Marauder BRAND-NEW MARAUDER .25CAL CHARGING TANK

[SPARATORE]

Just took possession of a New Benjamin Marauder chambered in .25 Cal. Topped with an Element Helix 6-24X50 FFP. Also, a 20 Cu-Ft Guppy Charging Tank. Off to the local Dive Shop Monday to fill the Guppy... and then out to my shooting range in the Country to align the scope and rifle and run Chrony and Impact Tests.

This should be real fun.

Don

 

[hameditor]

Just took possession of a New Benjamin Marauder chambered in .25 Cal. Topped with an Element Helix 6-24X50 FFP. Also, a 20 Cu-Ft Guppy Charging Tank. Off to the local Dive Shop Monday to fill the Guppy... and then out to my shooting range in the Country to align the scope and rifle and run Chrony and Impact Tests.

This should be real fun.

Don

Please let us know how you get on

 

[SPARATORE]

Please let us know how you get on

Editor:

It was loaded with Air... so, I planned to shoot it here first. After fumbling with Scope Mounting and then the Magazine, Hmm the Magazine, not so easy to deal with, probably due to the bolts friction. And that due to it not being lapped, a bit friction.

I took it into the Garage where I shot a 2X12, Wow! Talk about penetration, went into this hard, solid wood like Greased-Lightning at a depth of just over 3/8 inch. That is a good amount of foot-pounds. No Ground-Squirrel will be safe even at a hundred yards.

Next, I will treat the wood with some Steel-wool and apply some English Paste wax as the Stain was left a bit rough. The Cheek-Piece setting Allen Screws... are cheap junk, the dimensions were not straight-and-clean finally had to use a Torx to remove them and had to clean the stems, they were covered in sticky stain. I will have to replace the Allen screws. So far that is the only assembling flaw I have run into.

Overall, it is a fine looking rifle, heavy too, reminds me of the M1 Garand and the M-14. Fill the air-tank Monday and away I go to my spot out in the country to fine-tune the Scope and Chrony the pellet velocity.

Don

 

[SPARATORE]

Please let us know how you get on

Mike:

I took out the Marauder today, was not very impressed with its poor accuracy at 50 yards. I wish I knew the Twist-Rate of the barrel, I expect my problems could have been improper pellet weight for Barrel-Twist. Could not get it to group properly, fliers and such kept the groups about 1".

It is difficult to swallow buying a 700dollar rifle that cannot group .5" at 50yards out of the box. I understand that it is a sorta beginners model but, I have Remington 700 BDL's that could print .5" groups out of the box @100Y and after spending time at the reloading bench and running the science of reloads, they would do .320" @100Y easily and that was with Factory Barrels.

I contacted the folks I purchased it from and explained my results, the guy said, well that is an entry level rifle, so I said entry level rifles shoot lousy at 50 yards huh? most squirrels are not at 50 yards they are a bit farther and I have watched dozens of YOUTUBE videos of Marauders knocking them at over 100Yards. Something Stinks here. If they expect me to give them good remarks after the sale, they had better follow-up and tell me where they think the problem may be. I have seen too many in videos of Marauders that do much better than mine did.

Disappointing at best,

Don

 

[FL22]

I understand your frustration. I personally feel that what is considered entry level is becoming ever more dynamic in the industry. With so many companies competing for our dollars, we as consumers do and have every right to have reasonably high expectations. Even at “entry level”.

 

[CTAirgunner]

I do not believe the rifle is the issue so to speak, it could be the out of the box tune. I have owned a .25 unregulated marauder and the out of the box tune leaves a lot to be desired in terms of spread.

Maybe I can help out,

What ammo are you shooting? have you chronographed it yet, how many shots are you shooting per group?

 

[hameditor]

@CTAirgunner beat me to it! What pellets - or slugs - are you using and how many shots per group?

 

[PasadenaMike]

Chronograph numbers will tell you a lot. If you don’t have one you need one. We can’t guess our blood pressure without a blood pressure monitor. The problem isn’t twist rate or anything like that. Check its blood pressure and you will know. You want speeds like 870 for pellets

 

[SPARATORE]

Well...... Looks like some folks are reading my posts.

Thanks for all the comments.

WITH REGARD TO THE PELLETS. I used JSB Match DIABOLO they are 33.95gr. I also tried some HAWK, 26.24gr Pointed.

Oh! Someone asked how many shots per group, I used 5 shots per/group.

Another possibility which I did not mention in the previous post... the Scope could be the problem, less likely but, it is part of the Firing-Train and should be considered. And let's not forget Barrel Twist Rate, that works for Propellent driven bullets as well as Pneumatic driven bullets/pellets. Heavier bullets/pellets require lower twist-numbers to increase the RPM of the bullet for stabilization, ballistically speaking the same is true for Air-Rifles.

