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Old 04-07-2015, 11:51 PM   #1
GulfLife
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Biller SS vs Wood

So I was wanting a 54 inch gun and was looking at abbillers but i dont want to spend over $300, maybe something thats $310 or $320 and there is a mahogany floridian for $315, mahogany sea hornet for $305 or a stainless steel sea hornet for $260. Is there an advantage or disadvantage in the ss gun? I was planning on getting that but if there is a difference between them or something i would want to make sure.
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Old 04-08-2015, 12:32 AM   #2
spearq8
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Re: Biller SS vs Wood

Stay away from the SS billers they are absolute crap. The wood abbillers are much better.
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Old 04-08-2015, 09:23 AM   #3
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Re: Biller SS vs Wood

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Stay away from the SS billers they are absolute crap. The wood abbillers are much better.
Why? Same mech , same handle ,same muzzle
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Old 04-08-2015, 10:28 AM   #4
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Re: Biller SS vs Wood

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Why? Same mech , same handle ,same muzzle
They make a lot more noise when fired, the only guide to the spear is a couple wrap around plastic pieces, rather than the full length recess of the wood guns, there is the issue of keeping the water out of the hollow barrow,
They shouldn't be called the Professional, they should be called Starter guns.
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Old 04-08-2015, 11:26 AM   #5
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Re: Biller SS vs Wood

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They make a lot more noise when fired, the only guide to the spear is a couple wrap around plastic pieces, rather than the full length recess of the wood guns, there is the issue of keeping the water out of the hollow barrow,
They shouldn't be called the Professional, they should be called Starter guns.
The barrel is plugged and the shaft never tuches metal they are quieter than a wood gun and a little faster as well since there is less friction , the only way they would make more noise is if you rig it where there is a clip or swevel at the muzzle that is allowed to hit the muzzle , but you would have the same problem with a wood gun .

You also don't need to worry about the barrel warping like on a wood gun .
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Old 04-08-2015, 11:28 AM   #6
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Re: Biller SS vs Wood

But you are better off with a rail gun
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Old 04-08-2015, 12:44 PM   #7
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Re: Biller SS vs Wood

I had three of the SS biller gun and every one of them developed some sort of problem with the trigger. It is possible that maybe some kind of corrosion was accelerated with the SS ... maybe an anode + cathode reaction. The triggers would gradually get worse and harder to pull until it became almost impossible. The wood guns still work well after more than 25 years. I live in a very hot climate and hunt in very salty water so that could be a factor. I certainly would never advice anyone to get that gun.
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Old 04-08-2015, 01:15 PM   #8
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Re: Biller SS vs Wood

I have a 42 and 48 Biller in Mahogany.I have shot my buddies SS Biller and it worked fine but I like the wood look.His is at least a decade old by the way.Would have a 36 too for the limerock holes but some scumbag in Marathon had sticky fingers.
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Old 04-08-2015, 01:25 PM   #9
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Re: Biller SS vs Wood

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Originally Posted by spearq8 View Post
I had three of the SS biller gun and every one of them developed some sort of problem with the trigger. It is possible that maybe some kind of corrosion was accelerated with the SS ... maybe an anode + cathode reaction. The triggers would gradually get worse and harder to pull until it became almost impossible. The wood guns still work well after more than 25 years. I live in a very hot climate and hunt in very salty water so that could be a factor. I certainly would never advice anyone to get that gun.
The barrel doesn't touch the mech in any way , were the wood guns billers, and the stainless sea hornets ? Or vis - versa ? They are not the same
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Old 04-08-2015, 07:54 PM   #10
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Re: Biller SS vs Wood

If you are considering AB Billers and Sea Hornets and want to stay in the low $300 range, you should look at the newer JBL elite series of spearguns. While the elite euro series would the preference, the elite woody series has the same features except for the muzzle, and the loading butt. I picked up a used one on the local craigslist in the size you are looking for around $80. Much better mechanism, handle, line release setup, and no slide ring, but it won't track like a pipe gun.
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Old 04-09-2015, 12:15 AM   #11
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Re: Biller SS vs Wood

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The barrel doesn't touch the mech in any way , were the wood guns billers, and the stainless sea hornets ? Or vis - versa ? They are not the same
That is possible as I guess billers and sea hornets must have been carried by the same dealer maybe? But I sort of remember the biller labeling and I think I ordered directly from biller once and that must have included a few SS guns. Unfortunately I don't have the guns anymore as I threw them in the garbage soon after buying them. What I do remember with the wood billers is that LTD version were much nicer and had smoother trigger pulls. I must still have about half a dozen or more of the wood biller guns but haven't taken one out hunting in more than 15 years. The guns are outdated by today's standards but there was a time where that was the best choice available locally. My favorite setup was a 60" teak LTD (no laminations) with 2 x 5/8" bands using steel wishbones with an 8mm shaft and double flopper (with tiny rubber bit to keep make floppers spring into action) with a JBL slide ring and a 400lb or 800lb kevlar line. That gun easily caught more fish than all my other guns combined, but 25 years ago fish were also much easier to get close to and were much more abundant and never needed anything more than a single wrap. Today almost every fish I shoot needs a double wrap to reach it.
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Old 04-09-2015, 12:24 AM   #12
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Re: Biller SS vs Wood

