Yesterday afternoon, 17 June, 2026, I had my first opportunity to test Gen 3 Benjamin Marauder accuracy. Here’s the test target and the story behind it…
Gen 3 Benjamin Marauder Accuracy – The Test Target
This target shows the results of the first 11 shots I have ever fired with this new PCP air rifle.
Why 11 shots? Well, I had intended to shoot a 10-shot group, but got carried away!
This target was shot in Crosman/Benjamin plant’s indoor, 50-Yard test range in Bloomfield, NY. It was witnessed by my friend and HAM specialist PCP airgun tester Doug Rogers, plus the gun’s designer John Solpietro and Product Manager Phillip Guadalupe. So no cheating…
The gun, serial number 42600003, was the third full production Gen 3 Marauder to come off of the New York assembly line. There was no special tuning or set-up. My test was made using magazine feed. It’s a .22 caliber gun.
The ammo used was JSB 15.89 Grain pellets taken straight from the tin. (The new Marauders love these JSB pellets, said John). The scope was a Hawke Sidewinder 30SF 4-16 x 50, set to 16X magnification and mounted with Leapers UTG PRO rings.
I had brought the scope with me. I mounted it onto the gun and John sighted it in rapidly. Then I started shooting from a bench, rested on two sandbags.
Gen 3 Benjamin Marauder Accuracy – Test Target Data
I made no sighters, these really were the first 11 times I had ever pulled the trigger on a Gen 3 Marauder!
The results were generated using the company’s highly-customized Megalink system. That’s the same one that is used to test every production Marauder air rifle that’s manufactured at Bloomfield.
Now it’s fair to say that the system reads-out in Metric units, so some translation is required for most of us. Also, the “Average bullet speed” figure is recorded at the target and not at the muzzle. So here’s the data…
– Range: 50 Yards
– Center-To-Center Accuracy for 11 shots: 22.6 mm = 0.89 Inches
– Average Velocity AT THE TARGET (50 YARDS): 224.5 M/s = 736.5 FPS
– Average Muzzle Velocity 890 FPS
– Average Muzzle Energy: 27.96 Ft/Lbs
So we have an 11-shot, 50-Yard group of well under 1 Inch. In my opinion, that’s outstanding performance for my first ever attempt to shoot a new air rifle.
Could that group size improve with experience? Guaranteed! Could it improve with a higher magnification scope? Yip. 16 X is not much power for 50 Yard benchrest work. Could it improve with sorted pellets? Very likely. Could it improve if the barrel had been cleaned first? Again, undoubtedly. Could that group improve with a better shooter? Absolutely!!!
But this was my first try with the new gun and I was very satisfied with those results!
Gen 3 Benjamin Marauder Accuracy – The Back Story
HAM Tester Doug Rogers and I visited the Crosman/Benjamin plant in Bloomfield, New York to collect a new Marauder Gen 3 air rifle and bring it back to HAM headquarters for testing.
But the hospitable folks in Bloomfield took the time to explain much background about the new design. They also gave us a full tour of the facility, which was unexpected but much appreciated.
The technical stuff will be included in our full HAM test review that will be published in July 2026. Stay tuned for that!
Here I want to say something about the Bloomfield NY facility as it is today. Well actually, yesterday…
Firstly, the Crosman/Benjamin facility is still there and humming. I saw it myself!
Despite some misleading claims that you can read out there on the Internet, this is a full-capability, operational airgun factory.
Yes it’s smaller than it used to be. But the floor area is still a whopping 50,000 Square Feet and it’s all in productive use. That’s not an insignificant footprint.
The Crosman/Benjamin Plant Today
For simplicity, I’ll list the departments that are currently operational in the NY plant below:
– Design Engineering (New Product Development)
– Product Management (co-ordination across the whole Iconic Outdoor Group including BSA, Gamo, Daisy)
– Manufacturing (full Machine Shop including multiple CNC units and barrel-making machine. For example, some trigger packs, valves, hammers and HPA tubes are made here)
– Product Assembly (all current Crosman/Benjamin PCPs are assembled here: Bulldog, Challenger, Marauder, Armada, Airbow etc.)
– Clean Room (a dedicated low-dust environment where regulators and valves are assembled)
– Test Ranges (multiple, including the 50-Yard one we used)
– Marketing (some)
– Sales (some, International Sales Manager Marc Miller is based here – great to see you again, Marc!)
– Customer Service
But there’s no warehousing that used to take up a large part of the Bloomfield plant. Product is manufactured, packed and shipped-out immediately, either direct to customers, or to the Arkansas distribution center. That saved a lot of the former floor area.
Gen 3 Benjamin Marauder Accuracy – Summary
I was very impressed with the immediate, out-of-the-box accuracy of this US-assembled air rifle!
To make it about 300% clear, the new Gen 3 Benjamin Marauder was designed and engineered in Bloomfield NY. It’s completely assembled and tested here too.
Yes, the barrel is manufactured by BSA in the UK. But overall: the Marauder can still justifiably claim to be put together here in the good ole’ USA!
I have seen it myself, Don’t believe what you may read elsewhere.
That full, comprehensive, industry-leading Hard Air Magazine review of the Gen 3 Marauder will be coming to HAM as soon as we can manage it…
BUY FROM PYRAMYD
Benjamin Marauder Gen 3 PCP Air Rifle 0.22
The post Gen 3 Benjamin Marauder Accuracy Results Out Of The Box appeared first on Hard Air Magazine.
