[Fatman]

This shows the little carbine style, with a dart, and pictures of the reel, reel seat, receiver etc. I called it the Cottonmouth because it hunts bullfrogs and the inside of the mouthpiece is white PVP
Comments appreciated, and any questions answered.

Oh, to shoot it, you reel the dart up into the barrel, press the reel button, (very important) and shoot it like any other blowgun. With a good reel and six pound test line it has an effective range around 25 feet.

I use it with a headlamp at night. It saves a lot of wading or boat maneuvering.

 

[Fatman]

Bulldogs? I meant bullFROGS

 

[slingshot]

Nice. Unique in that the dart is reeled in from the mouthpiece area and not blown in from the barrel end. Any line drag?

 

[Fatman]

Not really, at least not in the first twenty five feet. The brass venturi actually pulls the line as long as air moves across it. Counter-intuitive, but thats how it works. Smoke test shows a little smoke out of the hole until the dart starts moving, but none after that. It almost all goes out the barrel. You do get better range with good quality six or four pound test, and a good quality reel. Also you have to be careful to pull and take up slack when reeling in a frog, rather than "cranking" it in, or the line may bite into the coil and degrade your next shot. I have used up to 12 lb test with no appreciable loss of performance.

 

[slingshot]

OK. I'm liking the Spiderwire 40# test in a 10# test size, so may try this for fishing rig- although I'm deciding if I want to modify my Big Bore cold steel blowgun!

 

[Fatman]

Well, don't know if I would trash a nice store-bought gun just to try. You have to use a really long dart for fishing. Even a very low angle piston cone really puts the brakes on once the dart hits the water.

 

[slingshot]

Well, don't know if I would trash a nice store-bought gun just to try. You have to use a really long dart for fishing. Even a very low angle piston cone really puts the brakes on once the dart hits the water.

Oh, thanks. Didn't know that. I thought a homemede, barbed steel dart would penetrate.