Mine is stock 7'2. i really like the outline and it doesn't seem overly wide. haven't ridden it yet but will report back once i do!
REMINDER: THE ARENA PLATFORM, INC. has no obligation to monitor the Forums. However, THE ARENA PLATFORM, INC. reserves the right to review any materials submitted to or posted on the Forums, and remove, delete, redact or otherwise modify such materials, in its sole discretion and for any reason whatsoever, at any time and from time to time, without notice or further obligation to you. THE ARENA PLATFORM, INC. has no obligation to display or post any materials provided by you. THE ARENA PLATFORM, INC. reserves the right to disclose, at any time and from time to time, any information or materials that we deem necessary or appropriate to satisfy any applicable law, regulation, contract obligation, legal or dispute process or government request. Click on the following hyperlinks to further read the applicable Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
How do you size your mini-guns and guns?
- Thread starter bluengreen
- Start date
My custom Blackbird is 6-10 x 19.5 x 2.75.
When I ordered it I talked to Rusty's son Clint about the width and he said it was no problem to go narrower.
I am a huge fan of the design. It's got some cheat factor with the thickness and the moderate rocker line but it still feels normal and it's an easy transition from my shorter good wave boards.
I want a 7-6 or 8-0 BB at some point and I'll probably stick with a similar width and thickness.
6-8 and 7-6 always seemed to me the touchstone lengths for california semi guns. widths sub 20 and thickness 2.75 and up
past couple years pyzel looks to the dominate flavor. lots of stock around 6-8 ghosts this season and seems like the 8-0 padillac has taken over for the trusty 7-6 in a bunch of quivers.
and for those fretting over curve in the plan shape and maneuverability, theres this thing called tail rocker to help you out turning your narrow, parallel railed paddle beasts
past couple years pyzel looks to the dominate flavor. lots of stock around 6-8 ghosts this season and seems like the 8-0 padillac has taken over for the trusty 7-6 in a bunch of quivers.
and for those fretting over curve in the plan shape and maneuverability, theres this thing called tail rocker to help you out turning your narrow, parallel railed paddle beasts
just my too centavos I'd prefer the rusty for ca waves over the pyzel
It was. I quit surfing for 12 years and these were my first customs ever. Now boasting several years of erBB experience so I'm basically an expert now 
. In defense of kook me, I wouldn't ride a board that narrow now out at OB.
. In defense of kook me, I wouldn't ride a board that narrow now out at OB.
Last edited:
tore apart the gun room today. a couple favs in there.
big barrels-
fast af
big barrels-
fast af
Just for discussion, since I surfed some DOH today....
First of all I used this board on Saturday, head high to slightly overhead, and it felt really good, pretty loose. If it was a model I'd call it the "Super Swooper." Today, I thought was going to be a repeat of Saturday, but more consistent. Instead, every now and then some much bigger waves came in. I would dare to call a few DOH. I'll admit they were at the edge of my comfort zone. To give you an example, there was one bona fide clean up set- where once there were 10-12 people, after two waves came through there were only two of us. I found what works great in head high, feels a lot different in DOH. My observation is this- on a big wave you are going so much faster that the lift on the bottom of the board becomes too much. It felt hard to bury my edge and I would have wanted a narrower and/or much more foiled out tail.
The Waves- these were not the big sets. I waited around after I got out to see if some of the big ones would come through but they didn't. You can see left over foam out where they were breaking. My biggest waves were all lefts. The right started to close out on the bigger ones. The smaller rights were head high to slightly overhead (like the ones in the photos) and were good screamers . As is common in LA when it gets bigger there were only two other guys really going for waves. They were both on big Joe Bark guns, maybe those "adventure" boards someone posted about. They were pointing and shooting, not swooping...
The Board- 7'-4" x 20-5/8" x 2-5/8. So Cal rocker (for fat, deep water waves). Flat bottom. Hard edges (Griffin influence
). 2+1 but I use a big thruster for the center fin, not a single fin.
This board is at least 15 years old. It's one of those trusty ones that I will never sell. The hickory skins make it bulletproof too. Koa on the pointy bits.
I'm about to make a reiteration of this- more foiled in the tail, wide point moved up, thinner rails and vee in the tail (to help get it on rail). Maybe twinzer??? I'm also not sure if I should try to make it lighter. I know I can. Today was glassy and smooth. But often in bigger waves there's a little chop and lightweight is not an asset IMHO.
