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PICASSO MAGNUM CARBON ROLLER 95 THE TEST AT SEA
I finally managed to bring in the water the new Picasso carbon rollergun I had written a few days ago a presentation about. Given the absolute absence of fishes I could not add any “in action” clip to this article but thanks to the unusual water clarity I succeeded in filming a good target shooting test.
As you can see in the video attached the balance of the gun is perfect and requires no effort at the time of aiming so the wrist remains adequately relaxed. If left in the water, the armed rollergun sinks slowly and horizontally while if you remove the shaft it floats vertically.
The shooting accuracy is impressive from both 3 and 5 meters and requires no aiming compensation, in other words you don’t need to aim at a higher o lower point to hit the centre. Recoil exists and there is no doubt about it but it has a moderate intensity and it is easily manageable considering that it is a roller equipped with 17mm reactive bands.
Like all rollerguns also this one requires a little longer to be recharged in comparison to a common speargun and for people like me who are not used to it can be "unpractical". In fact, once you shoot you need to release the rubber band from the second lower hook and only then you can slide the shaft into the mechanism (by passing the line in the proper spaces) because otherwise it won’t pass under the dyneema wishbone tensed against the muzzle. After that you should place the bands onto the first lower hook and then on the first pin of the shaft and finally stretch them at the maximum. In the video below you can see a part of the loading operation.
The line release tab tends to close even if the shaft is already housed in the mechanism and this might impede a fast re-armament in case of need. It should be remembered that with such a weapon it is essential to make at least two line loops along the barrel as it has a range of over 5 meters and keeping the clutch loose is not a valid palliative. A final mention goes to the special plastic bushings applied at the end of the bands that allow you to tie dyneema wishbones in a very simple way, definitely a viable alternative to the classical system with the flag knot.
A positive overall judgment leads me to endorse with enthusiasm this new design of the Portuguese firm Picasso.
PICASSO MAGNUM CARBON ROLLER RAILGUN BY CARLOS OSORIO
Dear spearo mates, today I want to present the new project of Picasso Sub: the MAGNUM CARBON ROLLER. Thanks to the collaboration with my friend Carlos Osorio I could get my hands on this beautiful 95cm long railgun (of course it is also available in the other common measures) that will surely not disappoint the expectations of excellence with which it is marketed, but let's see in it detail before its test at sea.
The handle has an ergonomic support for your index finger (see photo) that leads it to a very long trigger. The hilt is very wide and combined with the long trigger allows user to have a comfortable and intuitive grip on the handle even when wearing a winter glove. Surely those who have already tried the Picasso guns will find this one very familiar in terms of sensations. The chest support has a V-shaped notch to facilitate the aiming alignment and below the butt it has been applied a large ring to connect the gun to the floatline. The release mechanism is 100% stainless steel and it is reversed, allowing user to gain a few centimeters. The slot in which user slips the shaft is larger than the others on common spearguns ensuring the line to remain intact if user decides to mount it on the first shaft hole. The line release mechanism is located on the left side but you can place it on the opposite one by removing a simple steel barb.
The carbon fiber barrel is 28mm in diameter with a circular cross section and it is provided with an integrated shaft guide which is also made of carbon. On the lower portion there are the hooks for the bands, one very close to the handle and the other at a few centimeters from the head for less powerful shots. They are actually two stainless steel tabs secured by two screws.
The muzzle is compact and slim with a very basic design. The pulleys, equipped with high quality steel ball bearings, are fixed by means of a bolt and a tab that creates a guided passage for the bands.
The standard configuration includes a 6.75mm shaft with robust low-profile pins and 17mm black bands with plastic tips. These require a different mounting of the Dyneema wishbones, in fact, the dyneema line should be inserted into a vertical hole of the plastic tip and it should get out of it through an horizontal one. A few common knots lock it up. It is important to note that the largest band to be mounted is right 17mm, in fact, a larger one would not pass through the space between the head and the tab holding the pulley. The reel is not supplied as standard but you can mount one from the TOP models range. The one in the photo is a TOP 20, a very useful accessory with a retractable knob and weighing just 200g (including over 20 meters of 1.5mm line).
