A Review into my Aimrite Custom Speargun Roller Gun named Poseidon's Roller
This review has been much requested and well overdue. I dont like reviewing things until I've really put them through their paces. I can absolutely say I've put this gun through its paces.
Disclaimer: I am proud to announce I am an Aimrite Team Diver, this review was not requested, nor am I receiving anything in kind for it. The review is honest and was written to provide some insight into my popular gun. I had purchased Aimrite gear and used it for some years before becoming a Team Diver.
My Speargun History
After growing up in the UK with little to no vis, I had relied on two unbranded guns for the first few years of my spearfishing journey, just single banded 45cm gun from possibly the '70s or '80s. It didn't have a safety, and the trigger mech was plastic and heavily worn. If you ever bumped the gun, it would fire. Not super safe, but taught great gun discipline.
My Second gun was an unbranded 55cm gun from eBay. It was cheap and cheerful at 40 pounds. It came with two more bands which were more than what was needed for smacking mullet, pollock and the occasional bass.
My third gun was purchased in year three of my spearfishing journey and was an Omer 75cm double-banded gun that had a reel. It felt like a beast. I had an operating safety switch, wow. It shot exactly where I wanted it to. It survived a couple of cliff falls and withstood the test of time for some years. I travelled to Australia for a two week holiday that turned into a permanent move. The reel was barely used, but it was fun to turn on once every now and then when diving without a float on those quick dips down cliffs.
My fourth gun was a slightly longer 85 I brought because it was on sale, and it was too cheap to say no to. I found the 85 to be just about right for what I needed. The areas of the UK I grew up diving were gradually increasing with better visibility.
My fifth gun was an ocean hunter 110. I was diving in clear blue water Between Perth and Albany, I found myself living in Margaret River, and the 110 just made sense for visibility and size of fish being shot. It was an excellent little cheap gun that had a purpose and served it after travelling a bit with it through south-east Asia and the south pacific.
Once I came back to Australia, I found (or convinced myself) that I needed a new gun. The Ocean Hunter had gained a nice dent in it, which affected the way it moved through the water. I was keen to purchase another gun that was a little sexier than the bare blue aluminium. The sixth gun I purchased was a 115 Omer Enclosed Track. This was my first experience with an enclosed track with a reel, and I loved this gun, except that trying to reload in a hurry wasn't always so smooth. The accuracy was on point, though, until the camo pattern began to flake off. This then resulted in some bulging along the track, which needed sanding back and cleaning up from time to time. It had a cuttlebone design which I rated for hydrodynamics and moving the gun quickly through the water.
In between this, I had purchased a number of Rob Allen guns to sell and used a Riffe and JBL wooden gun. Wooden guns just aren't for me as much as I love the natural look. I need something I can be rough with and rely on for days on end without washing in freshwater due to the nature of hike and spear trips.
After some serious use and abuse on the ET, I decided it was time for a Rollergun. I loved the concept of a roller. So the decision to buy the Omer Carbon Rollergun was a no brainer. I loved Omer never had issues with their gear... until this gun. Sadly the first shot I had on this gun resulted in the bands flying off, this was straight out of the factory, and it failed. I lost the bands and was gutted to have a 12-15kg king swim by without bands. After numerous unresponded emails to customer service, it's worth noting I couldn't deal directly with Omer as I had purchased the speargun through an independent store. It was the store that I was struggling with. I made myself up some new bands and thought I had worked out the issue. I used the gun with no issue for a few dives before heading off to Tonga to chase awesome reef species.
Sadly I left my spare rubbers at home, and the first fish I shot in Tonga had the bands fly off in the water. As I was in awesome whitewash when it happened, my bands vanished, never to be seen again, luckily I acquired some cheap local rubber, which sort of did the job, and I managed to shoot a few fish over there.
When I came back, I spoke with another lad who had the same dramas. I decided to rerig the gun and sell it on to someone else, I explained exactly what happened, and they were going to break the gun down and build their own.
Two things happened, though,
I discovered I love the look, feel and durability of carbon fibre. Secondly, I loved the concept of a roller gun and the additional power it gave me with increased reliability.
Aimrite History
The Aimrite Spearfishing brand was established in 1998 to provide trigger mechanisms and accessories to some of the world's finest custom speargun builders. After perfecting one of the world's strongest, most reliable trigger mechanisms, Aimrite moved its focus and switched to building a European trigger of equal quality, which then led to the manufacture of one of the best rail guns on the market to date. Originating in Hawaii, Aimrite considers this the birthplace of its Venom rail guns; however, in recent years, Australia has been the home base of its operations.
