Selecting the proper spear length for your wood speargun or hybrid speargun:
Determining the proper spear length for a wood
speargun or hybrid speargun, is different than for a railgun. With a railgun, you just add 40 cm to the length of the barrel.
However, in determining the spear length for American Mechanism Speargun (wood or hybrid), the length of the barrel is not used. Instead, the distance between the back of the trigger mechanism to the front of the
speargun is used for calculating spear length. This is because with wood spearguns and hybrids, some have longer butts (distance between back of trigger mech to the back of the speargun) than others.
There is no universal standard for selecting the proper spear length for an American Mechanism Speargun (hybrid
speargun or wood speargun). Some guys like a short overhang of around 10 inches, while others like a longer overhang of up to 15". The average appears to be around 12" of overhang.
To determine the suggested length of spear for your American Mechanism speargun:
- Step #1: Determine the point where the back of the spear is located when it is engaged in the trigger mechanism.
- Step #2: Measure from this point to the front of the speargun.
- Step #3: Then add approximately 12 inches the previously obtained measurement. This will give you a suggested spear length with a 12 inch overhang. If you want a slightly shorter overhang, you can add less than 12 inches. If you want a longer overhang, you can add more then 12 inches.
NOTE: (Threaded Shafts w/ Slip Tips) In selecting the proper length of a threaded spear (for slip tips), you will add only 6 inches of overhang instead of 12 inches to get a 12 inch overhang. This is because the slip tip (with the adapter) is normally around 6 inches long. So, the threaded spears are about 6 inches shorter than flopper spears.
Example: A 58" threaded spear with a 6" slip tip (including adapter) makes for a 64" spear.