Wanting to know difference between regulated vs unregulated on the pcps, also what is a moderator (silencer??). A guy on here has a marauder unregulated, looks like a good starter rifle. Thanks in advance
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- Thread starter crowflys
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A regulated rifle has an internal device called a regulator which takes the reservoir high pressure air (4500-3000 psi) and steps it down to a lesser pressure in the plenum (1200-2000 psi).
A moderator is a device that may be removable or it might be permenatly built on or in to reduce noise from the rifle. These are sometimes called a LDC (lead dust collector) or a suppressor. There are legal concerns at least with some people because such a device installed on a powder burning rifle without a tax stamp is a serious felony. A court ruling has determined that intent is a factor and air rifles usually use a different thread to prevent "accidentally" installing your legal air rifle LDC on a .22 rimfire which is not legal (and which is a felony).
I love the Marauder and have three plus another I am building. Great, simple rifles that are accurate and powerful. And USA made. They are a great platform and also great to learn on. Very capable rifles. They are not regulated in the standard model but you can add a Houma regulator. The Marauder does have a built in and very effective suppressor system called a shroud which surrounds the barrel and has baffles inside. And I will add, I have owned and own many rifles of all sorts and very few have a trigger as nice as the Marauder. The Marauder also has good resell value.
A moderator is a device that may be removable or it might be permenatly built on or in to reduce noise from the rifle. These are sometimes called a LDC (lead dust collector) or a suppressor. There are legal concerns at least with some people because such a device installed on a powder burning rifle without a tax stamp is a serious felony. A court ruling has determined that intent is a factor and air rifles usually use a different thread to prevent "accidentally" installing your legal air rifle LDC on a .22 rimfire which is not legal (and which is a felony).
I love the Marauder and have three plus another I am building. Great, simple rifles that are accurate and powerful. And USA made. They are a great platform and also great to learn on. Very capable rifles. They are not regulated in the standard model but you can add a Houma regulator. The Marauder does have a built in and very effective suppressor system called a shroud which surrounds the barrel and has baffles inside. And I will add, I have owned and own many rifles of all sorts and very few have a trigger as nice as the Marauder. The Marauder also has good resell value.
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^^
To add a little. The regulator job is to provide consistency until the rifle goes below the set regulator pressure.
A well tuned unregulated rifle can still provide very consistent shot strings. It’s a general known that shots within 20 fps will provide perfectly accurate performance.
Regulators have multiple o rings and eventually require maintenance to provide reliability
To add a little. The regulator job is to provide consistency until the rifle goes below the set regulator pressure.
A well tuned unregulated rifle can still provide very consistent shot strings. It’s a general known that shots within 20 fps will provide perfectly accurate performance.
Regulators have multiple o rings and eventually require maintenance to provide reliability
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i'll bite lol ... a regulator keeps the pressure consistent at the valve where the hammer is releasing it .. you can ' self regulate' by narrowing the pressure range you use at the expense of shot count .. a moderator on an airgun reduces the amount of lead dust released into the atmosphere lol .. a marauder doesnt need one, it has a built in shroud .. even with a 'depinger' installed the amount of lead dust spewed out the end will still be less than what the overall gun is letting off ...
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It's as good as anywhere to start. A lot of what you read will not make a lot of sense without some practical experience. Buy it and get started and bring money!
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A regulator is also an extra failure point, and a learning curve for tuning if you plan on adding one.
Buying a rifle thats regulated from the manufacturer usually lends itself to being less problematic, but failures do happen.
Regulators also tend to have creep. Meaning the first shot after sitting for a bit will be a bit higher pressure than the following shots.
Buying a rifle thats regulated from the manufacturer usually lends itself to being less problematic, but failures do happen.
Regulators also tend to have creep. Meaning the first shot after sitting for a bit will be a bit higher pressure than the following shots.
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My 4 regulated PCPs have much less velocity variation over a longer shot string than my one unregulated rifle. But I still like the unregulated one (a Benjamin Marauder pistol (Prod)). My regulated PCPs typically vary no more than 10 fps over 20 shots or more. My unregulated Prod will only give me about 20 shots before the velocity starts to fall fairly quickly (the full size Marauder will give many more) and the velocity will rise and then fall by 30 fps or so over those 20 shots. But it doesn't affect accuracy much over the 35 yards or less I normally shoot. I shot over 190 on the 30 yard challenge with my Prod without refilling it (24 shots). The 10 ring on the target is about 1/8th of an inch in diameter.
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The pressure chamber/reservoir, generally in non regulated rifles, can have a supersonic shock wave that travels through the reservoir and bounces off the end making a "ping" sound caused by the valve closing. The shock wave does not hurt anything other than making an annoyingly loud ping. The Marauder has a built in and relatively effective depinger, a small rubber sleeve, inside. The Marauder is a very quiet PCP overall.
The questions you are asking may seem simple and should have simple answers but which can quickly go down an Alice in Wonderland hole and become exceedingly complex.