Here are some data related to the weight of a 95cm model:
Railgun complete equipment ( reel, shaft, line and bands ): 1589gr
Without shaft (bands, reel and line ): 1215gr
Without reel (only bands): 1010gr
TEST BUNGEE FLOATLINE ESCLAPEZ 10 METRES
This time I would like to tell you about a spearfishing product Italians are not that familiar with but that has been used abroad for a very long time, especially for fishing in the blue: the bungee floatline. It is an accessory evoking exotic countries but that fits well with the type of spearfishing we practice in the Mediterranean sea and along the Atlantic coasts. It is actually a hollow tube of rubber that ends with two line eyelets kept by a ligation identical to the one used for the bands (see picture 2 ). Many manufacturers have already included this item in their catalog and Esclapez proposes the versions 1/5/10 meters.
This product has over time become indispensable since it allows you to swim comfortably on surface even in the presence of waves without having to continually feel the tug of the waves on the belt, it's basically like a long shock absorber! I also find that it is particularly suitable for winter sea bass fishing when there is surf. The bungee also solves another problem. When swimming on surface for medium - long displacements I usually unroll maximum 5 meters of line so that the buoy is never too far from me. During these trips I often find a good spot to dive on or I see a nice prey and then I am forced to get rid of the line (because it is too short to reach the bottom), leaving the buoy at the mercy of the current. Using this accessory the problem no longer arises because the bungee stretches up to three times its original length !
Finally, this product also allows you to amortize the current when you anchor the buoy off the coast. It should be emphasized also that thanks to its thickness of 2.5mm this bungee guarantees a high resistance which makes it a reliable accessory in every situation. The only "negative" aspect is represented by its weight ( 580gr - 10 meters) and its volume that are obviously not those of a common line. Actually, common lines and bungees have nothing in common and the advantages offered by the latter make its "less comfortable" features more acceptable. Spearo is often a man that bases his activities on some consolidated habits that he tends to not modify but switching from line to bungee is a change you will never regret.
TEST CUTTLEFISH BONE-SHAPED FLOAT FOR ESCLAPEZ EXIUM G2
A few weeks ago I wrote an article about the test of the new speargun Exium G2 Esclapez in which I presented the ingenious system allowing user to change the balance of the weapon according to his needs. In this review I have tested one of the extraordinary accessories that can be mounted on the Exium to set its balance and its shooting accuracy.
It is a cuttlefish bone-shaped shooting stabilizer which can be mounted with two simple and small bolts in the track that runs under the barrel. It is 28cm long and about 10cm large and it is designed to be positioned at any point of the barrel. If its size may raise some doubts about its capacity to not affect the agility in the water, you have to consider that the point of maximum amplitude protrudes only about 3cm (per side) beyond the profile of the barrel.
In the video below you can see some of the many changes you can make and how these affect the balance of the Exium once it gets in the water. It should be highlighted once again that this weapon is sold standard with a 6.25mm shaft while the test was conducted with a 6.5mm one.
ESCLAPEZ EXIUM G2 90CM RAILGUN THE TEST
The French manufacturer Esclapez which I introduced in my latest article about the "Balise" torpedo buoy test, keeps producing truly exceptional spearfishing gears that never fail to be both innovative and effective.
Its flagship product, the Exium, is a speargun that well expresses the desire to present new and reliable ideas to the spearfishing world. It is in fact a railgun characterized by a modern and ergonomic silhouette designed to be as customizable as possible to adapt to the different spearos’ habits.
Like all products by Esclapez, the implementation of simple ideas and the use of the best materials made it an extraordinary speargun solving several problems that are very common to commercial ones.
First of all, we need to point out something; the EXIUM has nothing to do with the TRIAXX and therefore it is not a remake of an old project. The ideas underlying its design are essentially two:
1 - Creating a system that allows to get an optimal balance in all circumstances
2 - Creating a barrel that offers less resistance to water during horizontal swings
I have often bought commercial spearguns that, once in the water were too heavy and every time I changed the original setting (thinner shaft, longer one, etc) the optimal balance was permanently lost . Most of the time I had to stitch some lead (if it was too light ) or worse some cork (if it was too heavy ) and this obviously affected the overall aesthetics and hydro dynamicity of the barrel. The balance of the weapon is a crucial feature for the success of a spearfishing action. We will tend to strain the wrist and forearm muscles to keep the shooting alignment if the railgun is even just a bit heavy, and this will inevitably affect our ability to accurately aim in the long run. This does not happen using the EXIUM since it gives you the chance to install some plastic floats that will help you out to keep the balance under control. The floats do not protrude from the profile of the barrel and therefore they do not obstacle the movements in the water. In order to be installed, these floats do not require any screw and once they are mounted on the barrel they can slide all along it allowing the user to decide the best position.
