A Marauder and a Kratos or 1 FX Dreamline

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Mkd450

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Jan 25, 2021
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Hi,

I’m looking to enter the PCP world... I’m considering getting *both* a .22 Regulated Marauder & .25 Kratos *or* 1 Dreamline w/ .30 and .22 barrels.

Thinking .22 for backyard shooting to 50yds and squirrel hunting. .25/.30 cal for longer range targets and iguanas (possibly small hogs if .30)

- Given the option would you take the 2 Benjamins or the single FX?

- Any ruggedness/reliability/support concerns?

- Noise comparison between the guns?

- Anything else worth noting?

- Anyone using multi caliber gun or find the swap/sighting to be a barrier to use?

If anyone has experience with 2 or 3 of these I’d really appreciate feedback.

Thank you!




 
Thanks Odoyle,

I appreciate the insight, all valid points. I’m considering buying both Benjamins as a pair vs the one FX. 

- I get the impression the regulated mrod is more accurate than the Kratos. Would you agree or is the difference negligible? It also appears the mrod would be the quieter gun. Do you think a moderator on the Kratos would even them up? In the end, is it worth buying both or are they too similar?

- I’m intrigued by your comments on FX. I’ll have to dig deeper.


Thanks again.


 
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Keaton is a turkey gun and they aren’t know for quality, I’d rather buy a Chinese gun for cheaper and better actually and quality. Marauder is a very good little gun with tons of after market support and the regulated version is quite nice if you get the LW barrel. But dollar for dollar the dreamline is better in every way especially if you want to have repeatable adjustability. Problem is getting your hands on one.
 
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I would rather have one of those Benjamin branded Kral Guns than a Hatsan Any day. I have both And the Hatsan is a POS.And of course they’re both made in turkey.And although I’ve seen several people that liked their Hatsans .Most people will tell you that there machining and QC sucks. Just like the Chinese are getting better at making air guns but there still are some crappy ones coming From there still. But again it depends on which company it comes from In China.I have the Akela Which I’ve looked over very good after buying it and The machining isn’t the best I ever seen but it isn’t bad at all. And everything functions good and it is pretty accurate.Now the Hatsan at first look it Seems pretty good until you really look it over good, Then you see how lousy it is made. It’s not just the machining, it’s the engineering of it too. And it doesn’t function properly, so I’m stuck with it. Yes I have a Couple of Chinese guns that are made better than the Hatsan.When Benjamin decided to let Kral make the their guns (Caden,Kratos and Akela)There were quite a few people on here that bought at least one of the three and I’ve only heard of a couple people having minor issues with them and they got them resolved quickly. I haven’t had any issues at all with mine. Now there’s people on here that’s gonna tell you to buy FX and that is your choice that you will have to make. But just like ODoyle said , i’m not gonna get into all of the things I have heard about their guns. I think I’ve heard many good things but quite a bit of bad things also. But there are quite a few people on here that like to tinker with their guns and they caused their own problems. If you’re just getting started, I would recommend just buying one for now and enjoy it for a while then make the decision on buying another one. But everybody’s going to have their own opinions. Over time If you read everything about all the experiences people had with their particular guns, Then you would be able to decide better.
 
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I've owned 4 Mrod's and 1 Kratos 22cal and I would pick the Kratos without question. All you have to do with the Kratos is take it out of the box, sight it in and shoot it. Mrod's don't get the shots per fill, and I end up having to do a shot string on it only to be disappointed and then having to tune the gun to get the shot curve right. They do shoot well for the money. I haven't owned any recent FX's, but the one's I did own (FX Cyclone and FX Royale) were lights out shooters. They also cost 2-3 times as much as the Kratos. 
 
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A regulated Marauder with Lothar Walther Barrel will be more accurate however in 22 caliber (max caliber for the factory regulated Marauders) it's gonna shoot slow like 830-840fps max with 14.3gr and in the mid 700s with heavier pellets such as 15.9gr and 18.1gr and it's gonna be pretty heavy compared to the Kratos. Regulators actually restrict the power in the 22 Marauders. Of you only paper target shooting and plinking and light pesting it's fine. 

