Benjamin Marauder

[mazo kid]

I have a chance to get one of these at a decent price. Anyone have any advice? I was most concerned about the included hand pump, wondering just how hard it would be to pump this gun up. I am older and have an arthritic back, so am wondering mostly about physical exertion. Thanks.

[melloairman]

I have a chance to get one of these at a decent price. Anyone have any advice? I was most concerned about the included hand pump, wondering just how hard it would be to pump this gun up. I am older and have an arthritic back, so am wondering mostly about physical exertion. Thanks.

The pumping is probably not a good idea with your back aliment . Marvin

[jmorris]

Cabelas has the synthetic gen 2 on sale for $439 now.

some of the early .22cal versions had accuracy issues, I think I would want to shoot a used one before shelling out money.

Several different pumps out there to "top off" a rifle from say 2000-3000 psi I think your looking at a 5 min workout with any of them.

Several other ways to fill them though.

[lathesmith]

How much do you plan on shooting it? If you plan on shooting it much at all, especially at higher power levels, pumping will get old real fast. OTOH, if you just plan on plinking with it occasionally, and adjust the power levels down to increase the shot count, you might be pretty satisfied with it.

Important here, too, is the caliber; if it's a .177 or .22, pumping might not be so bad, but a .25 is more of an air hog, and feeding it with a hand pump isn't going to be a very pleasant experience, IMO.

[OuchHot!]

I owned just a hand pump for quite some time. The first time up from near zero psi took a couple of brief efforts to keep the pump temp. reasonable, not to mention my temperature. I am guessing 150-200 strokes? Topping it back up after that wasn't too bad.

[osteodoc08]

I'd suggest a scuba tank and adapter. A friend of mine has one in 22 cal and it is very accurate and he uses it to guard his garden with a very successful shot to kill ratio. His ended up liking the rws dome match pellets IIRC.

[lowallman]

Have one in .22. Get a scuba tank and don't look back. I bought a 3000# tank. If I did it again I would look into a 4500#, less trips to scuba shop. Might be able to get them filled at a fire company.

[Case Stuffer]

Either some users must have much better (easier / less force required) hand pumps than the Benjamin one or they weight a good bit more than I do.


I purchased a Discovery due to the fact it only requires a max. of 2,000 PSI and many / most said it was very easy to hand pump. I weigh 165 and once the pressure reaches 1700 it takes all of my weight to finish those last few inches of each down stroke ( locked arms and bent knees) . If I shot it down to only 1,500 (around 10 shots) it is possible for me to top it off in a few minutes but it is a work out. I am 70 years old and have no major medical issues but I am not a great physical speciman either.

In order to be able to enjoy shooting it without thinking about the upcoming workoutit took me 2 days to order a small ,17 cu. ft. tank and a Shoebox Max compressor and I picked up a Oilless compressor at Home Depot. Closest fill location for me is around 60 miles round trip , I live in the sticks and hate going into and city with more than one traffic light.

[jmorris]

One of the pumps came with a rifle I picked up, used it twice manually (first time and last time) then "modified" it without altering he original pump itself.

[Silverboolit]

Have you tried the Disco on CO2? May do what you want. I am going to set mine up for CO2 next week, see what happens.

[Case Stuffer]

One of the pumps came with a rifle I picked up, used it twice manually (first time and last time) then "modified" it without altering he original pump itself.

Saw that in your thread on it and also saw several others on u tube. Great idea and if I had something more than a hand drill and a hacksaw I would have gone that route myself. I have the experience but not the equipment and shop rates being what they are I figured a Shoebox Max would be less expensive and I can save my hand pump for a backup. I have also read that Benjamin pumps seem to go south fairly quick but that may be due to improper useage. I have seen many videos of hand pumps being pumped to fast, short stroked , used with a cheater lever etc..

Simple fact is very few are happy to hand pump up a PCP unless they are on a very tight budget or only shot it rarely. I have had mine almost six days to now and approx. 300 pellets down range.

