Marauders…How are they working out?
I am curious how the new Marauders are working for those of you who have bought one, or have tried someone elses. Please post your positive and negative experiences.
Someone had mentioned that the gun doesn’t come with any provision to fill it…is this true? What does someone need to purchase to allow filling from a scuba tank or hand pump?
It has been compared to the AA 410 series…so, how does it stack up to the 410s?
Thanks in advance…I know that many of you will share your valuable insights. 😀
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Hi Saug,
I couldn’t resist calling Tim. I have spoken with him many times and he is first rate. His grandfather had an airgun repair shop in Van Nuys when I was a kid and of course, we were all impressed with anything, or anyone who was into “BB guns” 😀 Tim has carried on his grandfather’s passion for airguns.
I have been looking at Air Arms rifles for the last year. Two of my friends have each purchased one. One an ERB, the other a Classic…both in .22. I just can’t spend the $1200 to $1500 on the rifle and then all of the other goodies…magazines are $50 each for the AA! So, I am very interested in the Marauder. It seems to be having teething problems so I’m not sure when will be the best time to buy one. But I’m doing my research.
Tim had very positive things to say about the Marauder, and Crosman. It is always my preference to buy American guns. So it is great that Crosman has listened to people like Tim and us, their customers, and produced a viable alternative to european products.
Thanks Tim!
Good job Crosman! 😀
Steve, thanks for looking into that. I was going to call Tim myself, but I didn’t want to take the liberty of doing that for my friend unless he wanted me to.
I was really amazed, baffled on how bad this gun shot. It was also me who strongly suggested him getting the Marauder, because of such good reviews, and the price point. This is his first PCP, so it was really a downer, to say the least. But we’ll get it figured out one way or another, and I figured Tim would stand by what he sells anyways, so I think it will all turn out well. I have heard of some of these rifles not doing well in .22 because of shroud/baffle issues.
I couldn’t resist, I called Tim at Mac-1. The short story is that Crosman is not making the holes in the baffles large enough. They need to be opened up to 7mm in .22 cal..
Tim is busy and has asked me to make this announcement for him…”if you have purchased a Marauder form him that doesn’t group well, send him the baffles and the end cap and he will open them up free of charge. If you have purchased your Marauder from someone else he will fix those for a $15 dollar fee.” (Send only the baffles and end cap).
mac1airgun.com
Mac 1 Airgun
13974 Van Ness Ave.
Gardena, CA 90249
Hi Saugus; that is unfortunate to say the least. The silver lining is that he got it from Tim who I am sure will make it right. Thanks for posting.
So my buddy came over with his new Marauder. He got it at a cheaper price because of slight imperfections in the stock. He’s got a scuba tank, but it’s out of date, has to get hydro/visual ect. I have air, so he came over. I was really interested to see how it would do, and I know he was.
I intended on cleaning the barrel first, but couldn’t get all the baffles out to do it, and a straw couldn’t fit thru the holes. The gun already had 2000 psi in it, I took the Rockmount bi-pod off my Talandor, and attached it to his Marauder. I set up a paper plate 20 yrds away to sight it in. He commenced to shoot. Quiet… very quiet. And that’s about the only good thing about this gun. Or this particular gun I should say.
This rifle didn’t produce groups, it produced more of a lead spray. I was already feeling bad for him. Went to refill, this time up to 2500 psi. Even worse. I’m talking pellets seperating 2″ from one shot to the next sometimes, and this was with CP’s, the one pellet that supposedly work best in this rifle, at a mere 20 yrds away. I wasn’t real sure about his scope, so I attached my tried and true Nikko 8-32X60 to it, no difference. Couldn’t really even sight it with such varying POI. He wants to tinker with the settings and stuff… I told him I’d take it back to Tim. This should be way better out of the box.
For the record, he’s a good shot. With my s410 he put 5 pellets in the same hole, and I mean a hole that never got bigger than the hole the first pellet made, and did 3 more holes almost as good, so it’s not him.
So that’s my (our) first expierence with this rifle… not to good. Any input on how to attack this would be welcome, but I’d just take it back, if it performed the same after cleaning barrel.
For the Bucks the Maurader looks to be a contender. Of course not that long ago I paid $600 for my 410 Classic. 🙄
My 410 Classic LOVES CP’s. For example my son was shooting 3/4″ branches off pine trees at 100 yds with a bipod and prone. He was hitting pine cones off a fallen tree at 200 yds with no problem.
In the field he is an assassin with the 410 and his 70 yd off hand shot are amazing at times.
At the moment I have not seen any hunter class airgun that can out shoot it. That includes Rapids and Daystates. I see their groups posted all the time and are no better then my AA 410….NO SHIT.
I was going to buy a Rapid but the 410 changed my mind….really fast.
My only gripe is I wish it were quieter and I may have to do something about that.
http://www.marauderairrifle.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=153
Damn, that guy really milked some performance out of that gun! Those are the most powerful numbers I’ve seen yet. As I write this, I’m waiting for a freind to stop by who just now picked up a Marauder from Mac 1 Tim. I’ll post my initial findings on it later this eve… hopefully get some groups in.
