Mr. Carbon, very near the limit
FIRST, line up the target
Seeing, approaching, lining up and shooting: this is the unavoidable sequence in spearfishing.
Accepting this sequence first consideration is how much, for most part in spearfishing, is movement: the diver, the fish, all is constant change.
To control these movements is the founding stone for a successful spearfishing action, done in freediving and so in a limited time.
For the action to attain its purpose it’s necessary for the diver to line up the shaft to the target at the correct distance.
If the gun is not properly lined up all its ballistic capabilities are nothing.
The first feature in a good gun therefore becomes the versatility, meaning the ability to easily and quickly adapt to the unavoidable and swift changes in spearfishing actions.
During a dive the spearfisher does not move easily because he/she is immersed in a fluid where it’s not easy to attain a precise and stable positioning. He/she “floats” more or less widely in the environment, executing only half controlled movements, depending a great deal from his/her abilities and from equipment operability.
The diver movement is controlled only partially because the fluid where he/she is immersed is neither stable at all nor fixed: waves and marine currents complicate every movement. The intensity of all these natural events can reach such a level that the dive is impossible.
Consequently this is a really important issue.
The targets also, the fish, it’s unlikely they are still. When they seems they are they’re instead in a brief phase hastily interrupted with a fin movement.
For managing at the best all these unavoidable situations and achieve the last phase in that fishing sequence, the split second before the activation of the trigger, it’s necessary for the equipment to be well adapted to diver’s requirement, with a fast and simple control. Ergonomics focused toward an aim and not toward a single detail.
This is the versatility concept at the base of the design and the manufacture of C4 guns, the simple focusing on a purpose.
The ergonomics of an underwater gun it’s not only that of the handle, but it has to be referred to the equipment in its fullness. It’s the equipment it has to adjust to the diver, not the other way around. It has not to require adaptations and/or unusual movements for functioning, only simplicity and spontaneity.
For this reason C4 guns does not have shapes limiting easy movements in a single direction. This effect is typically there for example in guns with flat-shaped barrels, allowing mainly a movement in a single direction to the detriment of a multiple direction spearfishing action.
To move guns with generous sections, for this reason not easily handled, inevitably slows down any spearfishing action, sometimes even to the point of unsuccessfulness. Furthermore, shifts bigger water volumes with the obvious consequence of scare off the fish.
The C4 planning philosophy finds its maximum expression in the Mr.Carbon, effortless, fast and accurate in its movements like no other gun can be.
Energy
An underwater gun is an energy battery, stored in by stretching power bands, released at will upon the shaft by the activation of the trigger.
In reality available energy is limited, depending on gun length, power bands tension and it’s regulated by spearfisher physical strength.
In this limited energy circumstances, during the planning it’s fundamental to choose with every attention in the gun technical solutions for reducing to the minimum unavoidable energy losses due to movement frictions.
In Mr.Carbon, power bands position, virtually parallel to the shaft, converts all their extension in shaft velocity. During the planning has been accurately rejected every technical solution reducing shaft speed. For example, an oblique position in bands related to the shaft, produces a 4-5% reduction in the applied power, dispersed in attritions if there’s an enclosed track, inescapable if there’re tilted bands.
Tilted bands moreover, moving at high speed in the water, during their contraction produce also a hydrodynamic brake effect due to their frontal mass, therefore again reducing shaft speed.
In Mr.Carbon all these negative effects are totally missing to a maximum increase in performances.
Dimension or volume in power bands for Mr.Carbon is what’s required and useful for shooting, thanks to a gun muzzle rationalizing its use.
Solutions with circular bands do not really increase gun performances. It’s not truly realistic to think that a portion of them, submitted to high tension and consequently pressed down on the gun barrel (with high friction coefficient between the parts) could, being released, contract and flow increasing the speed of the band portion connected to the shaft itself.
The bands rubber does not produce energy, it simply store it. It has to be stretched so to make the most of the material peculiar features and consequently its deformations possibility.
Therefore it’ll not be a bigger rubber volume stretched that’ll increase performances. Available energy will be what we supplied charging, a function of gun length (useful stretch) and of pre-charge kilograms.
A careful choice in rubber mix and bands diameter will lead to utilize the shortest possible bands, congruent with material stretching, with every advantage on useful stretch length.
In Mr.Carbon these energy dispersions are at the physically minimum possible, both for the kind of building material used, carbon fibre, and for printing technology.
Technical solutions with higher energy absorption, like the combination of enclosed track and tilted circular bands, are totally nonexistent in Mr.Carbon, with effects on precision and on performances of absolutely first range, as demonstrated by repeated independent tests publicly performed by spearfishers.
