g day just wondering what the Esclapez - Imersion Challenger Speargun
is like if anyone has used them? wanting to no if they are a good gun with
power and accuracy
cheers brad

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I love getting wet!

You get what you pay for. That gun is basically an entry level gun. This might sound rude: its not worth discussing!

Look out for a used gun here on the forum, plenty of guys sell guns, you'll get something much better for the money.

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"o o o ooo o oo o o o 0000o0o 0 oo000 OOo O0O o 0o0 o0o0O"

As I said in a previous post, get to a spearfishing shop and talk to the people who know the products and have a look at the guns there.When talking about gear on this forum there are some very experienced spearo's but there are others who don't know their stuff that includes me haven't had enough experience yet. unless you know what experience the blokes your listening have it's not worth squat.

hey mate that is the first 90cm gun i bought, a couple of years ago, never had a problem with it now own about 6 guns and i reckon it is still one of my favourites, it's got a punchy 6.5mm spear and a shortened single 16mm rubber dont no what jazz is talking about i bet his never used one, for the money its a great buy. have a look at all his other stuff seems to be pretty good quality. you probably wont find anyone down this way has really used an esclapez gun but thats my 2cents worth.

There is nothing wrong with this gun and set up properly it would make a good gun for PPB. I'm pretty sure they take euro rubbers which you can get adapters for so that you can make up rubbers yourself. You will want a pair of them rather than to be shelling out for premade rubbers all the time.

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WARNING: CONTAINS CARROT

thanks for relpies so far guys
at the moment im just bit worried about power and accuracy
price seems ok not to expensive
cheers brad

_________________
I love getting wet!

brad: as nas said, it has 16mm rubbers with a 6.5mm spear, this is a pretty standard setup. I can't see why it would be "underpowered", however you can always change the rubbers.

thanks for that kurt
i am not experienced enought with guns and do
not no what theyed be like 16-18mm rubber change
wouldnt have and effect on the gun??
cheers brad

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I love getting wet!

its not the gun but the diver that makes a good spearo.top divers will still get fish with a hand spear, while newbies float around with a carbon gun!any gun is better than nothin,just enjoy your diving

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hunt it,kill it,eat it!!!!

Hey Brad,

The Imersion Challenger was also my first gun purchased 1.5 years ago. I found it to be a really good entry level gun, similar in features to the Picasso Assegai which my dive buddy uses. The only problem I found was with the safety switch, which is pretty much useless especially with gloves on. But then, safety switches are useless anyway IMHO - my new gun (110cm Picasso Spider Rail) doesn't even have one.

The Challenger is still my much valued backup gun and I plan to put a pranger head on it for picking flatties and bream in the Bay. I've had 'some' trouble maneuvering the 110cm gun on frogs in the shallows when they appear suddenly only metres from my face. Also, firing a significantly higher powered gun directly into rocks in shallow water isn't the best thing. The Challenger is better in this regard.

So my opinion is that the Imersion Challenger is a really solid entry level gun for the price. Accurate and powerful enough for most things in the Bay.

Cheers,

Brenton

my Challenger is a 90cm btw

Brad, if you're set on buying a brand-new gun then any gun under $250 is going to be setup in a similar fashion to the Challenger: 16mm rubber and 6.5mm spear. I'm no expert but I'd say that guns of that setup would be much of a muchness as long as they are made by a reputable brand.

Keep in mind that you are buying a speargun, not a house or car, so it's not a massive investment that you'll be paying off for years to come. If you decided in six months that you weren't happy with it then it wouldn't be hard to sell it off and upgrade to something else.

You aren't stuck with it for life so don't overthink it.

My dive partner uses a similar setup and he hasn't come across any limitations and due to his skill and experience he spears more fish than I do even though I use a thicker spear and rubber (7mm & 20mm).

tinnie is right i still get heaps of fish with my hand spear. tons more than you brad with your gun

sorry steve
butter fish? steve your more limmited to crap speciese with your hand spear
ask your mum for a gun and get more lead wieghts:lol:
brad

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I love getting wet!

There's certainly nothing wrong with Challenger, but if you are prepared to pay $250 for one may be you should put it next to RA. You'll see for your self and then if you can't there's probably no point. Try to pull the cassettes out and check the engineering and finishing inside! Surely you can tell the difference btw Holden Astra and BMW 323?! They have Cayman for $249 at a dive shop in Portsea, same stuff, say Ford this time!