Mares Bandit Sling Speargun - Durable Easy to Use Spear Gun for Spearfishing - Ergonomic Handle, 7mm Shaft & 16mm Circular Elastic Band

Bought this smaller (75cm) gun for ease of traveling. I can fit it diagonally in a 40" roller duffel bag and not have to pay for an oversize check bag. Based on other reviews, I put on a 2nd band and ground a better point on the end of the shaft. As others have mentioned, the safety is a little loose. To remedy, I just pressed my dive knife into the plastic to create some bumps to ensure the safety stays put. Gun performed flawlessly on the first outing. To get a little more range, I made a longer shooting line, which the gun already anticipates by providing a notch at the tip of the gun for wrapping one more wrap of shooting line. This will be my go to gun for reef hunting. Previously I used my 105cm Salvimar in the reef, but its higher power and length are unwelcome properties when hunting smaller fish in the rocks and coral.

Excelente calidad y precio

A great gun for the price and perfect for entry level. I have had this for 3 months now. I live in the South Pacific and dive at least once a week but try to get out a couple times a week if I can. I usually fish in tropical very clear waters where the reef drops off to the deep. I free dive with a snorkel and mask. First there are a few flaws with the gun as others have noted. I have found that these issues can be fixed and for the price, I am willing to fix and deal with them.Safety - As pointed out in other reviews, the safety is wonky. When the gun is cocked and ready, the safety slide will move back and forth depending how you tilt the gun. This means that when you want to take a shot, the safety may slide in place and you miss the shot. It also means that the safety may not be on when you want it to be. I found that once the gun is cocked, simply hold the safety into the on position and squeeze the trigger. This seems to lock it in place and it will stop moving. When you are ready, take the safety off and it will remain off. The Catch here is once I take the safety off, it doesn't seem to go back on until after I have shot and reloaded. I was always taught not to count on a safety anyways, but be careful with that. Mares really should fix this issue. It seems like a liability.The spear - it is not good. It has a tri-cut tip which I have found does not penetrate well. Additionally the hooks for the band stick up rather than lay flat with the rest of the shaft. I found that they would catch my line connecting the shaft to the gun at the end of the covered muzzle and cut it. Additionally, on my second use, the crimping on the line connecting the shaft came off after i shot a dogfish tuna and I lost both the shaft and the tuna. I replaced it with a better slightly thinner shaft and have had much better results.Bands - The gun is fairly week with the stock band. I have installed a second band and it has greatly increased performance. You can also tighten the stock band. I find that it is a bit loose and while making it short makes it harder to load, there is room to cut it down a bit.My take - replace the spear shaft and add a second band and the gun will greatly improve. For the price, it is a great gun and I have had success with a wide variety of fish species and size in the 3 months I have used it.

First off I bought one of these in a 95 to start spearfishing. This thing is well built and shots great. After about 6 months 1 bought myself a 115 and gave my son the 95. Have been using them for about a year now and have put down lots of fish. Has worked perfect and is holding up great to heavy usage. Highly recommend this speargun.

The first time I took this out it broke in two places; the string on the band popped loose and had to be retied, and the swage on the line connecting to the spear broke free. Both clear signs of poor assembly at the factory that had be remedied in the water. After fixing those it has been a decent gun.

This gun is right on when fishing do not shoot out of water always under water for shooting this spear

So I bought one of these not expecting anything amazing but I didn't expect to get this trash either. The "safety" button does not work at all. It is loose and will switch on/off by itself if you turn the gun sideways. I thought it was just a defective item because the first gun I got also had a broken trigger mechanism. (When I pulled the trigger, the spear would not release unless you yanked it hard.) I got a replacement and while the new trigger release on the gun worked fine, the safety is still as useless as the first one. Since this is seemingly a good entry level gun, I'm sure there are a lot of new spearfishers out there with these defective guns. Dangerous

Sturdy, cheap, and decent beginner gun--if you get one without a faulty safety. I'm sure it can be fixed with a little ingenuity. Save yourself the heartache of misfires, and spend the extra money on a better gun.