I reached the Seller today, He highly recommended 25 Grain Pellets. He said, from His experience, that the .25 Cal Marauder performs much better with the 25-Grain. So, we will get some boxes of them and head out after the rain stops. Oh! next time out I am bringing the Chrony to see what the deviation may be.

I am certain we will solve this by eliminating sources that can contribute to lousy groups. From the many, many Videos I have seen on the .25 Cal Marauder they print very well at 50 Yards.

Thanks again for your remarks and inputs Gents.

STAY-TUNED.

Don

 

[MileHighAirGunner]

I would agree that the JSB 25.39 would be a very good starting point for any .25 Mrod. It’s the only pellet I feed my .25 Mrod and .25 Akela. Both of those rifles shoot them very well. So well I didn’t bother testing anything else.
You might also try the JTS pellets also. They have a 25.39 grain and a 29.63 grain which might work good with the right tune. You just don’t know unless you try. JSB really needs an in betweener in .25 also. The jump from 25 to 34 grains is pretty big IMO.

 

[Pumacarl]

The JSB 25.39gr pellets are definately the way to go in a factory unmolested Marauder. A 40fpe for 40 shot tune would be shooting around 840fps. That is probably the ultimate numbers for a factory setup. The people you read about shooting the 34gr pellets (me) have modified a lot to do so at good speeds and have very reduced shot counts. You definately need to check everything on your gun. Clean the barrel, check all the screws, remove the lawyer spring (look it up on YouTube), and check that the shroud is snug and not loose, because you should easily be able to do half inch groups at 50 yards. There is a little bit of a learning curve but very rewarding. I will tell you this, these airguns are not firearms at all, you can not touch or bang the barrel or you will shoot off. Benjamin has a picture on their website of a guy with his hand resting on top of his barrel shooting, yeah right, he wasn't hitting anything doing that, I assure you. Too many people gloss over telling people this, but it's true. The airguns you can be rougher with cost really big bucks and you will recognize the difference when you see it. Treat the gun right and it is as accurate as anything, but more fun.

 

[Pumacarl]

Here is a lawyer spring video. Do this, it makes a huge difference. It is very easy to shoot good groups with a target grade trigger.

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[SPARATORE]

I would agree that the JSB 25.39 would be a very good starting point for any .25 Mrod. It’s the only pellet I feed my .25 Mrod and .25 Akela. Both of those rifles shoot them very well. So well I didn’t bother testing anything else.
You might also try the JTS pellets also. They have a 25.39 grain and a 29.63 grain which might work good with the right tune. You just don’t know unless you try. JSB really needs an in betweener in .25 also. The jump from 25 to 34 grains is pretty big IMO.

Thanks for your comments. I expect that there is a Sweet-Spot with pellet weight, most people suggest 25.3xx Grain pellets. When the WX clears up, I will head to the pasture and continue my experiments/tuning.

Don

 

[SPARATORE]

The JSB 25.39gr pellets are definately the way to go in a factory unmolested Marauder. A 40fpe for 40 shot tune would be shooting around 840fps. That is probably the ultimate numbers for a factory setup. The people you read about shooting the 34gr pellets (me) have modified a lot to do so at good speeds and have very reduced shot counts. You definately need to check everything on your gun. Clean the barrel, check all the screws, remove the lawyer spring (look it up on YouTube), and check that the shroud is snug and not loose, because you should easily be able to do half inch groups at 50 yards. There is a little bit of a learning curve but very rewarding. I will tell you this, these airguns are not firearms at all, you can not touch or bang the barrel or you will shoot off. Benjamin has a picture on their website of a guy with his hand resting on top of his barrel shooting, yeah right, he wasn't hitting anything doing that, I assure you. Too many people gloss over telling people this, but it's true. The airguns you can be rougher with cost really big bucks and you will recognize the difference when you see it. Treat the gun right and it is as accurate as anything, but more fun.

PUMACARL:

Thanks for your remarks and suggestions.

Knowing the in's-&-Outs of the Marauder is important for someone like me who just took ownership. Your Detailed response with all the suggestions is most appreciated, its obvious, you have been down-that-road before. This is all "Good Stuff". The JSB 25.39's......Are on their way, and will be tested when the WX clears up.

Thank You Again,

Don

 

[Danman]

No pics of the new gun!?!? Whaaa Hey 1 inch groups @ 50 outta the gate is not horrible. Do print a few 10 shot groups as well just for testing purposes. Some guns are great brand new others get better as they are shot. (or we figure out the perfect hold for it ) As been said already, triple check your scope and mounts, try 4 or 5 diff pellets, get chrono results and get back to us! Lastly you compared it to a firearm @ 100y...well with air guns wind push is a little more real!!! Barrel twist vs pellet weight I doubt is the problem I have a .22 that'll group 15 to 25 grain pellets well with ease. Pellets aren't really spin stabilized much either

 

[SPARATORE]

Here is a lawyer spring video. Do this, it makes a huge difference. It is very easy to shoot good groups with a target grade trigger.

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Pumacarl:

Thanks for the Video.

D