Why is speargun size important for accuracy and control?

For my first speargun I picked something that looked good sitting on a shelf in a store. I was looking for something that looked like an experienced diver would take out on the reefs to hunt some fish. I settled on a long sleek speargun that I even hung up in my dive bag for the trip home from the store. After the first 3 dives with this speargun I managed to hit everything I shot at… miss!

The size of speargun you should use for your style of diving is a big part of the world of spearfishing. There is more to choosing the size of speargun than just reading the specifications of guns on display in a dive shop. Your choice of speargun size will be largely influenced by the style of diving that you do and the size of the fish that you are trying to harvest.

What longer guns actually do for accuracy

Longer spearguns provide improved accuracy in open water situations such as reef hunting and pelagic hunting. The increased length of longer spearguns (90cm to 130cm) provide more power and the ability to sustain shaft velocity over greater distances. In open water situations such as reef hunting and pelagic hunting the range of

Accuracy with longer guns: Open water hunting, reef wall diving, blue water hunting for pelagic species all demand more power from the spear and more sustain to the back of the spear shaft. This allows the diver to shoot fish at greater distances thus effectively extending the range at which the diver can hunt. An 8m fish will be on the moon if you cannot shoot it with the speargun you have.

As with all tackle, there are several contributing factors that make a speargun more accurate the longer it is. The shaft length of a speargun is perhaps the most important as the longer shafts of bigger spearguns allow for more kinetic energy to be carried down the length of the speargun by the shaft.

• More bands mean more stored energy, which means faster shaft speed over distance
• A longer barrel gives the shaft more time to stabilize before it exits the gun
• Greater distance between your grip and the tip means small aim errors get corrected before release
• The added weight helps dampen involuntary movement when you’re holding aim underwater
• More bands mean more stored energy, which means faster shaft speed over distance
• A longer barrel gives the shaft more time to stabilize before it exits the gun
• Greater distance between your grip and the tip means small aim errors get corrected before release
• The added weight helps dampen involuntary movement when you’re holding aim underwater

While weight is a determining factor in the choice of speargun, there is more weight to consider than the weight of the speargun itself. The weight of the speargun and of its shaft is much more important to a diver than the weight of a slingshot or of a free-diver’s speargun. The heavier speargun and shaft will provide a speargun with better stability. Stability is a crucial factor in accuracy, and thus in hunting. When a fish is hovering 8meters below the surface of the water, it is often the case that the diver is hovering at the surface, only 8meters above the fish. In this type of scenario it is crucial to the diver to have complete control of the speargun in order to take the shot accurately. Thus the speargun must be as stable as possible in order to maintain accurate tracking on the fish. When a diver is hovering in the water and holding his breath at the same time, it is critical to have a speargun that does not wobble or move while tracking a fish underwater. It should be obvious that a heavier speargun will provide more stability underwater than a lighter speargun, and that this increased stability will translate into increased accuracy for the diver. A heavier speargun with good tracking will provide the diver with the stability he needs in these type of situations, and the added accuracy that comes with it.

Short guns aren’t beginner guns (people get this spectacularly wrong)

There is a misconception that short spearguns are used by beginners, and long spearguns are used by more experienced spearfishers. There is nothing further from the truth! Short spearguns are very difficult to use for long distance shots, and as a result are typically only used in tight and technical situations.

Short spearguns are in fact really hard to use in open water for the simple reason that their effective range is so short. A 50cm fish at 5m would be nearly impossible to reach with a short speargun but a long speargun would have no problem reaching a fish of similar size at similar range. As such in open water a long speargun is far more effective but in really tight technical places (like in amongst rocky crevices and within kelp forests, or in shallow reef systems where you have to make your way through narrow gaps between coral) a short speargun is actually far better.

Another drawback to long spearguns is that they are often very inflexible in tight rocky areas. So the fact that long spearguns are less accurate than short spearguns at close range is actually less important than it would be for a diver who mostly does open water hunting, because in channels with tight corners and narrow passages of very shallow water, long spearguns are not very useful. The reason that long spearguns are not very useful in these situations is because they are like big, heavy, inflexible buses. They are very difficult to maneuver in and around rocks. The gun can even get stuck in the rocks and be very difficult to get past in these locations. In these locations a short speargun is far better.

It’s easy to give the impression that short spearguns are better for beginners and that longer spearguns are for more experienced spearfishers but this isn’t accurate. Short guns are in fact best for a very specific set of environments and the ability to effectively utilize a short gun in open water is very hard to get to grips with. And yes in short (no pun intended) the ability to use a short speargun effectively in open water is a skill that is very hard to learn and most Spearfishers never master it. In contrast it’s relatively easy to get to grips with the use of a long speargun in tight environments such as amongst rocky outcrops, in amongst Kelp, in shallow reef environments where the ability to traverse said environment is of paramount importance and tracking down a fish in said environment between narrow gaps in rock face or between thick strands of Kelp.

A quick comparison worth keeping in mind

Visibility Changes Everything

Most speargun buyers do not realize how much the water visibility affects the choice of speargun for accuracy. In general, the following range of water visibility will determine the choice of speargun length. In very low visibility of around 1-3m, you would choose a short spear gun of around 50-75cm. In average visibility of around 3-5m you can get away with a medium-length speargun, around 75-90cm. In clear blue water with visibility of 10m or more you can use a long speargun of around 110-130cm or more.

This means in ‘poor’ visibility the shots need to be made at close range to be effective (often within meters of the diver), the fish will often appear out of visibility in front of you and before you know it have disappeared into the depths of the murky water. Under such conditions a shorter more maneuverable speargun is usually far more effective than a longer ranged model. Even though on a clear day the longer model would no doubt score more shots, on the poor visibility days the short gun will give better results.

(That spearfishing is far more than shooting fish with a lance is something that I find particularly fascinating. Even more so than say bowhunting in that each environment presents such vastly different problems to be solved and the gear is chosen with reference to the conditions of that dive. No two dives are ever the same.)

Experienced spearfishers do not typically carry one speargun to the water’s edge for all of their dives. They tend to have a variety of guns in their arsenal and choose the most suitable speargun for each day’s conditions prior to entering the water. In this way, they can get the most out of their time and effort and have a successful dive.

Before you buy, actually compare your options

So before you spend a bucket of cash on spearguns of varying lengths to ‘try before you buy’ (I know this from experience) take some time to browse through the spearguns on spear guns for sale and really compare the ‘spec’ of various models within the same length range. For example the differences in barrel material, band setup, handle shape and more will allow you to make a more informed decision before purchasing.

A quick scan of the spear guns for sale will give you a good idea of the models and sizes available. Before you purchase make sure you are buying the right speargun for your skill level and the type of diving you do. I think it would have saved me a few misses from the last three dives if I had spent a bit more