R&L/Maddog Marauder Bullpup part II

I’m not going to bore anyone with shot strings because the Marauder has been tried, tested, and found accurate many many times. That subject has been thoroughly covered.

However, what happens when it’s converted to a bullpup? What changes? This is my experience from this morning’s shooting:

1) Balance. The biggest problem I had with the .25 Marauder was that “fence post” stock they put on it. It was bulky, front heavy, and awkward to carry. I found it very difficult to tote around in the woods, and I live in a woods. Enter the bullpup kit. Now the rifle is superbly balanced!!! And I do mean superb! It’s “perceived” weight, to me, is half it’s actual weigh-in of 8lbs. It is so well balanced, that each hand seems to take half the weight, and that results in a bullpup that feels like it molds to your body when carried. I could tote this gun all day and never need a sling.

The grip is ambidextrous, the finish is soft and warm to the touch, and the cheek weld is as good as any metal breech bullpup can offer. The scope rail offers plenty of scope location forward and backward. I would recommend not using a really short scope unless it has generous eye relief. I believe most red dot, single magnification devices would work fine, as you don’t need to move your head back and forth to get the best picture.

2) Safety. Some shooters don’t want a safety on their gun. This kit offers two possibilities. One is to simply not attach the safety linkage. The rod detaches, so leave it off if that’s your personal preference. Secondly, the best in my opinion, is just push the safety all the way forward. It goes up so far when pushed to it’s forward limit, it is well out of the way of your trigger finger. You can just ignore it, but it’s still there if the occasion arises when a safety is needed.

3) The Trigger. The picture directly above, the trigger is shown in it’s normal position under no finger pressure. The Marauder has a two stage trigger, and one would suppose that might be affected by adding linkage and assorted attachments for conversion. Well…it does change the trigger “feel”.

The trigger in the bullpup is “Creamy” smooth!!! It seems the linkage designed by Randy has acted as a buffer that smooths out any “crunch” or “drag” present in the factory setup. I know this sounds strange, but you really have to try it to believe what I’m saying. Ok…it’s smooth, now what?

The second stage is firmly felt when applying pressure to the trigger, and the trigger stops here:

Once you reach the second stage, a light pull takes you to release, and the end stage stops here:

There you have it. I can find no fault in this gun. I honestly don’t believe any bullpup in the world can match it feature for feature at it’s price range. Forever gone are the days when you needed two grand to get a really nice bullpup! This outfit is a poor man’s dream. It has obviously been tested vigorously, and designed carefully to maximize all the features of a bullpup. The Marauder does what a Marauder does. Mod it to your heart’s delight. The bullpup kit remains worth every hard earned dollar I spent on it, and I’d buy another one in a heartbeat! In fact, if they ever make a Prod bullpup kit…I want to be first on the list!!!