Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Air Guns Benjamin Marauder .22 -shot one today .

Shot a friends new pcp Benjamin Maruader today OMG so quiet i still don't believe it .
Knocked a pidgeon off the wire at 30-35yds -the only noise i heard was the trigger mechanism -sounded kind of like a tuning-fork tapped on something ?Weird hard to explain the sound.

Anyway i'm going to wait for the .25 cal that is to be released in about four months .
This was my first expierence with a PCP gun with a full shroud , -very different than a spring gun for sure .

Mike..

I own one of the first 100 Marauders made in .22 cal.They are a hell of an Airgun for the $$.The sound you heard was the vavling "ping" resonating in the air tube. You never here it on most PCP rfiles because the muzzle report ususally masks over it. Not on the Marauder..LOL

IMHO,I would get too excited about the .25 cal. Maruader.


I was at the SHOT show and have a few freinds that work for Crosman. They did not have a woking ample of the .25 cal there and it was still being developed for release this summer.


Unless they do some MAJOR revisions to the standard Marauder valving (which I doubt) ,they will be depending on LIGHT WEIGHT PELLETS in the .25 cal to get the velocity up. Look at their new .25 cal pellets they have relased. All lightweight stuff and no heavier than the Average .22 pellet.

The ONLY thin that truly makes the .25 superior to the .22 cal for longer range shooting is a long henavy High BC slug- about 30 grains-

The bottom line is it takes a BIG valve and LOTS of Air capacity to push the heavy 25 cal pellets fast enough to run with a good .22 cal. AND keep the shot count resonable(at least 20 shots). The standard Marauder platform simply cannot do it.

Greg Davis in Arizona is building custom .25 cal Marauders right now, that I believe will prove to be superior to wahtever Crosman tries to sell us later this year.

Greg's guns have reworked 22 magazines tht hold 10 shots, the new Crosman made guns will hold only 8.

Greg's guns have opened up valves for higher velocites with the heavy .25 cal slugs AND extension tubes for the Air resevior(even with the shroud cap) that will keep the shoot count resonable.I have heard his guns do 900 FPS with 30g pellets.

They also have Lothar Walther barrels on them. So, the accuracy is there to take advantage of that power.

I can just about garantee you that the factory .25 Marauder will be LCUKY to do 700 FPS with the same slugs- that AIN'T good enough to run with a good .22 Marauder past about 35-40 yards.

Jim ,

Thanks for the info. on the Marauder .

What do you think about the 25gr level pellets that seem to be very popular in the .25cal. ?
I want killing-knock down power in an air rifle more so than longrange .
Also i know that pellets don't expand much if any at lower velocities so the .25cal might not do what i was thinking it would.

Well..

Ballisticas are ballistics..


In air rifles like anything else.

No .25 cal airgun will be a magic wand or the hammer of thor.

It is STILL a low powered rifle comapred to a rimfire etc. and shot placement mattters above all else, whether your rifle is .177 or a .25.

Having said that, inside of 40 yards, the .25 cal will transfer the most energy to the target all other things being equal.
I will say this, I think in terms of knockdown power there is LESS of a difference between the .22 and 25 cals than ther is between the .177 and the .22.

10-4 Jim ,

Tell me a little about your expierence with your .22.
Does it shoot the heavy'ish pellets that weigh in the upper teens ?
What's the real world sound difference with the gun running at full velocity compared to a low setting ?
Thanks for your time .
Mike

mike..

All guns are different individuals..

Even though the Marader is nearly infinitely adjustable I don't think it's fair to expect the gun to magically shoot the same pellet it likes at 700 fPS at 900FPS..not likleyu to happen.

My .22 was intended to be a serious hunting PCP, so it is set up WIDE OPEN. Full power setting on hammer weight ,srtoke and transfer port .

It shoots the 18g JSB pellets best of all followed by the 16g JSBs ans the Crosman Premiers. It shots best at top velocity.It hates RWS pellets at any velocity.

On a good day it AVERAGES under .25" CTC for five shots at 25 yards with the pellets it likes.

In terms of sound,, it just "pings" a little loader.. NO report at all from the muzzle. The Marauder has a HUGE interna shroud compacity to absorb the air expelled at full power.

I have talked with several Air Arms 410 owners and who also own Marauders .They all tell me once the Marauders are adjusted and fed the pellets they like they run with a AA 410 any day of the week in terms of accuracy and much more quiet.

Pretty good for a $500 rifle.

My next purchase will be a .177 Marauder and I plan to set it up for a 12 ft lb Field target rifle.

Thanks for all the info !

...I am hoping that since Crossman now owns the Sheridan name they will bring out the Marauder in .20...some day over the rainbow...

Bob

Probably not very soon..

Lately, the .20 cals have been slipping in sales.