AM just getting into the sport here in Texas and the other day had a 8-10 ft blacktip harassing me with my fish. My question is I have an old single barrel 12g was thinking about cutting it down (of course keeping it legal) and taking it down with me does anyone haVE any hands on thoughts on this. Will the pressure at 80-100ft affect the barrel, ect....? thanks and happy shootin'

You need to look up a device called a "bang stick" for use under water. It is a hand spear with a 12 ga. chamber on the end with a fixed firing pin so that it fires on firm contact. The noise, however, under the surface is horrendous. Obviously this is a life-or-death weapon. Perhaps you should consider doing your spear-fishing free dive, unless you already are. Free divers get harrassed by sharks less because they spend less time under the water. Here in Long Beach the oldest active dive club in the world (Long Beach Neptunes) are all free divers. The members have taken fish up to bluefin tuna and groupers the size of trucks. Some of these "animals" breath-hold to 100 feet!

You can get a bangstick in many different calibers. I don't know which, if any, would have a less painfull report. They are simple devices and should not cost too much.

Happy hunting!

I've used "powerheads" made from .44mag cartridges which you slip onto the end of your spear should you need to fire one at an overly proplematic shark.

The report is not painful, and it is powerful to persuade any shark from harassing you anymore.

I think that if you took a shotgun underwater and fired it, the water in the barrel would act like an obstruction and consequently, the whole thing would explode...

Express,
I'm tempted to agree with your theory, but It's hard for me to see the difference between firing a round (any round) in the absence of a barrel with firing the same round down a barrel. The water pressure in the barrel would be the same as the pressure outside the barrel.

If I could get my hands on a old, cheap single shot 12 gauge I might have to try an experiment (with rope and string of course!)

I agree with express about the gun exploding.
Water does not compress so the pressure would have to go somewhere,,,,,,,, outwards.
I saw a shotgun that was slit from stem to stern. The fella said the barrel had been pointed upwards during a somewhat heavy rain while waterfowl hunting. When he pulled the trigger it knocked him to the ground, split the barrel and the stock. He was lucky he didn't get hurt, or worse.
Bang points do not have a barrel, they are short enough that the ammmo used almost sticks out the end. I have used a 44 mag point quiet a few times and the report isn't bad at all. Sounds more like a big thud under water. Don't set one off above the water tho.

Shooting a shotgun under water will work just fine. You would have to find a load that would be water tight and sealed primers.
The pressure of the watter surrounds the gun the same as pressure on land.
I am in a special operations unit and we have fired a many differant weapons under water , including shotguns.

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