Trigger is night and day superior on the Marauder but the Kratos is still decent.

I'd recommend buying the Kratos for what you get for the price paid with 25% Crosman AGNATION discount code. 

You can always buy a used Regulated Marauder Field and Target used with Lothar Walther barrel for around $400-$500 which is a much better deal for what you get.

I recently bought another Gen2 22 Marauder with custom MMHF barrel (more accurate than Lothar Walther) with installed aftermarket HUMA regulator for $400 shipped. It's by no means a powerhouse but it does drill the exact same hole at 40 yards. I really Didn't need another.MMHF Marauder and bought it because the seller said it's his most accurate airgun he had ever shot in his life and he's kind of getting out of airguns due to downsizing only to keep a light weight gun.

The 22 Kratos shoots 18.1gr JSBs at 880fps on max power and there's no way a regulated 22 Marauder can MATCH that power without major modifications like at least yanking out the regulator.




 
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I would recommmend the Kratos any day for your plinking, iguanas and squirrels. I’m a big fan of the marauder platform (unregulated)... but I don’t think that should be what you are looking for if you are specifically wanting to kill hogs. 

I’ve seen videos of people doing it with just a .177.... but I can’t say a Marauder would be the first thing I’d recommend for the job..... for the hog‘s sake. 

Maybe check out the Airforce airguns for more power. Of course the Texans have huge power, but even the Condor in .25 has the ability to make a lot more power and sling heavier lead than a marauder.


 
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I have two highly modified Marauders for extra power in .22 and .25 caliber. I also have a highly modified Impact II in .25 and .30 caliber, plus a .357 big bore (Slayer). All are great reliable guns as airguns go. I use the different guns and calibers at different power levels for different needs as a backyard plinker/pester, and as a hunter of deer, hogs, turkeys, coyotes and bobcats along with pesting of birds, squirrels, coons, skunks, etc. I would say the FX Impact is the most versatile gun for all above except for the deer and large hogs, which it can handle, but for ethical dispatching of the large hogs and deer I use the .357 as it does the jobs without much guess work or concerns. If planning on hunting, I would be looking at the FX and its abilities. I find the FX gun to be very reliable in repeat accuracy and they have a lot more power capabilities compared to the modified Marauders, and can be easily turn down as well for safe plinking and air savings when power is not needed. The Marauders are a nice break from the mighty Impact as well, but although accurate they are not nearly as consistent as the FX. The swapping of calibers in the Impact is as you may be imagining. Though fairly quick and easy to do, I find myself having to plan ahead for the swap, and sometimes I don't feel like going through the trouble to do so. It is far better to have multiple guns already setup in the different calibers to grab and go on the fly.
 
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I have a Benjamin Cayden the sister of a Kratos and it is accurate and rugged and very reliable. Haven't had an issue ever. I am very happy with it. As for FX, everyone knows my opinion here. I don't like them because they are unreliable as a whole. I used to want one, and was able to shoot a Dreamline and an Impact. Not impressed. Then my friends all have issues with theirs constantly. Not impressed. They are in quality mid range. A Daystate, which I have also shot, is a far better piece of Craftsman ship. Between the rifles you listed, I would buy the Benji's with a big smile and know that you have a lot of fun in your hands and not as much troubleshooting in your future.
 
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I would recommmend the Kratos any day for your plinking, iguanas and squirrels. I’m a big fan of the marauder platform (unregulated)... but I don’t think that should be what you are looking for if you are specifically wanting to kill hogs. 

I’ve seen videos of people doing it with just a .177.... but I can’t say a Marauder would be the first thing I’d recommend for the job..... for the hog‘s sake. 