[lowallman]

Interesting idea, will hve to consider same

[BCB]

I have a Marauder, 22 caliber, and it is quite accurate. I can hit the 1.5” square spinners at 75 yards with amazing percentages. It will hit quarters at 50 yards. I often times in the fall of the year find hickory nuts and shoot them at 50 yards also…

A Very Good ‘Scope is needed to do this type of shooting. Parallax adjustment is a must. It must adjust to very close ranges. My ‘scope adjusts from 7.5 yards to infinity…

I don’t have a hand pump and I don’t think I would want to go that route!!! I have a carbon fiber tank and get it filled to near 4500 psi—depending on the day it is filled and how long I let the guy have it. Put air in it, let it set 15 minutes or so to cool down, add more air, etc…

Scuba tanks are not good as they only go to 3000 psi. I fill my Marauder to 3000 psi and that is why the 4500 psi tank is much better—more fills to 3000 psi. a 3000 psi tank will not fill to 3000 psi for very many fills. I shoot from 3000 psi down to ~2000 psi. I get 20 very good shots and maybe another 10. But accuracy diminishes after 20 shoots. There are 3 adjustments on the Marauder and that can be fine tuned. I tried, but I finally went back to the factory settings…

If you are going to get really serious about the Marauder go to:

http://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/ and then to the following:

PCP/CO2/HPA Air Gun Gates "The Darkside"

You can find all you need on that site…

A couple of words of caution—the Maurader if equipped with a Good ‘Scope (they don’t require airgun ‘scopes on this type of airgun) and the carbon fiber tank with quick connect fittings and adapters for the company filling them, you will have well over a Grand, and probably closer to $1200, in it. It actually can be more expensive to get started with than a good firearm…

Regardless…

Good-luck…BCB

[HARRYMPOPE]

I never minded pumping my marauder. It didn't seem all that hard and I shot well over 100 per session many times.

[jmorris]

I never minded pumping my marauder. It didn't seem all that hard and I shot well over 100 per session many times.

If you get 20 good shots from a fill and don't "lolly gag" when pumping, that's going to be around a half hour of work with a Benjamin hand pump.

[45cal]

I am at the age and body condition that for me the scuba tank is the way for me.
It only cost six dollars to have it recharged.
the last time I had the one filled in April the dive shop had a used freshly certified tank for $125,I bought a spare.
It has to refilled as I speak.
I go thru lots of air and rws pellets.I rarely mis

[BCB]

I am at the age and body condition that for me the scuba tank is the way for me.
It only cost six dollars to have it recharged.
the last time I had the one filled in April the dive shop had a used freshly certified tank for $125,I bought a spare.
It has to refilled as I speak.
I go thru lots of air and rws pellets.I rarely mis

See post #13...

You are not getting much efficiency with a storage tank that starts at 3000 psi. I fill my Marauder to 3000 psi and shoot it down to around 2000 psi. I get about 20 good shots, with the 1st 10 being quite accurate at 50 yards to 75 yards. I can fill balloons up to about a 4" diameter and break them at 100 yards. After 10 or so shots, I can actually see the pellet whiz past the balloon or sometimes hit it...

The 4500 psi give you many fill-ups to a good 3000 psi starting pressure. The scuba tank give you a couple of fill-ups to 3000 psi and after that, the pressure drops with each fill-up...

Carbon fiber is the way to go, but the quick detach and adapters for filling the tank, and the tank and gauges are very pricey.

I get mine filled at a fire extinguisher service place for 5 bucks...

Good-luck...BCB

[jmorris]

My .22 mrod wasn't a good shooter but the .25 I have is pretty impressive.



With Benjamin pellets it's around 1.5" at 100, slightly better with JSB Kings.

[JonnyReb]

I loved the accuracy of my 1st genertion .22 Mrod but hated hauling the thing around in the woods. I used an FX hand pump and that wasn't a very pleasant experience either. Eventually sold the Marauder and went to one of Flying Dragons XS60's converted to high pressure air. It fills at only 1500psi and still launches a jsb 18gr. at over 850fps. Basically the same power level as the Marauder but weighs 2 lbs less and fits the hand better for woods walking. Only downside is shot count is much lessened..i refill after only 8 or so shots and it takes about 30 strokes of the FX pump to bring it back up. If i were to go back to an Marauder i'd have to get a 4500psi tank to really appreciate it.

[osteodoc08]

I am at the age and body condition that for me the scuba tank is the way for me.
It only cost six dollars to have it recharged.
the last time I had the one filled in April the dive shop had a used freshly certified tank for $125,I bought a spare.
It has to refilled as I speak.
I go thru lots of air and rws pellets.I rarely mis

Youre in better shape than guys 20 years your junior, Ralph.

This guy here puts a hurting on pest birds, that I assure you. I've shot his MRod on countless times and its definitely more accurate than I can hold off hand.