Cressi Comanche Speargun Review

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When you’re looking for an entry-level speargun, you can’t really go wrong with the Cressi Comanche Speargun. It’s designed for accuracy and ease of use, without all the fancy bells and whistles that you don’t really need to just head out into the ocean and catch some fish.

All up, I doubt you’ll find a better speargun at this price range, as Cressi have put together a decent gun that’s wonderful to use underwater, and accurate to shoot with. So do yourself a favor. If you’ve been wanting to get started spearfishing, order one of these spearguns and you’ll be good to go.

Why you should buy the Cressi Comanche speargun

• Easy reloading with a padded butt and space for a reel
• Sealed barrel and will float once spear is discharged
• Perfect price for beginners or those looking for a cheap speargun

Behind the brand

Cressi are one of the brands that have been dominating underwater sports for years on end. Two brothers, Nanni and Elgidio Cressi started making their own spearguns and masks back in 1938 in a little town in Italy, and the company has only grown since then.

Today Cressi offers a wide range of equipment for snorkelling, freediving, spearfishing and SCUBA alike, and is still run by the same family. What remains is their passion for the underwater world, which is reflected in all of their products.

Cressi Spearguns

As you would expect, there’s a number of different spearguns in the Cressi range. The Geronimo and the Geronimo Pro are similar, differing mostly on the sizes available. The SL Star is their pneumatic gas powered gun and is a great little speargun, and they’ve also got an Apache which is a good speargun for beginners. Today though, we’re looking at Cressi’s Comanche Speargun, one of my favorites in their range.

The Cressi Comanche Speargun

Available in lengths from 60cm (23.6″) to 110cm (43.4″), what you need to be careful of when looking at Cressi’s guns is their measuring system. Here, 60cm is the length the rubber stretches, so you’ll find the spearguns to be a bit bigger than you may expect after ordering.

For a speargun, the Cressi Comanche Speargun is a great deal. It’s aluminium barrel is strong, and the compact muzzle makes it easy to both track fish underwater and to aim correctly at your targets. You can fit up to two 20mm rubber bands on the gun, giving it more than enough power to hit your intended fish. Today, I’m reviewing the 60cm model speargun. All up, I believe it’s a great little speargun for the recreational or casual spearo.

Price

The cost of the Cressi Comanche Speargun will differ based on the length of the gun you want to buy.

General specs of the Cressi Comanche speargun

• Aerodynamic muzzle that accommodates up to 20mm screw-in Cressi bands
• Muzzle design allows for a second rubber band to be added for additional power
• Anti-corrosion aluminium tube barrel that’s sealed for buoyancy
• Comes with a 6.5mm stainless steel shaft with flopper (or 7mm with screw-on tip)
• Rubber butt extension on the handle makes for fast and easy loading

The handle

Following Cressi’s success with their Apache series of spearguns, the Comanche makes use of the best learnings. The handle is molded from a new generation of thermoplastic which makes it both lightweight yet strong, and is rugged enough to hold up against hard wear. What’s nice is the soft butt on the speargun which makes reloading easy, and there’s an easy spot to affix a reel.

The trigger

Exactly what you’d expect on a sub $300 speargun, the trigger mechanics have held up find for me so far. A few people have commented about troubles they’ve had with the springs creating misfires, but I didn’t experience this at all myself. I’d just recommend a bit of common sense. If something doesn’t feel right, take it down to your local spearfishing store and get it checked, or send it back to Cressi as they’ve got a limited 12 month warranty to fix any defects.

The shaft

Out of the box the 60cm speargun comes with a 6.5mm shaft that’s not really all that impressive. The flopper is a little too big which cuts down on its aerodynamics, and I actually bent the spear after hitting a rock on my second dive. Not enough to ruin it, but it started throwing the accuracy off so I replaced it with a different shaft.

The barrel

The barrels on the Cressi Comanche speargun are made from high quality anodized aluminium which is perfect for marine use. Plugs seal the barrel to keep the speargun buoyant underwater, making it easy to track and aim with every shot.

The muzzle

The streamlined and hydrodynamic muzzle makes it easy to track your fish, and there’s a screw-in system to connect your bands. These are positioned either side of the shaft to give you an optimal forward thrust with every shot, as well as the ability to easily target your prey. If you don’t like the Cressi bands you can swap out the muzzle for an open end one, but I find it’s plenty. What I would recommend though is upgrading the 16mm bands to 20mm, to give your shots a little more punch.

How it actually feels to use

After getting the Cressi Comanche speargun in the water I was rather impressed. For a cheap gun it holds up well, and off the shelf I was getting good power up to about 6 feet. Which for a 60cm gun isn’t bad, and is plenty far enough as I bought this gun as a cheap little cave hunter.

What I would recommend though is upgrading the shaft. I knocked it hard into a shelf of rock on my second dive, and the stock shaft that came with the gun bent just enough to throw off the accuracy. I replaced mine with a 100cm Rob Allen spring-steel shaft, and I’ve not had a problem since.

Despite the cheaper feeling plastic handle I’ve not had any issues with the trigger mechanism or the safety, though I did notice the shaft doesn’t always “click” in properly and you might need to wiggle it around until the safety catches.

It’s nice the speargun actually floats once the spear is discharged, as in some of these cheaper models I’ve found that the plugs that seal the barrel actually leak, and the gun fills up with water. I’ve not had this problem at all with the Cressi Comanche speargun. All up, it’s been a durable gun, that for the price is almost unmatched in the industry.

Of course, it’s not suitable for big game hunting, but for getting into those tight spots where I knew I’d scratch up the gun and probably bend the shaft, it was the right amount of money to spend.

The downsides

Being a cheaper gun it’s to be expected that this speargun doesn’t come with all the bells and whistles, but it’s a downside none the less. The main thing that was annoying was the missing bungee on the shaft line, which I had to add in myself after I snapped it off.

A handful of other customers of the gun have complained about the difficulty loading the gun, however I have had zero problems so far, compared to some of my bigger guns it’s rather simple to snap the bands into place. Most average guys should be able to load this without issue, though if you’re stuck I recommend checking out the instructional videos that demonstrate “how to load a euro speargun.”

The results

Overall, I’m rather impressed with this gun for the price range it’s in. You cannot expect it to hold up against the more premium spearguns like the Rob Allen Tuna Railgun or the Riffe Padauk, because they’re simply in a different league. My advice is to get a Cressi Comanche speargun when you’re just getting into spearfishing or wanting to upgrade from your pole spear, as it’s the best speargun in the entry-level price range. All up, a rather fantastic gun for the price you pay, and I’m happy with mine that’s for sure.

Happy spearin’