Can you see the hard edges?
First of all I used this board on Saturday, head high to slightly overhead, and it felt really good, pretty loose. If it was a model I'd call it the "Super Swooper." Today, I thought was going to be a repeat of Saturday, but more consistent. Instead, every now and then some much bigger waves came in. I would dare to call a few DOH. I'll admit they were at the edge of my comfort zone. To give you an example, there was one bona fide clean up set- where once there were 10-12 people, after two waves came through there were only two of us. I found what works great in head high, feels a lot different in DOH. My observation is this- on a big wave you are going so much faster that the lift on the bottom of the board becomes too much. It felt hard to bury my edge and I would have wanted a narrower and/or much more foiled out tail.
The Waves- these were not the big sets. I waited around after I got out to see if some of the big ones would come through but they didn't. You can see left over foam out where they were breaking. My biggest waves were all lefts. The right started to close out on the bigger ones. The smaller rights were head high to slightly overhead (like the ones in the photos) and were good screamers . As is common in LA when it gets bigger there were only two other guys really going for waves. They were both on big Joe Bark guns, maybe those "adventure" boards someone posted about. They were pointing and shooting, not swooping...
The Board- 7'-4" x 20-5/8" x 2-5/8. So Cal rocker (for fat, deep water waves). Flat bottom. Hard edges (Griffin influence
). 2+1 but I use a big thruster for the center fin, not a single fin.This board is at least 15 years old. It's one of those trusty ones that I will never sell. The hickory skins make it bulletproof too. Koa on the pointy bits.
I'm about to make a reiteration of this- more foiled in the tail, wide point moved up, thinner rails and vee in the tail (to help get it on rail). Maybe twinzer??? I'm also not sure if I should try to make it lighter. I know I can. Today was glassy and smooth. But often in bigger waves there's a little chop and lightweight is not an asset IMHO.
Can you see the hard edges?
Last edited:
dont know for certain, but always figured it is ballard rifled. i do remember hearing that when marlin introduced the .444 in the 60's every barrel coming out of new haven was micro grooved.
somewhere along the way marlin went back to ballard rifling for their big bores (.444 and .45-70)
ive owned this .444 since new since the early 90's. its a deadly accurate brush gun within a 100yds.
i shoot a 335gr flat nose manufactured by buffalo bore. been great for me and equally bad for north coast pigs
I've found that width becomes a problem on my mini guns when setting the rails on steep fast walls. I tend to lean a bit narrower and really like a super hard tucked edge through the tail. Griffin made me a thruster a couple years ago that is perfect. I shipped it back to California to live with my MF2 in my Griffin museum in my office. I may at some point see if I can get it and the MF2 replicated somewhere but just can't seem to bring myself to do it.
What were the dims of the perfect Griffin thruster? Somewhere there are Griffin's files. I wonder if someone, family member maybe, could still cut them? What would the ethics be in that? Maybe unless he stated he wanted his boards to be continue being made...? I wonder if any of the old shaping "icons" are thinking about this?
The dims we discussed are 7'0 19 3/8-19 3/4 and whatever thickness. Greg has a foil he liked and the width and thickness was kinda fungible depending on how it felt when he handshaped it.
Gregs boards always tripped me out. I knew they were thicker at the stringer than any board in my quiver and thinner at the rail than any board. I know what he was doing was outside of mainstream and you had to believe and commit to it to feel it but it was magic when you did. He was a brilliant shaper and would have been a millionaire if he just gave people concaves and adapted to the market. His skills were so high that he still could have made some of the best boards on earth.....but you have to respect him as the savant he was. Man I miss him..
It always sounded/appeared like GG's boards would work great in a place like HI and I know some people that really liked them. They looked like absolute blades meant for ripping waves with push/power.
Most of the boards I saw of his for small/normal waves outside of HI looked big and their riders pretty kooky. The pics he'd post of his longboards as "proof of concept" were also of a very specific, "Hawaiian style" of longboarding that few people outside of HI want to emulate (and can't on the waves they ride a longboard in). That doesn't mean he didn't make good boards for average-poor waves, I just never really saw them.
Last edited: