Today HAM talks to Gen 3 Marauder designer John Solpietro. John is Senior Design Engineer at the Iconic Outdoor Group in the Crosman/Benjamin plant in Bloomfield, New York. Among other things, John was also the designer of the Crosman Challenger 2021, the Crosman 3622 and he is an enthusiastic airgunner himself.
The Gen 3 Marauder is his project, so who better to tell us about the gun than him!
The Gen 3 Benjamin Marauder is now shipping, in stock and for sale at Pyramyd AIR. You can get yours now.
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Benjamin Marauder Gen 3 PCP Air Rifle 0.22
Hard Air Magazine: John, I know you are an enthusiastic airgun shooter. Can you tell us the types of airgun shooting you enjoy most?
John Solpietro: You know Steve, I enjoy it all. There isn’t much I don’t like when it comes to shooting.
Field Target, and high-power Field Target are probably my favorites. After that would be woodchuck hunting as well as bench, plinking, and pesting.
I am so blessed that I get to shoot for a living…
Hard Air Magazine: How and when did you start shooting?
John Solpietro: My Dad started it all off. He was an avid shooter in his younger days and passed that passion down to me. I don’t remember the first airgun I was given. It may have been a Red Ryder or a knock off of it. It was used and not in great shape but I shot the snot out of it.
When it died, My Dad took me gun shopping with my allowance and I bought a Crosman Anniversary Edition 760. The wood stock and metal receiver version. I still have it!
Below. In 2018, John was proud to have been the designer of the new 760 Pumpmaster Classic.
Hard Air Magazine: How has your own airgun shooting experience influenced the design of the Gen 3 Marauder?
John Solpietro: I wanted rifle that could be set up to do any event. I was lucky enough that Crosman sent me to EBR a few times. That’s me on the right in Arizona in 2024.
It was my first major competition outside of Field Target. We learned a lot and it helped our management team to see what these events looked like. We also had a ton of fun! We wanted a rifle that could run in these events but still be a good backyard plinker.
Hard Air Magazine: Designing a replacement for the previous Marauder is a big responsibility. How did you approach the task?
John Solpietro: With the hope that I didn’t mess it up!!!! But, seriously, Steve, we started with customer feedback. Every Marauder post said the same thing, side lever, bottle fed and more power. From there we added what we thought would make it a hit with customers.
Hard Air Magazine: John, please tell about your design priorities for the Gen 3 Marauder?
John Solpietro: We wanted a rifle that allowed people to plink in the backyard or turn up the power and shoot longer ranges. In short, we wanted improved accuracy and power.
Hard Air Magazine: I believe that the Gen 3 Marauder has no parts in common with the previous models. Was that a design strategy decision made up-front, or did it just work-out that way as things progressed?
John Solpietro: You are correct, Steve. This was a clean sheet approach. As we started to play with the layout we wandered farther from the Gen 2 design and it morphed into something else.
Hard Air Magazine: The Gen 3 Marauder is a bottle gun. Previous Marauders have always had a tube. Why the change?
John Solpietro: Customer feedback was a big part of it. I like bottle guns and side levers. Going from 215cc to 500cc gives you a lot of shots or the ability to make power and still have a decent shot string.
Hard Air Magazine: The previous Marauder had power adjustment capabilities through transfer port adjustment, hammer spring tension and striker setting. The Gen 3 has an externally-adjustable regulator and hammer spring tension adjustment only. Does the Gen 3 match or exceed the old model in adjustability?
John Solpietro: The Gen 2 started lift as an unregulated rifle. These adjustments allowed the customer to tune it to how they wanted it. But they can be a problem for customers who adjust them without fully understanding the implications of the changes they are making.
As the Gen 3 Marauder designer, I selected the externally-adjustable regulator and hammer spring to give owners the ability to tune the rifle to their liking while making the process simpler and more intuitive.
Hard Air Magazine: Did you aim to carry-through the “personality” of the old Benjamin Marauder into the new version?
John Solpietro: We did. The aim was to make this rifle run just as good as the Gen 2 at the same power levels. We also attempted to keep some of the Marauder design elements there like the trigger guard shape.
