Finished my First Gun Build

[spearomurray]

Hey Guys,
I just finished my first gun build and wanted to share a few photos. To give you some background, I've been hunting norcal and cencal with a riffe 110 on breakaway. Love that gun, but obviously way too long for norcal. I ended up building an 84 cm mid-handle. Jerry at Spearfishing Solutions helped me out picking up all the neptonics hardware. And the freedive shop helped with shaft, bands, etc...

A few things I learned:
1) Routers are amazing at removing material you do want gone and material you don't

2) West Systems G-flex is fantastic at filling and laminating mistakes you made with your router.

3) Folks are right about mid-handles shooting very differently from regular euros.

[Mike N]

Nicely done, but realize you are now doomed!

MN

[FreediveCA]

Nice. Get some blood on that thing. I don't see a loading pad. My pansie ass couldn't handle that. Cheap flip flop and some super glue... that's the ticket.

[Bob Ballew]

Very nice first homebuild gun. I build all my own guns using Australian mechanisms which hold up quite well. Now, all your dive buddies will want you to build one for them! Consider a table extension straight edge on future guns when cutting with a router...short straight edge guides won't take out the curve in long pieces of wood and the shaft groove will follow the curve, throwing off accuracy somewhat...you can adjust your aim to compensate for it, but, a perfectly straight groove is better...
...To avoid overcutting, I fit the mechanism first, then, work the groove down with the router, removing the mechanism each time while cutting...the last few routes, I use the micro adjustment on the router to cut and fit until the shaft slides into the mechanism perfectly...if doing more than one gun, save time by making a template of the mech. fit and bolt holes for layout on the following guns...

[Castor]

Nice job!! I like that gun a lot. It looks like a great all around shorter range gun. Congrats!

[The Plumber]

Originally Posted by Bob Ballew

Very nice first homebuild gun. I build all my own guns using Australian mechanisms which hold up quite well. Now, all your dive buddies will want you to build one for them! Consider a table extension straight edge on future guns when cutting with a router...short straight edge guides won't take out the curve in long pieces of wood and the shaft groove will follow the curve, throwing off accuracy somewhat...you can adjust your aim to compensate for it, but, a perfectly straight groove is better...
...To avoid overcutting, I fit the mechanism first, then, work the groove down with the router, removing the mechanism each time while cutting...the last few routes, I use the micro adjustment on the router to cut and fit until the shaft slides into the mechanism perfectly...if doing more than one gun, save time by making a template of the mech. fit and bolt holes for layout on the following guns...

Curious about the Aussie mechs.

Great first build!!

[Lompoc Local]

Nice work

Looks like you maximized the shorter length of the gun by setting that mech waaaaaaayyy back. Never seen one that close to the butt before

[spearomurray]

Hey Guys, I really appreciate all the feedback. Bob, I used my version of a table extension straight edge for most of the cuts. The one router picture I uploaded showed the MDF template I used to get the curve where the stock changes width at the base of the gun. I appreciate your advice on trigger mechanism fitting, I'll definitely have to incorporate that strategy in my next build.

FreediveCA, I took it out last Saturday out at Garrapata. Aiming it took some getting used to, but I was stoked with the power and the maneuverability. Way better than a 110 lol. It is a pain in the ass to load because the mech is so close to the butt of the gun. I decided to go ahead and pay the big bucks and get some flip flops at CVS to make a butt pad. I was too excited to get in the water to bother putting it on though.

Lompoc Local, I definitely did everything I could do to maximize band stretch on this gun. There's a 1/4" of stock between the mech pocket and the end of the gun. I also put the line release behind the band slot. I took advantage of the fact that I only needed to squeeze two bands in, and so didn't have to position the line guide too far back.

Next step is a big 155 for some weekends out at the islands this summer. And Mike N, it is a sickness. All I'm thinking about now is the next gun.

Cheers