Mako vs JBL vs AB Biller

[Lyterkillsling]

Ehhh. Pathos.

[spearq8]

Originally Posted by hydroid

Too noisy?? Please do tell.

Any gun that uses a slide ring will tend to be noisy. I can hear a shot in the water from pretty far away when someone else is shooting with a slide ring. The noise of steel hitting steel at high speed can carry quite a long distance in water.

[jorgeediaz]

Ive shot AB biller before and can tell you its a great gun. I used a 48 teak which is more expensive than the mahogany models. For deep reef diving like you say you want, i would go with a bigger gun 48/100 being the bare minimum. Billers and Jbl are popular among scuba divers but I've always heard bad things about jbl. I would consider a Rob Allen if money is the problem. At least with that you have a truly tested and reliable gun most people would agree on. For 250$ you cant go wrong. Hope this helps

[spearo #uno]

I sold my metal JBL last year after abusing it for decades in salt water. I never ever had any problems with the mech. or the metal in general just sling replacement from time to time and always cleaned after use, I killed a ton of fish with it!. Sold it because I found myself with a gun for every dive profile if you know what Iam talking about and that is way too many I got what I paid for it at the end. I love wood guns but when it came to penetration hunts and on the reef stuff with no reel metal is my choice. The problem with people who trash JBL is that they "paint all models with the same color" JBL. The Magnum series can take lots of beating for many many years and fill up the bag too!

[Rivas2u]

I have had my mako for coming up on a year now so I think i can give it a proper review.

My first shot with the gun was a miss and when I when to reload, the trigger mech was jammed and the shaft would not lock in place. I did take a beating in the shore break trying to get the yak out so it was packed with sand but not a good first impression. I was unable to use it after that first shot and spent the rest of the day just freediving in the kelp. Went home and rinsed and rinsed and rinsed some more. The shaft would still not lock into place. Yes, the saftey was off and the shooting line was not in the way. So I took apart the handle which was very easy with a punch. Cleaned everything out then took my dremmel and de-burred every edge, plastic and metal. Put it back together and it has worked perfectly ever since. It is very accurate and I have enjoyed using it. I probably haven't taken the best care of it but it still works great. Im using it with a reel and the clip from the reel line to the shooting line bangs on the gun a lot and is noisy. I know this thread is old but I used it when shopping for my first gun. Hope this helps anyone who is mulling it over.

[hydroid]

Originally Posted by spearq8

Any gun that uses a slide ring will tend to be noisy. I can hear a shot in the water from pretty far away when someone else is shooting with a slide ring. The noise of steel hitting steel at high speed can carry quite a long distance in water.

Not all JBL's have slide rings.

[popgun pete]

I did not vote as I use JBL, Biller/Sea Hornet/Ocean Rhino depending on which gun I grab from the gun rack and what and where I plan to shoot. A change is as good as a holiday, but I am going to need a bigger gun rack! Plus my gun calibration tends to go off on "auto-shoot". All I need now is a gun where the instructions say "you must think in Russian" (cf Firefox).