(See: http://www.bluworld.com/C4zone/mrcarbonfoto.htm)
Monocoque Structure
monoscocca = dicesi monoscocca una struttura a geometria complessa, variamente sollecitata, adempiente a più funzioni, caratterizzata dal fatto d'essere costituita da un' unica porzione a guscio sottile senza soluzione di continuità.
scocca = dicesi scocca una struttura a geometria complessa, variamente sollecitata, adempiente a più funzioni, caratterizzata dal fatto d'essere costituita da più porzioni a guscio sottile indissolubilmente collegate tra loro.
In Mr.Carbon the conceptual project of shape and function is developed to its purest essence to obtain a modern object of industrial design, ennobled by the intelligent use of valuable technological materials as carbon fibre and titanium.
The major structure in Mr.Carbon gun is its monocoque structure, a single section, unfilled and without connections, produced without compromises, utilizing the lightest and sturdy construction material known to man: the carbon fiber and epoxy resin composite.
This material, used by C4 at its full range in Mr.Carbon structure, totally worked by hand by highly qualified personnel, polymerized at 120° C for 8 atm of pressure, allows the construction of a hollow structure achieving different functions and so technically definable as MONOCOQUE, without any evident bending and without any trace of assembly imprecision or wobbles, gives substantial advantage in ballistic performance.
The carbon structure thus realized is totally inert, does not need any maintenance, it’s stable in time and does not show any dimensional alteration.
The unique Mr.Carbon body is derived by manual lamination, the sole possible process with advanced composites, in metal moulds produced with numeric control milling machines (CNC) with extremely reduced tolerances, some hundredths of millimetre.
Carbon prints, by their own characteristic, have linear withdrawals almost near to zero. This allows construction precisions for the bodies almost equivalent to those of the moulds, some scant hundredths of millimetre.
The extreme manufacture precision in Mr.Carbon gives the maximum precision possible on the shot, only the dimensional tolerance in the shaft responsible for the trajectory.
The Handle
Hand grip is fundamental for the best gun management, but it has not to be the steadiest possible, it’s not that one the purpose, but the steadiest compatible with spearfishing requirements that force to shoot in many different gun postures.
The patented Mr.Carbon handle is manufactured by two elements, the first one in front, fixed, obtained directly from the monocoque print of the gun. The other one on the rear, movable, connected to first with two screws that appropriately shaped rings places to the desired distance, following hand dimension.
It’s so possible an excellent adaptation of handle dimension to any diver hand, even to the thickness of summer or winter gloves. It’s also possible slightly change handle inclination, using a different number of rings on the two screws connecting the movable element.
Another possible customization in the Mr.Carbon handle lies in the possibility, for every gun, of two mobile parts on the rear, the first one smaller, tacking back the grip to the traditional monocoque dimensions, tailored on maximum manageability, and another one, bigger, for a better hand support when shooting.
The rear mobile part has four rubber rings that increases the grip and, thanks to their white color, help to easily find the gun if left on the bottom.
Hand grip in C4 guns is purposely shaped vertical and symmetrical because this configuration consents to have the exact sensation as how the gun is aligned, without the necessity to look where it’s aimed.
This simplifies spearfishing action, widening handle utilization conditions, not bound to limited hand positions like happens for example with a handle shaped on the mould of the hand.
Versatility is the primary characteristic of a good gun and the Mr.Carbon handle is an excellent example, first-rate grip without any movement limits.
Steadiness and Manoeuvrability
Steadiness in an underwater gun is essential for guaranteeing necessary precision during the shot. C4 always has chosen to reduce forces producing inaccuracies, therefore in all C4 guns shaft position relatively to the hand has been intentionally lowered to only 9 mm, about half of a traditional arbalete. This allows a fast, instinctive and accurate aim with a reduced rotating up effect due to the gun recoil because the fulcrum effect thus working is only half compared to others traditional guns.
A halved fulcrum effect produces a recoil halved compared with a gun with corresponding energy amount. In Mr.Carbon an intelligent balance of shapes, weights and strains distribution has cancelled, in a gun with a single band, any recoil effect with obvious valuable effects on precision.
Precision in the shot depends heavily on the balancing we give to the gun. A gun with a light tip, with a neutral balance or floating will unavoidably raise the shaft trajectory due its up spin caused by gun rotation produced by the recoil.
This rotation can be reduced by a relevant mass in the gun tip or by a suitable arrangement of forces produced.
This is the solution C4 adopted in Mr.Carbon, achieving an excellent precision without diminishing gun manoeuvrability with useless masses.
The barrel shape toward the muzzle in Mr.Carbon is extremely slim; it does not presents any special profile for avoiding the up spin. For stability, and consequential shot precision, it’s useless and absurd to have a hydrodynamic brake system. A hydrodynamic brake actually works only if there’s movement. If some kind of movement, even a minimum one, is present on the gun tip, the shaft will be inescapably swerved away. The target, some meters distant, will be missed, exactly the opposite of what the system was trying to avoid.
It’s consequently plainly evident that such systems do not produce the result promised. On the contrary, they reduce gun aiming movements curbing its potential.