Have you giys seen this review?
http://www.marauderairrifle.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=153
LMTSS…that is a very important factor. I didn’t like my friend’s ERB because it was 1 inch longer than an M-1 Garand and just as heavy. Imagine, an M-1 rifle that only shoots pellets…and it’s $1000+! My other friend’s Classic is much more reasonable in legnth and weight. I have yet to shoot an AA 410 carbine. Someday.
Thanks for the input!
One holer huh? That’s outstanding! 😀
She was a great shooter out of the box. I even thought I had missed my trap entirely.(just .177 1 hole shots) It is a very heavy rifle, I did not so much care for that as I am not use to holding a heavy gun.
Excellent Roger! It looks like it is pointing to “you get what you pay for.” Gee go figure.
Rate of twist stabilizes the bullet/pellet. Faster twist rates stabilize longer, heavier bullets. I’m not sure how it works with pellets.
Many an old timers has suggested that a shooter try every different type of ammunition available before giving up on a particular gun. Guns can be very picky about what they shoot well. Maybe it’s time to get some of as many different pellets as possible, including those that are not traditional favorites. Again, just a thought.
Many months ago, I started a thread similar to this one about the AA S410. I was surprised how many and varied responses that thread generated. Two of my friends bought 410’s. One an ERB and the other a Classic, both in .22. They both were very pleased with the responses from that thread and their purchases were a direct result. I am just not in a position where I can drop $1000+ on an air rifle…maybe some day 😀
Here is a link to the AA S410 thread that turned out really informative:
http://talonairgun.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4029&highlight=s410+one+own
For those who are interested, I found this Maruader write up by Tachdriver, (nice write up…I missed it before):
http://talonairgun.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8449&highlight=410
While searching, I found this one too by LMTSS…what do you think of it now after owning and shooting her for a while?
http://talonairgun.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9456&highlight=410+one+own
Again, thanks for the info 😀
I haven’t checked the twist rate, or thought about pushing the pellets faster, I may give it a try.
I really like having a gun with a lower fill pressure, it means I can fill more times from a small pony bottle in the field.
I tested the Marauder at the fun shoot last Sunday and I was able to get 7 full refills on the marauder with my 17.9 cf pony bottle charged to 3200 psi. That is 210 shots in the field. It is hard to make myself tune the marauder to shoot on a 3000 psi fill because that would limit me to 1 or 2 refills in the field with my current pony tanks.
It is especially hard to swallow since my S410 likes a 2600 psi fill. I went hunting today and refilled it 3 times in the field, and I think I can get at least 2 more fills on that bottle.
Things I tried on the Marauder:
With a friends help we:
Pulled the barrel. Tapered and polished the lead in. re-crowned the barrel. It shot better, but no magic transformation.
We even tried:
Shooting it with everything (shroud, baffles, plastic thing stuck on end of barrel) removed. still it doesn’t group all that well to lead me to believe it will group well at 50 yards.
With the shroud removed we also tried shooting it with a single shot tray to rule out the spring in the magazine bending the skirts.
After everything it shoots better, not great. My friend gene and I were feeling bad for our failed attempts, until we saw a post on the yellow where Doug Owen and his mac1 prepped marauder had an occasional problem that resulted in it spraying JSB’s.
So I don’t feel so bad now.
I didn’t think about the twist rate, but if that were the problem why do the 21gr. Kodiaks shoot much better than the jsb. I think the thin skirt on the jsb’s may have something to do with things.
It also hates dynamic tinned pellets and predator pellets
On the plus side after all the work it feeds much better, so smooth…
Still searching, not giving up just yet.
Roger
Same hole at 30 yards? That sounds good to me! But I fully understand determining which airgun is right for you personally. I maintain that guns are like shoes…you have to find what fits you.
The more different air guns that I shoot, the more that I appreciate my 15 year old Benjamin 392 and my TSS. Although, I find that my TSS is more picky about specific distances. I think that this due to the scope being mounted so high above the bore. My rat killing distance is 24′. Very close. I finally solved that problem with a Tasco 2.5 -10 power Varmint scope wothout a tri-rail. It isn’t the most comfortable set up but it does the job. The other scopes that I tried just wouldn’t adjust low enough for that short distance.
my likes kodiaks i was shooting at 30yds and you can put a bunch of pellets on the same spot,
i try JSB 15.8 Grains, Diabolo Exact Jumbo and was doing groups of .5 inch at 25 yds and once in a wile i got a flyer out of the group,
so i am only using kodiaks with the marauder,
i don’t get the feel for the marauder yet i have shot close to 200 pellets
and i still thinking if the marauder is for me ,
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My 410 Classic LOVES CP’s. For example my son was shooting 3/4″ branches off pine trees at 100 yds with a bipod and prone. He was hitting pine cones off a fallen tree at 200 yds with no problem.
In the field he is an assassin with the 410 and his 70 yd off hand shot are amazing at times.
At the moment I have not seen any hunter class airgun that can out shoot it. That includes Rapids and Daystates. I see their groups posted all the time and are no better then my AA 410….NO SHIT.
I was going to buy a Rapid but the 410 changed my mind….really fast.
My only gripe is I wish it were quieter and I may have to do something about that.
Perhaps have your son do a shoot off with Yrrah on the Yellow. He would be the next best shot I have heard of. Be a cool long range shoot.
Walter….