506HS project questions

[JasonGotaProblem]

I finally got to do a drag test on a fish.  My rod intended for this reel wasnt finished yet so I threw it on the rod I built for my 27SH. I floated out a bleeding mullet on a bobber in the high winds because I wasn't casting very well today I'll be honest. I walked away for a while and came back to find I was 3/4 the way to getting spooled.

Well I landed a 6' bull shark, and had to lock down the drag to do so. And snapped the rod in the process near the dock.  The reel performed flawlessly, though I did feel a bit of binding with a locked down drag and a half empty spool. But that's I guess to be expected.

The animated gif below was actually of the moment the rod snapped as I tried to keep him out from under the dock. First time I've ever busted a rod fighting a fish. Usually its feet or car doors.

[JasonGotaProblem]

Come to think of it I wanna strip it down and look for any internal signs of trouble and if none, I'm gonna say it's good to go with these upgrades. Dragging in half a spool's worth of line with a locked down drag, winching the whole time to try not to break the rod (lotta good that did) against a 5-6' bull shark is about as good a test as I can get from shore, save for maybe a bigger bull shark.

I am.looking at the PC handle for it though. I assume it's longer. Cranking Bryan's drag locked down with a stock handle showed me the room for improvement.

[JasonGotaProblem]

Alrighty now. Keith gave me a 501. So i got to comparing spools and shafts and diameters. And we can talk about lack of pin calipers etc but per my $12 calipers and my generally decent eyes and sliding one into the caliper after sliding the other out: they're the exact same dang diameters. Different lengths, but diameter is identical.

[MarkT]

It's the spool shaft that's different between the 501 (bushings) and the 506 (bearings)

[JasonGotaProblem]

It's the spool shaft that's different between the 501 (bushings) and the 506 (bearings)

Agreed but the difference is length and not diameter.

[Bryan Young]

The collar wheee the pinion gear locks into the spool are also of different diameter. The 501 is wider than the 506. For this reason, one cannot easily change the 501 to make it faster but can change the 506 to make it slower.