Maybe check out the Airforce airguns for more power. Of course the Texans have huge power, but even the Condor in .25 has the ability to make a lot more power and sling heavier lead than a marauder.

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To kill hogs go Airforce condor and above. Airforce is very simple but ultra reliable hunting tools. I would trust an airforce Texan .257-.50 cal to stop a hog more than any Impact. If you want an alternative to the Airforce the Uragan .30 is pretty amazing and next on my buy list.
 
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Also keep in mind FX guns easy change caliber and a 30 cal Dreamline can be changed to 177 even within 10 minutes. 


I just had problem/defect on a 2 month old American made crosman, they sent me the part and I’m good. Had minor oring problem with one of my FXs and same things. Keep in mind that a lot of FX problems on the internet are self induced and given how many of them are out there it’s pretty small. I’m going onto 4 FX soon and I had one little oring problem solved by greasing it, FX sent me a regulator rebuild kit anyways. 


you simply aren’t going to find a more well thought out, easy to repeatably adjust and change caliber than FX. I have 3 barrels for my impact and I can change them out in 10 minutes, effectively my impact is 3 very different guns! Compact with 500mm barrel and small bottle, standard with 600mm barrel and 480 bottle and the. 700mm for more power. Including zeroing in the scope barrel change time is no more than half an hour. 


I tried and shot the akala and it was not very good even given the AGN price, QC is really bad. Pretty accurate out to 50 yards but I would rather shoot a base marauder. Dreamline is at another level. 
 
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Oh forgot to mention, you can change Airforce barrels very easily as well, and have tophat changes for power tunes. Pretty awesome. Plus I mean, common, .50 cal. 800FPE depending on the gun. Who doesn't want to say, "Say hello to my little friend" when shooting a hog. A Texan can hunt anything. An impact cannot. People take bears out with Texans. That cannot be said of Impacts. Anyway enough of me.
 
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I have to add my voice to those that support FX. I keep reading how they are sooo unreliable. Well, I’ve owned a few (6) and currently have 5 of them (1 Impact, two Crowns, a Wildcat and a Dreamline). Never had any real trouble that I didn’t cause, and those troubles that I got. Into by poor tuning intially were easily resolved by retuning to the original tune. No reliability issues whatsoever, which is great, given that three of the six were purchased used from the forums here.

I have had a few Marauders and currently have the Marauder Semi-Automatic. I like it, but its no FX. I have an Air Force Condor SS. Nice enough but I probably haven’t touched it in 6 months.

For me, the FX blows the others away. The ability to easily and rapidly change calibers, or even barrel lengths within calibers is simply unmatched.

Chris
 
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I have to add my voice to those that support FX. I keep reading how they are sooo unreliable. Well, I’ve owned a few (6) and currently have 5 of them (1 Impact, two Crowns, a Wildcat and a Dreamline). Never had any real trouble that I didn’t cause, and those troubles that I got. Into by poor tuning intially were easily resolved by retuning to the original tune. No reliability issues whatsoever, which is great, given that three of the six were purchased used from the forums here.

I have had a few Marauders and currently have the Marauder Semi-Automatic. I like it, but its no FX. I have an Air Force Condor SS. Nice enough but I probably haven’t touched it in 6 months.

For me, the FX blows the others away. The ability to easily and rapidly change calibers, or even barrel lengths within calibers is simply unmatched.

Chris
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ssshhhhh......,,don’t tell people that!!!! I’m dying here waiting forever for a FX as it is!!! FX sucks bad and no one in their right mind would/should buy them! They break down your wallet as soon as you touch the trigger. 


As a dedicated big game hunting tool the Airforce guns are very hard to beat if not impossible. However OP might not want a dedicated big game hunting tool/gun, same reason I don’t have an airforce gun. I can only hope one day CA will let us hunt bigger games with airgun but undoubtedly that will result in massive regulations on normal Airguns. In many ways it’s blessing in disguise. 


Right tool for the right job. 



 
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