In 2012, Travis and Cassie Hogan purchased the company, and Aimrite quickly became a spearfishing brand synonymous with durability, precision engineering and Australia. Aimrite International currently builds over 100 guns per month. It is fast becoming recognised worldwide as a premier railgun and bluewater speargun manufacturer and a market leader in high-quality accessories and wetsuits! Since 2012 Aimrite Spearguns have accounted for multiple World and National "BIG FISH" Records, including Blue and Striped Marlin, Dogtooth Tuna, Wahoo, Yellowfin Tuna and Spanish Mackerel, just to name a few!
Aimrite has since wholly redesigned and reengineered the entire range of Aimrite International Spearguns to ensure that all new spearguns would be perfectly balanced and much more user friendly than ever before!
Aimrite International is a company that gives back to the community in many ways. They have provided numerous sponsorship, charitable fundraisers, and courses, and it's thanks to Aimrite for assisting me with my spearfishing adventures by producing custom guns and gear I can use and abuse.
My First Aimrite
After flogging the Carbon Roller, I was on the look for a Carbon Roller. I've always been a big fan of supporting Australian Made products and highly durable products. The saying buy once buy right really applied here. I spoke to numerous people around Sydney who were serious about spearfishing and the name Aimrite kept coming up repeatedly. An Australian-owned Owned Company and is reputable for high-quality carbon spearguns.
I reached out to Travis Hogan from Aimrite, asking for a custom carbon roller gun at 105. When it arrived, it was insane to use, smacking plenty of fish with it, it endured a couple of cliff slips, and famously I chucked the speargun off 30m cliff and, thanks to the float line snagging, it didn't make it all the way to the water. I was devastated, and for sure, it was broken. When I got down to the gun, I was amazed it only had a minor scrape on the side and some barnacle marks on the handle. I can imagine doing that with a wooden or aluminium gun would have resulted in tears.
Anyway, a year rolled by... haha, did you see what I did there, rolled by... roller gun, okay not funny, cool. After a hike and spear, I decided I wanted a slightly smaller gun, something that reminded me of the spearfishing days of the UK.
My Spearfishing Requirements
After taking my 105 Aimrite Roller on a Hike and Spear Trip through the Royal National Park, I discovered that the length of the gun wasn't super practical to carry long distances, often getting caught on bushes and branches overhanging the path. I still wanted something with suitable power to punch through a big fish too. Long enough to be effective on a reef in clear water but small enough to get stuck into some holes. I was adamant that 85cm was the size to reduce weight and length but not so small that I couldn't smack a nice kingy given a chance.
Next, I wanted something that could survive a heavy beating and abuse. Timber and aluminium were out of the equation as both would suffer serious damage on a hike and spear, and I could picture wood splitting and aluminium getting damaged like the ocean hunter. As such, Carbon Fibre was a no brainer. Sexy, durable and lightweight, it is the perfect material for a speargun.
I wanted a roller to ensure I got the maximum power out of the length of the gun. Rollers give uncompromising maneuverability in the water from their reduced length.
I was convinced to add a reel to the set-up in the event I got caught without a float and reel. This gun needed to be highly adaptable to suit a variety of situations and environments.
I slid into the Aimrite DM's with my unique requirements, and Travis got onto the case, and like something only Hephaestus could forge himself, we ended up with this 85cm Aimrite Roller which I promptly named Poseidon's Roller
What do I love About This Speargun?
Poseidon's roller is, without a doubt, my favourite gun in my speargun arsenal. It punches well above its weight, hasn't failed me to date. It stunned me with the range of fish shot. I have developed the technique to gently release some reel line to gain a few extra inches on my shot. Meaning fish like snapper who just like to tease on the edge of your range are now being shot. It goes beyond ticking all the boxes I needed this gun for and has served me well on my hike and spear journeys, consistently providing me food despite long exposure to the sun, saltwater and rough play.
Changes
A bit of a pointless section, really, but I wouldn't change a thing about this gun. It is exactly perfect for everything I've ever wanted for a gun this size. A few people have asked would I build it again but in a double roller, and whilst that sounds cool, I dont think I would. The additional maintenance, weight and size of a double roller would serve me little benefit for the amount of use I would get from having a second roller system. Trying to keep a minimalist set up so as to reduce the chances of failures and maintenance of rubber,
Summary
So there we have it. There is my review of my favourite speargun. If you follow the Wet Mammal channel, you would be more than aware of how accurate and reliable this gun is since I've owned it. It's still proving the test of time as we recently celebrated its second birthday, aside from a few superficial scratches and a few dents in the rear of the handle from cliff climbs and slips. It's doing perfectly. The spear has been switched out due to heavy rusting. The gun is an extension of me, and I really couldn't say I've fired a better gun. It's fun to use. It's ridiculously accurate. It has shot nice kingies, shoots other fish. Incredibly sexy, and it still hasn't failed me. So yes, I recommend this gun to anyone.
If you do want an Aimrite Carbon Speargun for yourself, head over to https://aimrite.com.au and dont forget to use the discount code WETMAMMAL10
Now with the Vendetta available you can pretty much recreate my favourite and most savage speargun in the arsenal.