Benjamin Marauder .25 frustration...is it the gun, or my expectations?

[MMP]

I bought the Marauder 25 back in 2016 for pest control of squirrels, rabbits and racoons at 25-50yd ranges. I was never overly happy with the shot count or the accuracy. It sat for several years collecting dust, but I recently decided to give it a second chance before potentially spending $1-2k for something more capable. My goal was to get about 16 consistent shots of the 26.54g Hades pellet at around 830-850fps.

I replaced all seals and cleaned the barrel for good measure. I added a Huma regulator and the Jefferson State TSS springs. I can barely touch 800fps for maybe about 8shots. This is with a 3000psi fill, the valve meter screw wide open, regulator around 160bar (I started at 130 and worked my way up to increase fps), and gradually increasing the hammer spring tension to its current point of being nearly maxed out. This setup eliminates any free-flight and seems to defeat the entire purpose of the TSS. The hammer striker is also fully retracted to give the longest hammer throw. (Side note on the TSS...I feel like it was $85 down the drain. In order to maintain free-flight I have to have the screw backed out so much that I was only getting about 550fps with regulator set to 130bar. With the regulator set to 160bar, I was barely getting 300fps.)

Is the Marauder capable of doing what I want without adding additional components, or should I cut my losses and move onto something else?

 

[Kgphotos]

My dad has a Marauder .25 and it is getting almost exactly the performance that you are looking for. We added an extension to the air tube for more capacity. There is no regulator in his rifle. I did help him with a B-Staley mod to help reduce wasted air. Going off of my memory he is getting right about 830 fps with JSB Kings and is getting 24 good shots on his power curve before it drops off quickly. It’s been a while since we built up his rifle but he still really likes it. I would suggest looking into the air tube extension and researching the B-Staley mod. Both are really very easy to install. I would also suggest trying the JSB Kings. They are really shooting very well in his rifle.
Kenny

 

[MMP]

My dad has a Marauder .25 and it is getting almost exactly the performance that you are looking for. We added an extension to the air tube for more capacity. There is no regulator in his rifle. I did help him with a B-Staley mod to help reduce wasted air. Going off of my memory he is getting right about 830 fps with JSB Kings and is getting 24 good shots on his power curve before it drops off quickly. It’s been a while since we built up his rifle but he still really likes it. I would suggest looking into the air tube extension and researching the B-Staley mod. Both are really very easy to install. I would also suggest trying the JSB Kings. They are really shooting very well in his rifle.
Kenny

I've done hours of researching before deciding on the regulator and TSS, yet somehow I never came across this BStaley mod. Thank you. Seems simple enough to add, so why not? I imagine I'll still have to increase the regulator pressure to around 170-180bar to hit 850fps, but maybe this mod will save enough air to keep me in an 8-16shot range.

I'll probably forego extending the air tube because I feel the gun is already rather front heavy and just generally unbalanced. I do like the JSB Kings, they've given me the best accuracy in the past, but I wanted an expanding pellet. One thing I noticed is that the Hades seem to be 10-20fps slower than other pellets weighing nearly the same. Maybe they just have a tighter fit. I also have a tin of Polymags I could try, but either way I first need to get closer to that 850fps.

 

[maxtrouble]

@MMP - why are you fixated on 850 fps? A 25 grain pellet going 800 fps works out to 36 fpe. That is enough for a good sized pest let alone a squirrel. I have slain many squirrels with springers under 16 fpe.

A stock marauder should be able to handle any pest up to a raccoon handily right in the brain box. Accuracy trumps power.

 

[thammer]

Could be the tune with the aftermarket parts. I rarely see accuracy issues with the .25. 15+ shots at that speed is typically easy to achieve.

 

[Motorhead]

It is your set up IMO ... just dropping in parts won't cut it !!
If reg being used has sufficient plenum volume you have the potential to make power wanted as well 2 mags worth of shots.

* Transfer path size valve body to barrel needs to go larger.
* Valve spring needs to go softer.
** Don't over spring hammer !!!!!!
*** Use of a travel/lift limiting BSTALY o-ring mod can help here a bunch !!

Also make sure the transfer choke screw in wide open ( @ 5 turns out from seated )

 

[Gerry52]

My 1st mag fed pcp was the Marauder. It taught me a lot but never, ever lived up to my expectations. Accuracy was spotty, at best. Power was mediocre. Glad I moved on to other things, very glad! YMMV. Others have a different experience.

 

[Bramezy]

My 1st mag fed pcp was the Marauder. It taught me a lot but never, ever lived up to my expectations. Accuracy was spotty, at best. Power was mediocre. Glad I moved on to other things, very glad! YMMV. Others have a different experience.

I think it just depends on caliber and use.
I have one I use for field target and it hangs just fine.

 

[Gerry52]

I think it just depends on caliber and use.
I have one I use for field target and it hangs just fine.

Like I said, Your Mileage May Vary. MY experience was disappointing. Glad others have had better luck. I moved on to an FX Royale 500 (kind of by "accident"). It's never, ever failed to satisfy & excite me in 8 years of shooting & hunting, never. (One on classifieds right now). It does everything & MORE than the Marauder ever could! But that's MY personal experience.

 

[MMP]

@MMP - why are you fixated on 850 fps? A 25 grain pellet going 800 fps works out to 36 fpe. That is enough for a good sized pest let alone a squirrel. I have slain many squirrels with springers under 16 fpe.

A stock marauder should be able to handle any pest up to a raccoon handily right in the brain box. Accuracy trumps power.

Agreed, I can certainly take out any of these pests with 700-750fps, but everything I've seen shows the accuracy of the 25 Hades (and I suppose most pellets) to be best in the 830-880range. Although I'm not shooting paper targets from a bench, I do get great satisfaction when a pellet hits precisely where the crosshairs were pointing.

