1 K Marauder

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30cal

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May 22, 2015
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WA, United States
Well I decided to finally fix the poor accuracy of my 1st gen .22 Marauder. Just ordered a hammer forged barrel from Jim Gaska at Marmot Militia Machine Works: http://www.marmotmilitia.com/hammer-forged-barrels.html I bought this gun used from Precision Air for $300. Then added a Tim Hill valve, gauge block and .160 transfer port and barrel band. Then bought a Huma .25 cal regulator. Deburred and polished the air tube and hammer. I upgraded the baffles with 2nd gen ones. My goal was a high power regulated .22 Mrod. The gun puts out 39 FPE for 16 shots. Is very consistant and smooth cocking and shooting but the crappy factory barrel keeps it from making me truly happy. So I have now spent just over $1000. on a Marauder! It damn well better be accurate after this! If it is then it will be a keeper. If not then an expensive lesson. But it has taught me a lot about air guns and that is actually worth quite a bit as I continue on with this air gun adventure. I really do like the gun and have had lots of fun with it including teaching others to shoot.

Wish me luck!

 
Cool, I wanted to go 22 but chickened out with all the chatter about bad bbls. Got the 25 and with minimal tuning life is good and I get 16 shots at about 40 ft. lb. I am still tempted to get a 22 but..... With your skills you should get into a little home business tuning Mrods. That would give you more money to expand upon your Marauder disease.
 
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Hi AJ. Its been a while since I tested it and don't remember what the ES is. But I will be testing it again soon. I will do a before and after when I get the new barrel. As far as the power goes it will depend on accuracy. Jim says his barrels are best between 550 to 890 fps with JSB 18 gr. Mine is currently pushing them at 960 so I will have to see how they do at that speed. If the new barrel is tighter than the sloppy loose stock one it may de tune itself some. Also I have enlarged the barrel port to .160 and if the new one has the smaller stock size port then it will be slower for sure. I may end up tuning it for lower power and higher shot count. I could remove the gauge block as I wouldn't need the extra plenum volume and that would increase the air tube volume. Its going to be more experimenting to see what I like. I do tend to like the flatter trajectory that higher velocity gives. So we'll see if I can handle shooting at lower power.
 
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Yes, the MM barrels do tend to run tight. I have yet to read any negative reports on them, so I am sure it will be a shooter. Jim is a hell of a good guy!! He stands behind his work and will do whatever it takes to make the customer happy. If you drop it down to the high 800fps range, you should gain a ton of shots. I am just getting into regulated marauders, but I bet you can get double the shots or more at close to 900fps? Removing the gauge block made a huge difference on the prods I have regulated thus far, so assume it will have a very similar effect on the rifles. I debated between a regged .22 or .177, but went with the .177 since its the only caliber I no longer have in a pcp. Looking forward to your results as I dive into my own regulated project.
 
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I think I fixed it!

These were just very quickly shot as it was getting dark. This is a great improvement over stock so far! I will do more formal testing tomorrow with better light and not so rushed. I tested the velocity before and after. With stock barrel JSB 18.13 gr ave. 960 fps and with the hammer forged barrel 940 fps. Not as much drop as I expected. I did push a pellet through each barrel from the breach end while they were off and the stock one had very light marks while the HFB showed much deeper markings.

Here are a few photos:









Anyway I'm very encouraged with the results so far! Should have an update tomorrow.
 
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Jeff
I have put a HUMA regulator and a Marmot barrel on my .22 Synrod as well. It shoots great but was only getting 16 shots as well. I have spent about 2 weekends trying to tune this myself but finally gave up. I just sent it out to Scott at Motorhead ( rec by Jimmy King- AGN member). He is going to put a new hammer, new open valve, trigger work, and power tune it. It should shoot at 30 FPE and get about 35-40 shots. The gun is already shooting very accurate and I think this tune will really dial it in. He has a turn around of about 2 weeks.
I would agree that I learned a heck of a lot in dismantling the gun and learning the ins and out (Lots of help from AJshoots and U-tube to do this). Eventally most of these rifles will need to be repaired. With the marauder being "less expensive", I was more comfortable working on the gun. I feel it was a great experience and now I know much more as to how these things work. The Marauder is a simple platform and there are alot of mods out there. Yes, we spent almost as much as you would a Cricket but I hope (and believe) the Marauder with the Marmot barrel can match up to the European rifles. What's more, they are easy to fix and parts are fairly inexpensive. Somewhere, Wyshadow posted his Maruader with a Boyds stock ( I believe). It is absolutely beautiful! It's probably another $250. If it shoots well, you might want to consider making this addition as well so you feel like showing it off ( instead of hiding it). If you are like me and keep the guns you buy, then I'm not interested in resale value. This was more of a learning experience than an investment. When my rifle comes in, I hope to post some 50 and 75 yd groups. 
Keep us posted as to your final analysis of all the mods,

Doc
 
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NM I have been reasonably happy with my tune considering that it is putting out about the same power as a stock .25 cal and considering that it has a gauge block and regulator taking a lot of space in the air tube and that it is a 1st gen with a slightly smaller air tube than the newer ones. I always thought that it was pretty good getting 16 shots. But also figured there was maybe room for improvement from an expert tuner.

Ya I don't plan on selling mine either. It is my first pcp love after all! I have to much blood, sweat and tears as well as dollars into it. And you are right about not worrying about messing with it. Its a tinkerers dream.

Yes I have thought about getting a replacement stock for it. Been looking at this one: http://www.rifle-stocks.com/silhouette.htm 
On the other hand it might be cool to have a "lowly" (maybe homely) Marauder that can keep up with the big boys. Kind of "sleeper" air gun that surprises people with its performance. I don't know yet.

AJ I need to learn more about the SSG. I only read the first 2 pages of the GTA forum thread. Can I buy one yet or do I have to make one myself? It sounds interesting!
 
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Just some more info on my tune. It has a stock hammer that I polished and lube with graphite powder. The air tube where the hammer rides has been polished and de burred. I have the hammer throw set to minimum and locktighted in place. The hammer tension is 6 turns from minimum. (Max is about 7) Stock spring as well. The Hill valve does not have the restricker screw so tuning is just the hammer spring tension. In fact I have mapped the power at several power settings so I can turn it down to different power levels just by counting the turns. Though I will have to map it again with the new tighter barrel. 
 
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Thoughs are some nice stocks. I like the Apache Gold as well as the Autumn leaves/Royal Jackaranda wood! Very decent price ($159-177). On the Disco's "R" US website the stocks are $250. The problem is, if I make it too pretty, I won't want to take it out hunting and nick it up. LOL. If you use the old stock in a shoot you might have to walk around with some thick-lens glasses before you shoot. But then you would have to delivery the goods! LOL
After talking to Aaron, I will definitely look into the SSG. Thanks for the heads up AJ!.

Doc
 
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