Meandros has a very complete range of spearguns, starting from different choice of barrels, such as the b28 and the b32, the latter winner of the 2025 Best Choice by Apnea Passion in its category. But there is also the extraordinary Meandros Argo speargun in the Greek company spearguns line. This has a very strong elliptical section barrel.
Barrel
The elliptical section barrel has dimensions of 32.0mm height and 40.0mm width. The thickness of the walls is 1.5 mm, which makes the entire barrel amazingly stiff and resistant. The material is aeronautical aluminium (Ergal), which is the toughest alloy of such material. In fact, it is a high-strength alloy used in the aeronautical field, where stiffness, fatigue resistance, and lightness are crucial. Another aluminium alloy is anticorodal, which has high resistance to corrosion, but it is not as tough mechanically as Ergal.
With the use of aeronautical aluminium, Meandros ensures the best resistance to corrosion thanks to a top level anodization. This is done on every single piece of tube, so to completely cover all the aluminium.
The barrel is complete with a trapezoidal section integrated shaft guide in all the length. This improves precision of the shot and additionally stiffens the barrel, especially in the vertical direction. Moreover, the loading of the speargun is easier thanks to the possibility to position the shaft more stably on the integrated guide.
The elliptical section barrel of the Argo has unbeatable rigidity and still good lateral swing thanks to the reduced vertical height.
Handle
As for the b28 and the b32, of course with differences in the elliptical section connection handle to barrel, the top design of the Meandros Argo does not change. A key element is the fact that the handle is one single piece, generating an unbeatable rigidity. which perfectly matches the one of the barrel, for a speargun that can support extremely heavy loads of the elastic bands. Un such a way, the precision of the shot is optimized. Also, the 100% stainless steel release mechanism will be perfectly blocked in the handle, improving shaft release. Even the rear speargun butt is one piece with the handle, and is greatly designed: wide for a great support surface covered with softer rubber for anti skid effect, and with a well open concave upper profile which frees perfectly all the line of aim.
Frontally, the handle has two well designed “wings” to position the monofilament out of the line of aim and well held in position at any time. The on/off system is a sliding button inside the trigger guard, which acts directly on the trigger to block it. You cannot feel if it is on or off with the hand, but can easily check that visually. If the button is coming out of the trigger guard, the system is blocked.
The connection handle to barrel, just as the one muzzle to barrel, is obtained with the top quality solution of double O-rings, in this case elliptical. This system ensures great seal and at the same time increases the ait volume in the barrel compared to the system that uses plugs. The system is tested for up to 10 bar.
100% steel release mechanism
The release mechanism of the Meandros Argo is not only 100% steel. The system is an advanced technological solution where the load is distributed in 3 points of contact for a greater smoothness of the shot. Additionally, and this is also key, such solution reduces wear of the contact point in time for a very long lasting release mechanism and unvaried performance.
The system of the Meandros Argo is the best performing inverted solution which generates up to 9.5 cm of increased useful length compared to standard systems.
The lateral line release lever is easily shiftable from left to right and vice-versa releasing an Allen screw.
Grip rubber cover
The grip has a special rubber cover to to prevent the handle from slipping. The design on the Meandros b32 is strongly anatomical. There are excellent options of right, left or ambidextrous anatomical rubber cover grips. The 5 different colour options are nice.
Record reduced index to shaft offset
The patented handle of the Argo is another piece of art. The first thing we measured is the offset of the shaft from the index finger (the one reference for the line of aim). For the Greek speargun such offset is reduced to less than 4 mm, a record on the market.
This aspect not only leads to the well known greater precision and intuitiveness of the shot thanks to the fact that our index finger is practically aligned with the shaft. Another advantage is the great recoil control, which additionally improves precision, thanks to the fact that the speargun might move slightly backward during the shot, but it will do so along the barrel axis, without the muzzle moving up or down.
But there is more. The control of the recoil with hand and arm will also increase significantly the range of the shot! Try positioning a speargun with the butt on a rigid wall and shoot. Then make a comparison with the same shot and no wall to counterbalance the recoil, and you will see the range in this second case be reduced considerably. The fact that our hand and arm can better control recoil partially generates the effect of the wall, reducing the backward movement of the speargun during the shot.
Muzzle
The muzzle can be open (Argo Open) with separated passages for two circular bands, or closed with the Argo Dragon. The male part inserted in the barrel is of course elliptical. The design is extremely compact with the design of the channels for the elastic bands made to optimize the shot thanks to the perfect parallel positioning of the bands parallel to the shaft. This determines a more powerful and precise shot.
Standard setting
The Meandros Argo Open has the following standard setting. 2 x 16 mm circular elastic bands. These are the Meandros Energy in latex, with elongation between 3-4 and 2.5 mm internal hole. They are mounted with tied Dyneema wishbone. The shaft is a 7 mm shark fins with single upper barb. The reel is a Meandros Standard Plus model with 1.8mm polyester line.
The Meandros Argo Dragon with closed muzzle is set with a pair of 17.5 mm diameter rubbers in latex with screws. The shaft is a 6.5 mm diameter, two notches and single upper barb. The wishbone is articulated threaded, hydrodynamic, with spring end.