 

[Emu]

Adding a regulator to a non regulated rifle normally implies loose of power because there's no calculation of plenum needed.

Buy a FX DRS, an FX Panthera, a Vulcan 7 700 or a Uragan 3.

A big and expensive mistake is to spend too much money in trying making a rifle to give a performance a to which it was not designed for.

 

[MMP]

It is your set up IMO ... just dropping in parts won't cut it !!
If reg being used has sufficient plenum volume you have the potential to make power wanted as well 2 mags worth of shots.

* Transfer path size valve body to barrel needs to go larger.
* Valve spring needs to go softer.
** Don't over spring hammer !!!!!!
*** Use of a travel/lift limiting BSTALY o-ring mod can help here a bunch !!

Also make sure the transfer choke screw in wide open ( @ 5 turns out from seated )

Appreciate your reply.

I'm going try the Bstaley mod and see what I get. My transfer screw is wide open. When I had the valve out to reseal, I did confirm for myself that 5 turns out is 100% open.

Any thoughts on this TSS setup? As I mentioned in my first post, it seems useless since I already have to increase tension to a point where free flight is eliminated just to get into the 700's. Am I correct in assuming it would also be redundant with the Bstaley mod? Should I just go back to the single stock spring, or the slightly softer large spring of the TSS (and lose the inner small spring all together)?

 

[Motorhead]

Those are fine tuning items ...
First and foremost is getting valve to breath better. This is especially important because your asking rifle to make equal power doing so at a lower pressure !
There No Free Lunch here as when running regulated you need greater flow !!

No idea where in the country your located ?
But I can help you. I'll send you a PM and have a conversation about it.

 

[MMP]

Adding a regulator to a non regulated rifle normally implies loose of power because there's no calculation of plenum needed.

Buy a FX DRS, an FX Panthera, a Vulcan 7 700 or a Uragan 3.

A big and expensive mistake is to spend to much money in trying making a rifle to give a performance a to which it was not designed for.

This is my concern with spending any additional money/time on the Marauder. For whatever reason, I was under the impression the Marauder could max out around 900-ish fps for at least a handful of shots, and therefore could be de-tuned down to low 800's and a few more shots by adding a regulator and de-bouncing. Clearly this has been more difficult than anticipated.

 

[Vana2]

In its day the Marauder was a great choice.

Today, if I was in the market for a PCP, I'd be looking at current technology and more modern products rather than pouring money into an old platform.

Just my opinion,

Cheers!

 

[drsquall]

Sent mine off to airgun revisions. Had him to do the shawty barn but a power tune for it. He put his ssg in it and cut the barrel down shorter. Mine shoots the hades for 2 and half mags at around 850. It's a pure hammer on squirrels. It will put those 2+ mags at 30yds in one big hole off the bench. I don't know what else he did but it's my goto gun and all my others just stay in the safe. For my purposes it's perfect.

 

[6gun]

I bought the Marauder 25 back in 2016 for pest control of squirrels, rabbits and racoons at 25-50yd ranges. I was never overly happy with the shot count or the accuracy. It sat for several years collecting dust, but I recently decided to give it a second chance before potentially spending $1-2k for something more capable. My goal was to get about 16 consistent shots of the 26.54g Hades pellet at around 830-850fps.

I replaced all seals and cleaned the barrel for good measure. I added a Huma regulator and the Jefferson State TSS springs. I can barely touch 800fps for maybe about 8shots. This is with a 3000psi fill, the valve meter screw wide open, regulator around 160bar (I started at 130 and worked my way up to increase fps), and gradually increasing the hammer spring tension to its current point of being nearly maxed out. This setup eliminates any free-flight and seems to defeat the entire purpose of the TSS. The hammer striker is also fully retracted to give the longest hammer throw. (Side note on the TSS...I feel like it was $85 down the drain. In order to maintain free-flight I have to have the screw backed out so much that I was only getting about 550fps with regulator set to 130bar. With the regulator set to 160bar, I was barely getting 300fps.)

Is the Marauder capable of doing what I want without adding additional components, or should I cut my losses and move onto something else?

Is it an old gen 1 with a green mountain barrel like mine?

Mines the same story, tight choke. It shot way up there with a reduced shank valve pin till I broke it. The gun went back stock but with a depinger and barrel band bushing and only shoots kings fast and I get 16 shots super consistent at 845. Hades are slow, hybrids are slower. It's just a crosman dialed up. I bought a dreamline tactical compact in 25 to replace it and get 850 with hades, 865 with kings

The mrod really is an entry level pcp imo. I have an 8 inch barrel aea turd in 22 capable of shooting heavy hades (25.4) at the same energy level as the mrod for 30 rounds because it has a bottle. The mrod does maintain really nice consistency and accuracy however.

The leap to an expensive regulated gun that can supply some power is worth it if you enjoy shooting airguns. I know I've absolutely loved every second I've spent with my dreamline 25 even out to 110 yards with hades, the mrod was great for rabbits and birds in my yard when it came out vs a 392 pump.

The mrod sits in my shop office now for the occasional trouble making crow.

 

[6gun]

Adding a regulator to a non regulated rifle normally implies loose of power because there's no calculation of plenum needed.

Buy a FX DRS, an FX Panthera, a Vulcan 7 700 or a Uragan 3.

A big and expensive mistake is to spend to much money in trying making a rifle to give a performance a to which it was not designed for.

I'm throwing my hat in the ring for the simple dreamline carbon bottle. It performs like I think we expected the mrod to.

They're slept on for performance and mine comes out 10x more than my high power impact and was a fair bit less expensive. I wouldn't put a dime into an mrod unless it holds sentimental value to you like mine does.