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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 01-13-2017, 01:28 AM   #1
doyenofcastle
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Over ballast a gun

I have a wood in back yard which is used for boat repair ,I laminated a piece but when checked weight ratio ,I think its 0.8 specific gravity ,if I make a gun with 1.5 kg ,it will need approx.300-400 gram to neutral it so 250 gram SS accessories plus spear 500 gram so I expect muzzle will be vertical with 250 gram approx. extra weight does that extra ballast make problem ?
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Old 01-13-2017, 01:38 AM   #2
Impaler Spearguns
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Re: Over ballast a gun

the gun will sink with the spear out.
if you do scuba- its all good - but for freediving - not so much.
building a gun is alot of work and the wood is not so expensive to spend all that time and money building a gun that you wont like.
mahoghany costs 10$ a bf- you need about 3 to 4 bf - so why not get some new wood
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Old 01-13-2017, 08:23 AM   #3
doyenofcastle
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Re: Over ballast a gun

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Originally Posted by Impaler Spearguns View Post
the gun will sink with the spear out.
if you do scuba- its all good - but for freediving - not so much.
building a gun is alot of work and the wood is not so expensive to spend all that time and money building a gun that you wont like.
mahoghany costs 10$ a bf- you need about 3 to 4 bf - so why not get some new wood
I had already mahog. but for big 140 gun it will be drill every where for ballast ,I am thinking the gun barely float shaft out with that wood ,
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Old 01-13-2017, 02:32 PM   #4
phil herranen
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Re: Over ballast a gun

Depending on the gun and if its a reel or floatline ,a sg of 7 to 8 is about purfect
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Old 01-13-2017, 05:27 PM   #5
Behslayer
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Re: Over ballast a gun

It's okay for a Bigger more volumous gun. Expect to add 0 lead. Shape the gun bigger and then tune the ballast by shaping/sanding it down and taking it in and out of the wear many times to check..
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Old 01-14-2017, 03:52 AM   #6
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Re: Over ballast a gun

I think if the gun is sinking slightly with shaft in then it usually is no problem to shoot well. If the gun sinks with shaft out ... I don't like that. A perfectly ballasted gun will be much easier to shoot accurately as you don't have to use your wrist muscles in tension just to keep the tip of the gun up. In a perfect world the gun would slightly float with shaft in ... the idea being that your arm has some weight. Of course if you use a 7mm wetsuit things might be reversed and you might need more weight in the handle to offset that. That is why it is a good idea to have compartments for ballast in the muzzle and in the handle so you can adjust if you change shafts or change wetsuits.
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Old 01-15-2017, 05:55 AM   #7
Kevin Sheets
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Re: Over ballast a gun

I have made "sinkers" before out of Jatoba. If you have it on your float line as I do with all my guns, then it's not a huge deal. I prefer the gun to be positive without the shaft and negative with.
Depends on where and how you hunt. I like mine attached to my floatline so if I drop it at any time I can retrieve it. I can't even count the number of lost guns up here in the poor viz.
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Old 01-25-2017, 01:39 AM   #8
Blue2u
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Re: Over ballast a gun

lots of variables, the heavier the gun the more powergoes into the shaft as opposed to the recoil, at least thats the way it was explained to me
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