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Originally Posted by spearq8 View Post
That is possible as I guess billers and sea hornets must have been carried by the same dealer maybe? But I sort of remember the biller labeling and I think I ordered directly from biller once and that must have included a few SS guns. Unfortunately I don't have the guns anymore as I threw them in the garbage soon after buying them. What I do remember with the wood billers is that LTD version were much nicer and had smoother trigger pulls. I must still have about half a dozen or more of the wood biller guns but haven't taken one out hunting in more than 15 years. The guns are outdated by today's standards but there was a time where that was the best choice available locally. My favorite setup was a 60" teak LTD (no laminations) with 2 x 5/8" bands using steel wishbones with an 8mm shaft and double flopper (with tiny rubber bit to keep make floppers spring into action) with a JBL slide ring and a 400lb or 800lb kevlar line. That gun easily caught more fish than all my other guns combined, but 25 years ago fish were also much easier to get close to and were much more abundant and never needed anything more than a single wrap. Today almost every fish I shoot needs a double wrap to reach it.
They are out dated but they are one of the first reverse triggers made .
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Old 04-09-2015, 02:20 PM   #13
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Re: Biller SS vs Wood

Sea Hornets trigger is not the same as A B Biller's. Billers are easy to pull if heavy loaded, Sea Hornets get harder to pull the more you load them. For a time in the mid to late 70s, Biller did produce Sea Hornet as there was a time they werent owned, and Biller took them over. They look similar, but triggers and line releases are way different. I have owned many and still own a couple A B Biller's guns. One I modified to have an enclosed track, and a band elevator. It is a tack driver and can be way over powered, and still does not kick up. The other is my girl friends gun and it has a Stuart Daneman enclosed muzzle with 2 band holes that are aligned. Great gun. Both great guns. But I also own several other guns for blue water that blow them away.
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Old 04-09-2015, 06:42 PM   #14
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Re: Biller SS vs Wood

Quote:
Originally Posted by spearq8 View Post
That is possible as I guess billers and sea hornets must have been carried by the same dealer maybe? But I sort of remember the biller labeling and I think I ordered directly from biller once and that must have included a few SS guns. Unfortunately I don't have the guns anymore as I threw them in the garbage soon after buying them. What I do remember with the wood billers is that LTD version were much nicer and had smoother trigger pulls. I must still have about half a dozen or more of the wood biller guns but haven't taken one out hunting in more than 15 years. The guns are outdated by today's standards but there was a time where that was the best choice available locally. My favorite setup was a 60" teak LTD (no laminations) with 2 x 5/8" bands using steel wishbones with an 8mm shaft and double flopper (with tiny rubber bit to keep make floppers spring into action) with a JBL slide ring and a 400lb or 800lb kevlar line. That gun easily caught more fish than all my other guns combined, but 25 years ago fish were also much easier to get close to and were much more abundant and never needed anything more than a single wrap. Today almost every fish I shoot needs a double wrap to reach it.
You can send me any billers you don't use anymore. I love my 48 special.
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Old 04-09-2015, 06:59 PM   #15
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Re: Biller SS vs Wood

Biller originally sold "Sea Hornet" guns in the USA using the Australian plastic moulded parts and trigger mechanisms which were supplied as separate components, but with Biller's own spears, tips, bands and other hardware used in the gun rigging along with their own timber barrels. At some stage Biller introduced a harder heat treated sear lever that resisted damage to the contact surfaces where the trigger and sear lever slide on each other. Then they made their own version of the guns in the late nineties, but with completely new plastic parts and a slightly redesigned trigger mechanism. Those guns have the knuckle guard on the grip handle. There is a thread on this topic where I showed a comparison of the lever shapes from the two companies, a search here should find it. Basically the trigger pivot pin is located slightly higher up in the later Biller mechanism than the Sea Hornet, a change which Sea Hornet copied in a later V2 and then V3 updated version of their own gun. The cassette mounting pins and pivot pins in Sea Hornet mechanisms were chrome plated brass, Biller used stainless steel pins.

Whether used in a timber or a tube gun the trigger mechanism is always the same, being of the cassette type which inserts in a slot in the plastic handles with a barrel and cocking stock attached at the ends. The LTD model is a one piece timber stock, so the cassette inserts in a slot cut directly into the timber and that might affect how the mechanism drains out after a dive, but I think any difference there would be marginal. Stainless steel tubing guns were often not washed after a dive, being thought of as a zero maintenance speargun and that could have eventually affected their trigger mechanisms. The discharged stainless tubing guns float butt down because the rear cocking stock tube floods, whereas the timber guns have buoyant elements front and rear which make them better floaters at the surface.

The Sea Hornet/Biller reverse trigger mechanisms are designed to dry fire, you can cock and then release them by pulling the trigger as the trigger and sear lever are both biased by the same metal leaf spring. The tall cassette provides internal space to install that curved leaf spring. Modern reverse trigger mechanisms usually don't have a biasing spring on the sear lever, so they don't dry fire and you have to pull the spear out of the sear box if the bands are not applied to the spear unless the sear lever can fall down due to its own weight being much longer than the sear lever used in the Sea Hornet/Biller guns. The mechanism may lock by the sear lever forcing the trigger against a stop rather than a cam lock being achieved between the levers which just relies on the pivot pin spacing being fixed in the Sea Hornet/Biller guns, there being no trigger stop position in their cassettes.
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