Hard Air Magazine: Do you see the Gen 3 Marauder primarily as a hunter, plinker, Field Target or benchrest air rifle?
John Solpietro: I have used it for all of the above and hope that customers will too.
I used a .25 to carve a pumpkin last October and found that it sat in my Field Target sticks perfectly. I built a .177 from spare parts on my desk the Thursday before the first match of the 2025 Field Target season and took 3rd with it. I will be building another one for 100 Yard bench at the Pyramyd Cup in 2026.
Hard Air Magazine: Like the original, the Gen 3 Marauder is a conventional, “full length” gun. Did you consider making it a bullpup instead?
John Solpietro: We did but customer input favored the traditional rifle. So that’s what we built!
Hard Air Magazine: As the designer of the Gen 3 Marauder, what pleases you most about the product?
John Solpietro: Technically, the fact that it passed all of the ASTM and safety testing!
As a shooter, I like the feel of the trigger, the accuracy and the shot string. Shooting 15.89 pellets at 880 FPS will net you more than 150 shots. That is a good amount of plinking or pesting…
Hard Air Magazine: Is the Gen 3 Marauder a “slug gun”, “pellet gun” or both?
John Solpietro: Pellet was the priority but it has the power to get into slugs. Again, it’s primarily a pellet rifle because customers told us that was what they wanted.
Hard Air Magazine: Did you consider including an electronic trigger, pressure gauges or other electronics in the Gen 3 Marauder?
John Solpietro: As the Gen 3 Marauder designer, I was trying to keep the price point to somewhere around $800. So we did not go after any electronics in this rifle. I did a lot of testing with digital gauges and they are a nice addition for customers to add.
Hard Air Magazine: The original Marauder trigger has always been highly-regarded for feel and adjustability. How much of that design remains in the Gen 3?
John Solpietro: There are a number of similarities but it is a new trigger pack. It is a 2-stage trigger that can be adjusted for travel, weight and stage setup. Our Quality Manager set one of the test units up as a single stage trigger just to try it and found it to work well.
Hard Air Magazine: The fill pressure of the Gen 3 is 3,625 PSI. That’s relatively low nowadays, considering that many PCPs now fill to 4,500 or even 7,000 PSI. Why did you decide on that fill pressure?
John Solpietro: We wanted people to be able to fill from a tank and not solely rely on a compressor. We have many Marauder owners who don’t have a compressor. We wanted to keep them as customers.
Hard Air Magazine: What is the standard factory setting for the regulator set pressure?
John Solpietro: The .22 will ship with a reg pressure between 1,000 – 1,400 PSI. The end of the line accuracy and velocity inspection will focus on velocity. Rifle will ship pushing 15.89s at 850 – 920 FPS.
The .25 will ship in the same pressure range pushing 25.4 Grain pellets at 850 – 920 FPS. One reason we are doing this is because it correlates well with the Gen 2 performance. The other reason is going up on the regulator is easy. Coming down requires you to degas the rifle.
So we set it up to shoot the lower weight pellets out of the box allowing customers to dial it up as they see fit.
Hard Air Magazine: The plenum looks like a whopper! Can you tell us the capacity and why it is so large?
John Solpietro: It is around 80cc.
Hard Air Magazine: The original Marauder is one of the quietest PCP air rifles HAM has ever tested. Can the new Gen 3 model match that, even though it’s more powerful?
John Solpietro: As shipped from the factory it is very similar in noise level. As you know Steve, it gets louder as the power goes up. However, we threaded the barrel so that customers can add a moderator if they would like. The shroud is all modular and can be configured a few ways when adding a moderator.
Hard Air Magazine: Can you tell us what your next design project is?
John Solpietro: As the Gen 3 Marauder designer, I need to finish up the .177. We will see what comes next…
BUY FROM PYRAMYD
Benjamin Marauder Gen 3 PCP Air Rifle 0.22
The post HAM Talks To Gen 3 Marauder Designer John Solpietro appeared first on Hard Air Magazine.
. Super nice guy and always smiling….