Muzzle
The muzzle is a crucial element for the precision of a low attrite arbalete like Mr.Carbon. It places bands pull in the exact position related to the shaft, allowing precision and friction abolition to the maximum levels.
C4 muzzles are extremely small and outstandingly sturdy, they’re produced in titanium worked by numeric control machines, only 6 mm thick and weighting no more than some grams.
There’re four available versions: the first one for a single pair of power bands threaded 14x1 (FS), the second one for a single pair of bulk bands to be cut and tied (PS), the third one for a double pair of power bands threaded 14x1 (FD), the fourth one for a double pair of bulk bands to be cut and tied (PD).
On some muzzles there’s a little movable bridge if someone wishes to use shafts with especially high sharkfins.
For all muzzles it’s possible to find in the market a wide variety of elastic bands for set up the gun; virtually every desirable sort of diameters or mix. It’s therefore possible searching for the best ballistic features for a desired kind of spearfishing action or following personal preferences.
Trigger – Triggering Mechanism
The triggering mechanism is made in AISI 316 stainless steel and the titanium trigger is manufactured working the material with numeric control machines for the maximum possible precision, sturdiness and reliability. The trigger manufacture with numeric control machines and the subsequent movements’ precision so obtained allows an exceptionally smooth trigger action in the extremely strong release mechanism.
Shaft release mechanism has been planned in a position about 70 mm more toward the rear than in other traditional gun handles. This solution reduces by 70 mm the distance between hand and muzzle without modification of the arbalete operative lengths.
As an example Mr.Carbon 104 has a useful length of a gun 104 cm long (104 cm = distance between muzzle and second notch) but with a real length as a 97 cm gun (104 – 7 = 97 cm).
The reduced measurement so obtained allows a significant increase in gun manoeuvrability and an easy lining up to the target, key feature of every good gun.
The releasing mechanism has a remarkably strong spring keeping in position the shaft coupling tooth. This prevents an unintentional shaft release with obvious advantages on use safety without interfering with an underwater release due to elastic bands pulling.
Out of the water the shaft release process is possible only exerting a straight traction on the shaft, lifting it slightly. Out of the water the extremely accurate releasing mechanism toughens and the release is difficult. If it’s exerted a perfectly straight force, as happens with the bands when shooting, the shaft leaves the triggering mechanism with really reduced friction.
Loading
To ease the loading of the speargun on all C4 guns there’s a little sealed hole in the barrel, about 15 cm before the first shaft notch, where to insert a removable pin. The pin is a 6x35 mm screw, easily and cheaply found everywhere. For charging the speargun in this way the diver inserts the pin, stretches the bands until their placing on the pin, lifts the gun rear extension to the sternum without moving the hands and finishes the charging until the desired notch. He/she then takes off the pin and the speargun is ready to fire.
This solution, an exclusive C4 idea, allows a decisive reduction on the energy necessary for gun loading, consenting use and loading also to someone not with long arms but wanting to employ long guns.
Reel
On all C4 guns it’s mounted MPL55 reel, with a light and sturdy reinforced nylon spool with a capacity of more than 55 m of 1,4 mm thick monofilament line. The reel is characterized by a double friction system, the first one working by a control handle with an easy grip and the second one by a spring shaped directly on the line wrapped around the spool.
This last friction allows the best adhesion to the line throughout the reeling action and avoids line tangles if there’s a fast unrolling.
Sizes and Settings
Mr.Carbon is produced in four sizes and supplied with the MPL55 reel. The best spearfishing performances are obtained with single couple band muzzles because Mr.Carbon in this configuration has optimal ballistic performances and an unrivalled manoeuvrability, key features for a successful spearfishing action.
Settings with double bands couples greatly reduce manoeuvrability. They are useful on Mr.Carbon only if using shafts of minimum 7 mm thickness and for large targets at a shooting distance so great that no other fittings can cope with.
Mr.Carbon is supplied without bands and shaft and for this reason without balancing. Optimal balancing is obtained when, gun loaded, shaft tip lightly moves down at a velocity near 4/5 cm/sec. Adding a little weight of some grams near the gun muzzle will obtain a balancing correlated to the weight of selected bands, shafts and speartips.
Mr.Carbon guns are covered with a two years guarantee, like any other products under Italian law following European Community directions.
| model/modello | shaft/asta | bands/elastici |
| Mr.Carbon 119 PS | 6,5 x 1600 | Superelax 17,5 x 280 |
| Mr.Carbon 104 PS | 6,5 x 1400 | Superelax 17,5 x 260 |
| Mr.Carbon 94 PS | 6,3 x 1300 | Superelax 17,5 x 230 |
| Mr.Carbon 79 PS | 6,3 x 1150 | 16 x 200 |
| Mr.Carbon 61 PS | 6,3 x 1000 | 16 x 160 |
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