Benjamin Marauder Barrel Problem
- Thread starter fsa46
- Start date
Not sure anyone could answer that question. You would need the opportunity to test a large sample of the latest batch and who has access outside of Crossman and the large retailers?
All air gun barrels are a lottery to some extent. The good thing about the Marauder is that it is well supported for after-market parts including places offering LW barrel upgrades. These can be a lottery too though (Espiecially with the quality of the machining). Either way, you would have options if you got unlucky (including returning it for a refund).
Upvote 0
I have bought a number of .22's and never had an issue. Actually, the only one I ever had barrel issues with was a gen1 .177.
I have worked on .22's for others that had oversized bores and would not shoot anything very well. Not sticking up for Crosman as the .22 barrel issues are very well documented, but for whatever reason, producing a very precise and accurate .22 barrel is more difficult than other calibers. Why?? I have no clue why this is, but there is a reason that some of the high end airgun makers offer hand picked .22 barrels at a rather large premium.
I have worked on .22's for others that had oversized bores and would not shoot anything very well. Not sticking up for Crosman as the .22 barrel issues are very well documented, but for whatever reason, producing a very precise and accurate .22 barrel is more difficult than other calibers. Why?? I have no clue why this is, but there is a reason that some of the high end airgun makers offer hand picked .22 barrels at a rather large premium.
Upvote 0
I must be lucky have a gen one 22 that shoots great. Does not get used much any more since I have a wildcat and a impact.
Upvote 0
The issue with Marauders .22 vs .25 that people talk about is based the fact that Crossman buys the .25 barrels from Green mountain which apparently make better barrels. It's not that Crossman are bad at making .22 barrels specifically. The same issue would apply to thier .177 barrels. The "lottery" is that you might get lucky and get a particularly good .22 or .177 but in general, they aren't as good as the .25 apparently.
Upvote 0
My .25 Marauder purchased from the current Cabelas sale is "Turtle head" Accurate at 25 to 50 yards. Tested it just this afternoon. 
My .22 was "Cotton Tail Rabbit" accurate at the same ranges.
Thurmond
My .22 was "Cotton Tail Rabbit" accurate at the same ranges.
Thurmond
Upvote 0
I am fully aware the .25 is a green mountain barrel and the .177 and .22's are sourced from China. I tune and modify Marauders, so I am very familiar with the lottery.
Upvote 0
A few months back I was fortunate to pick up refurbished .22 and its quite accurate. In fact its accurate enough that I ordered a huma regulator to drop into it to see just how accurate it will become.
Upvote 0
When I ordered my .22 Gen 2 about 2 years ago, I knew there was a chance it would be pellet picky, but it seemed at the time that most people were able to shoot either the JSB 18.1 or Baracuda in one of the available head sizes accurately. I tried just about every .22 pellet on the market including three or four different head sizes of the Baracudas. All were terrible except the Crosman Premier Domes, but the ones that come in the tin are not very consistent and have a good number of flyers. Eventually, I ponied the extra bucks for the premium CPDs that come in the brown box. These gave me a fairly consistent 3/4" @50yds, but improvement was not proportional to huge price increase, and these also didn't satisfy my desire for a heavier pellet. Now it doesn't matter any more since Crosman has discontinued the premium pellets in the Box.
My gun also has the occasional POI shift people talk about. Out of the blue, it will move 1/4-1/2" @50 yds.
Everything else about the gun is great, which is what makes the barrel issues so frustrating.
My gun also has the occasional POI shift people talk about. Out of the blue, it will move 1/4-1/2" @50 yds.
Everything else about the gun is great, which is what makes the barrel issues so frustrating.
Upvote 0
I think there is a degree of setting expectations about what to expect from any Marauder and other air guns in that price range (or even higher). The size of groups you are describing sound fairly good for an an entry-level gun. There are plenty of people that might think they got a good one if they were able to achieve under an inch at 50 yards consistently. If it was a $3,000 benchrest gun it would be different but for hunting, that's useable accuracy.
When people post pics of super tight groups, my assumption is that they are posting their best group, not the one they achieve every time. All brands of pellets produce flyers and most air guns shoot one or two pellets better than others. You only need one. There are things you can do to improve performance with heavier pellets though. A little more power, for example.
if you decide to buy a replacement barrel from Crossman, I'd be interested to hear if it makes the difference you think it will.
Upvote 0
I have put a Malitia Marmot barrel on my .22 Marauder and it is shooting on par with my .22 Cricket. I can't say every group is under 1/2 in but I expect and can can shoot dime groups at 50 yrds when I shoot. Last outing I was able to shoot two groups at .2 inch apart. (Stacked 4 and then 1 shot slightly to the right. The other I stacked 3 and 2 slighty to the right). Two tenths of an inch is pretty dang close! Shot 4 other dime groups that same day. I believe two years ago a Marauder placed in the top 3 at Extreme bench. Maybe this rifle can't stack 5 shots in a row at 60 yards like Travels4fun did with his .25 Wildcat but I believe this rifle with a good barrel can still shoot. If you were to put a new barrel and a regulator on this gun, you still are way under 1k. By making these mods., I also learned a lot about the mechanics of these rifles.
Upvote 0
I don't have any turtles around here but my .25 from Cabelas is squirrel, rabbit and chipmunk head accurate out to 40 yards (the furthest I've shot it so far).
Ed
Ed
Upvote 0
You might remedy your POI shifts with a set screw barrel band (available at Wicked Air Rifles) or a spacer between the barrel band and the shroud. Mine is aluminum and no longer available but I did see a plastic one at a FT shoot awhile back. You can see the band in the pic if you look closely.
Hope that helps,
John
Upvote 0