'Bang Sticks' in-shore.

[saltydog452]

I do not know if this is the correct sub-forum. If not, please put this post where it belongs.

Are 'Bang Sticks" legal inshore? I know some fishing charter boats have them onboard.

Supposedly, they are not exactly unheard of by folks who harvest 'gators.

Thanks,

salty

 

[Ridge_Runner_5]

I'm rather confused here. What kind of weapons are you asking about?

 

[Sasquatch in MN]

bang stick....its a short pole with a cartrige on end (12 ga?) that is used by scuba divers to ward off sharks.

The ones I've seen use compressed gas rather than a cartridge though and would presumable be unregulated.

Don

 

[saltydog452]

Its a stick of metal with a chamber for a loaded round on the end. No rifleing, no barrel, just the chamber. No over-pressure when fired underwater. Its fired by forceful contact.

Not to be confused with 'pen guns' or 'cane guns'.

At one time, bang sticks were fairly common in .303 flavor with Aussie shark hunters, don't know about now.

The expanding gas does most of the damage. Maybe a blank cartridge would be just as effective. I dunno. A bang stick is safer on a fishing charter boat that a single shot, break top .410 should a client hook one of 'Jaws' relatives.

I was just curious if they were legal inside the 3-mile limit.

Maybe jurisdiction issues get involved. I don't know.

Am I making any sense now?.

Thanks,

salty

 

[hogdogs]

Bang-stick weapons are old school fishing devices but have gone from garage device to "bought items"... I don't know of their restrictions etc. but they are predominately a "power head" device.
Brent

 

[saltydog452]

Don't know about old, or new, fishing devices.

When I was a kid, fish could be 'telephoned' with minimum fuss and in short order. It was about putting food on the table, not sportsmanship.

...which has absolutely nothing to do with my 'bang stick' question.

Some hooked and gaffed critters are made non-threating before they are hauled into the boat. The 'bang stick' can do that safely.

Just curious about legality and various jusisdictional rules.

Thanks,

salty

 

[hogdogs]

My pop has putting the bang stick to sharks since '67 and they were common place "Keys" boat equipment well before he arrived there.
Brent

 

[Don H]

I was just curious if they were legal inside the 3-mile limit.

If they were illegal inside the 3-mile limit, then the boats that have them could never legally make port.

 

[hogdogs]

If not legal inside the 3 or 12 mile limit... The gator snatchers couldn't use them in the rivers and lakes where they are the common method of kill.
Brent

 

[rdmallory]

I don't think they would be anymore dangerous then a big knife.

The only way they go off is direct pressure and full contact.

If you set one off without a barrel for the round to build pressure it would fall to the floor in a few feet.

Doug

 

[oneounceload]

Around here, bang sticks are typically in 357 or 44 mag for gator hunting, applying the coup d'grace to one of those prehistoric giant lizards

 

[gyvel]

However, because of the inherent stupidity of current regulations stemming from our American Gestapo, a "bang stick" which can chamber a 12 ga. round would be considered a "short barreled shotgun, and thus would be an NFA weapon.

Probably nothing has come of this as of yet because it hasn't occurred to the mental midgets in Washington so far.

 

[Lawyer Daggit]

Is it a short barreled shotgun? back in the days they were unregulated in Australia I had a power head in .303 I carried spear fishing. It had no barrel at all.

It is simply a chamber that holds the case above a firing pin. As reported earlier it is the gas that does the damage not the projectile- which does not travel far under water when discharged.

 

[gyvel]

If you had one in .303 in the U.S., it would be considered an NFA weapon (short barreled rifle), too, most likely.

In the U.S., the regulations have gotten so profoundly stupid that an armorer's cutaway is considered an NFA weapon if the barrel has an intact chamber and is less than 16" long, even though the receiver portion is so seriously weakened that firing it would result in disaster.

 

[VUPDblue]

It wouldn't be a SBS or SBR as it doesn't meet the definition of Rifle or Shotgun to begin with.

 

[gyvel]

It wouldn't be a SBS or SBR as it doesn't meet the definition of Rifle or Shotgun to begin with.

Are you absolutely sure about that? (And I mean that as an honest, sincere question, not a smartass comeback.)

 

[VUPDblue]

The definition of a rifle and a shotgun both contain the description that the firearm is shoulder-fired. A bang-stick is not shoulder fired, thus not a rifle or shotgun to begin with. If it wasn't a rifle or shotgun to begin with, it can't be a short barreled rifle or shotgun.

An example that comes to mind is the Serbu Super Shorty AOW. It is an AOW and not an SBS because the host weapon never met the definition of a shotgun to begin with because it was not shoulder-fired (as evidenced by it's lack of a stock).

 

[saltydog452]

Folks, I simply do not know. There is no barrel, thus no rifleing, no stock, and the firing pin/striker is tripped by forceful contact.

What is legal in Boise, ID may not be legal in Brooklyn, NY. Thus the comment about jusrisdiction. State, City, County, Federal..I don't know. Biloxi may be different than San Diego.


From what I gather, bang sticks are fairly common on fishing charter boats.

Realistically, there isn't that much difference in a bang stick and a Hilti or Ramset tool that shoots (they are primer/powder actuated) anchors into concrete.

I dunno, just asking.

Thanks,

salty

 

[raimius]

It may be an AOW. It doesn't really fit into the SBS/SBR category.

My gut says the BATFE would call it a firearm, since it uses shotgun/rifle ammunition.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Here are some examples...
power head and bang stick

http://www.rayzplace.com/per_dv3.htm
http://www.bluewaterhunter.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/shop_bangsticks.html#