 1 handle is plastic like the rob allen and quite a good price. If I was in the market for a rail gun i'd look at those for sure. It's the D'Angelo 2 handle that has the trigger issues. It seems like almost a complete build if I have to open a track, change a trigger sear, change the spear and mod a handle. I forgot the issues with line wrap.
Nix is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2017, 12:56 PM   #15
phil herranen
Registered User
 
phil herranen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: santa cruz
Age: 48
Posts: 5,473
Re: Testing Pathos Sniper 125

Quote:
Originally Posted by jstiver09 View Post
Because Pathos has just recently released ET version of their guns, I bet people begging them to offer ET is why they did it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
That's exactly it , you wouldn't believe how many people call asking for et rollerguns and small sub 50" - 60" guns becuse they read online that they are better , majad, like it or not , is a big reason for this, for years he said et was the way to go to power up guns, many people I have dealt with have quoted him when they called , now it's "common knowledge that et is better " so it takes awhile to talk people out of it . I think et dose have its place on big guns over 60" . Most of my personal guns under 60 are deep open and over are et ,but I also use oversized et tracks .
__________________





frv owners discount http://spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=134606
phil herranen is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:37 AM.


The World's Largest Spearfishing Diving Social Media Forum Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2002 - 2014 Spearboard.com