You ask about the Marauder, it has excellent parts support and the O-rings inside are hardware store items. And Crosman has a superb warranty. The Marauder rifle should come with a factory test target proving it is accurate and working:
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Yes.
Many if not most rifles designed to shoot pellets have a slight choke in the very end of the barrel. The barrel gets slightly smaller right at the end to help stabilize the pellet. The Marauder has a choked barrel. The external shroud extends about 6 inches past the end of the actual barrel. It is possible to install a short shroud from aftermarket parts or cut shorter and rethread yours. Or leave it as it comes so that it can do what it is supposed to do, make the Marauder very quiet for it's power level.
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The Marauder bolt is ambidextrous, great feature. Easy to hand pump to 2900 psi. The only complaint I have is it is a heavy rifle.
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Crowflys,
Hard to improve on previous posts, I'll add my thoughts. Marauder, introduced around 2009, was a game changer, very popular and beloved PCP. Industry made changes since; long, heavy, bolt-action, non-regulated and dovetail scope rails have given way to shorter, lighter, regulated, side-levers and picatinny scope rails. My first was a 47", 10-pound (scoped) bolt-action Umarex Gauntlet behemoth, never occurred to consider weight and length prior to purchase, lesson learned. My one, and only, bolt action airgun, also, lesson learned. WM
Hard to improve on previous posts, I'll add my thoughts. Marauder, introduced around 2009, was a game changer, very popular and beloved PCP. Industry made changes since; long, heavy, bolt-action, non-regulated and dovetail scope rails have given way to shorter, lighter, regulated, side-levers and picatinny scope rails. My first was a 47", 10-pound (scoped) bolt-action Umarex Gauntlet behemoth, never occurred to consider weight and length prior to purchase, lesson learned. My one, and only, bolt action airgun, also, lesson learned. WM
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There are two outfits that supply aluminum air tubes currently. And I also made one, which doing it by hand was very tedious and beyond the capability of many I suppose. But, just to say, a Synrod, synthetic stock, aluminum air tube, the weight is around 5.5 pounds bare. The Marauder is not particularly heavier than other similar rifles but it is a full size rifle. But that is a start down the rabbit hole.
There are other good entry level or mid level rifles out there, the Gamo Urban is a superb rifle. It just does not have the power and parts support like Marauder but parts are available. It is UK made. I am a contrarian and as enticing as all of the CCC rifles are, I try to avoid them. But some are a good value and most seem to have their fair share of teething problems.
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Worriedman, "my one and only bolt", so I take it you're shooting semi action. May I ask why, what are the positive, semi over bolt, is there performance issues. I know in rimfire and center you lose just a bit of "juice" with semi. I'll take anyone's two cents, good or bad
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What he is referring to, I think, is side lever repeater vs a bolt repeater. The Marauder is a bolt action rifle. Many new, but not all, and many are very high dollar guns, are still a bolt action. But side lever is the coming thing. I will, for one, be glad when tacti-cool has run the course.
The bolt is not a big deal, the Marauder cocks easy unless you have a very stiff hammer spring in it for high power. The Gauntlet, I had one of those, it needed a winch to cock the darn thing, the Marauder, no, compared to the Gauntlet it cocks like butter smooth. And the Gauntlet and some of these CCC rifles make the Marauder seem dainty with giant bottles on them. Heck, I will as soon just throw my scuba tank on my back!
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Good advice offered by 3Crows. Gauntlet came out in 2017, bought .25 in 2020 for $310. Checked boxes for synthetic stock and regulated, but as stated previously, never considered weight or length. Try to alert others, considering Marauder or Gauntlet, to be mindful of same. Second PCP was FX MK3 Wildcat Sniper .30, what a difference. WMWhat he is referring to, I think, is side lever repeater vs a bolt repeater. The Marauder is a bolt action rifle. Many new, but not all, and many are very high dollar guns, are bolt action. But side lever is the coming thing. I hate to show this picture, but here goes, two side lever Marauders and one bolt. Left to right, Gen 2, unregulated, side lever, as equipped is 8.5 pounds. Next up is a Gen 1, bolt action, regulated, "special" valve, as equipped 9.4 pounds. And then my Gen 2 Super Light with side lever, regulated, 60 fpe, as equipped 8.6 pounds (light, red dot, scope, bipod and suppressor). It would not be easy to duplicate my Super Light and very expensive to do so. An aluminum tube and the synthetic (SynRod) stock knock down about two pounds give or take.
The bolt is not a big deal, the Marauder cocks easy unless you have a very stiff hammer spring in it for high power. The Gauntlet, I had one of those, it needed a winch to cock the darn thing, the Marauder, no, compared to the Gauntlet it cocks like butter smooth. And the Gauntlet and some of these CCC rifles make the Marauder seem dainty with giant bottles on them. Heck, I will as soon just throw my scuba tank on my back!
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I've been doing some looking, marauder, armada, avenger, is there a semi auto that is compared to these (quality, price, etc) any other guns you think that will compare? Thanks for all the advice and info so far.
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