The Exium is the sole commercial railgun made of anodized aluminum that does not have a classical cylindrical tube but it has two of them with elliptical section. The purpose of such a choice is to make lateral movements more fluid. Thanks to the “windows” along its barrel, the Exium offers a reduced resistance to water while maintaining the necessary rigidity to prevent flexion under the tension of the rubber bands. In fact the two tubes and central supports provide a double resistance to the forces that normally tend to bend them as shown in the drawing below.
IN DETAIL The Exium is sold in 6 sizes ( 75-90-100-110-120-130 ) and as indicated in the title of this article, the object of this test will be a 90cm model. It should be noted that the original setting for this model includes a 6.25mm x 130cm shaft and a 18mm circular band, however I preferred to change this configuration by installing two 16mm circular bands and a 6.5mm pinned shaft.
THE HANDLE The handle is very ergonomic and due to its inclination of about 33 degrees it provides an effective and intuitive grip. On its surface there are elements in soft plastic that can be replaced and that are available in 4 colours. The chest support was carved in the center with a V shape to facilitate aim alignment. The mechanism is made of 100% stainless steel and its backed structure allows you to stretch bands about 6/7cm more. The distance between the last hole of the muzzle (the most external) and the first shaft pin (the closest one to the mechanism) is 96/97cm (it can vary according to the shaft used ) for a 90cm model of which the overall length is 112cm. Finally on both the left and right side of the handle there is a little lever that allows you to change the sensitivity of the trigger and then to lock it up.
THE BARREL The height (including the shaft guide) and the width of the barrel measure 4.10cm. Below there is a small groove that runs along its entire length and it is designed to accommodate accessories such as the reel, the video camera mount and the cuttlefish bone stabilizer. Such a groove offers the opportunity to slip these accessories inside it allowing the spearo to move them to the position they feel more appropriate. For example, to mount the horizontal reel (with aluminum spool and available in 50 and 100), you simply need to slide it into the groove and lock it in the desired position with the two screws provided.
THE MUZZLE
The G2 muzzle is the outcome of a full restyling. It allows to mount two circular bands with no metal wishbones and it can also be used in both open and closed version by installing or removing a tyny U-shaped aluminium bridge included in the package. The weight of the railgun ready for fishing (with 130cm x 6.5mm shaft, 2 16mm circular bands and a reel equipped with cord) is 1800gr :
Without shaft 1420gr
Without reel 1206gr
Without bands 982gr
THE TEST AT SEA
As mentioned above I have not used the original configuration because I've adapted it to my style of fishing so I mounted a heavier shaft and a pair of 16mm circular bands ( always Firestorm by Esclapez). That is just the spirit of the Exium project: it is 100% customizable with no problems! In support of a heavier shaft I have installed three floats and in this way the neutral buoyancy was safe. Despite this change the Exium capacity to smoothly move in the water is still excellent, also thanks to the ergonomic handle that allows in my opinion a natural grip that does not require the wrist to adapt. The index finger enters comfortably into the trigger ring without having to bend . At first glance its modern silhouette may seem massive but it is surprising how light it is when you have it in your hands and even out of the water its weight (not at all excessive ) seems to be well distributed. In the water it is effectively easier and more fluid to swing. Whenever I spearfish by using the ambush technique I need to incline the railgun of about 45° to facilitate lateral movements but as you can see in the video below this does not happen with the EXIUM speargun as it offers less resistance to water and therefore the instinctive wrist rotation does not take place .
The firing line is clean from the muzzle to the chest support although the bands ends had not been rounded. I find this gun very good in both design and practice, in fact its performance is unquestionable. Finally, the innovative effort does not affect the price that is in line with the market average.
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