Home Blog  
Accessories Benjamin Marauder .22 repeater with synthetic stock: Part 5

Benjamin Marauder .22 repeater with synthetic stock: Part 5

by Tom Gaylord, a.k.a. B.B. Pelletier

Benjamin Marauder .177 caliber: Part 1
Part 2
Secrets of loading the Benjamin Marauder magazine
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Fixing a Marauder magazine
Part 7
Benjamin Marauder .25 caliber: Part 1
Benjamin Marauder .25 caliber: Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Benjamin Marauder .22 repeater with synthetic stock: Part 1
Benjamin Marauder .22 repeater with synthetic stock: Part 2
Benjamin Marauder .22 repeater with synthetic stock: Part 3
Benjamin Marauder .177 caliber 50-yard test: Special part
Benjamin Marauder .22 repeater with synthetic stock: Part 4

Benjamin Marauder synthetic stock
New Benjamin Marauder with synthetic stock has all the features of the classic Marauder in a lighter, trimmer package.

Today, we’ll look at the Marauder’s accuracy at 50 yards. I had to wait a long time for a calm day at the range for this.

Clearing the air
Before I begin the report, though, I want to address something. The new Marauder — both the one with the synthetic stock and the one with the wood stock — are the same rifle in different stocks. The actions are identical. Crosman waited to bring out the wood-stocked model, but both rifles have the new set-back trigger and also the new valve and hammer depinger. Which brings me to my second comment.

Owners who have used the new Marauder seem to like it a lot. They praise it in their comments on the product page. But those who don’t own one are making comments such as, “Tom Gaylord said the new .22-caliber Marauder only gets 860 f.p.s. Where is the 1,000 feet per second that Crosman claims? And where are those extra shots?”

Let me make this very clear — Tom Gaylord DID NOT say that the new Marauder only gets 860 f.p.s. What Tom Gaylord did was test the new Marauder exactly as it came from the box. He discovered that his test rifle seems to like a 2,900 psi fill, instead of the 2,500 psi fill suggested in the owner’s manual.

Tom Gaylord shot his test rifle at 25 yards and showed you the accuracy the rifle got when filled to that pressure. Today, he is going to show you how well it does at 50 yards, and it will also be filled to 2,900 psi.

Don’t extrapolate!
This is a pet peeve of mine. When people read all the performance specs of an airgun, they lump them together as though the gun does all of them simultaneously. The new Marauder may very well get 12 percent more shots per fill because of the new valve. And it may very well shoot a .22-caliber pellet at 1,000 f.p.s. And it may also be very accurate. And very quiet. But don’t expect it to do all of that at the same time — just as you don’t expect a new Corvette to go 0-60 in 4 seconds and also get 21 miles per gallon. You get one or the other — not both at the same time.

I haven’t even adjusted the gun to see how fast it will shoot. And I haven’t played with the fill pressure, either. All I’ve done to this point is take the rifle out of the box, put a scope on it and test it for accuracy. During that testing, I’ve accomplished several things:

1. I know the best fill pressure of the test rifle as it stands right now — 2,900 psi
2. I know the most accurate pellets — 14.3-grain Crosman Premiers and Beeman Kodiaks.
3. I know that for top accuracy, I can count on getting 2 full magazine’s worth of shots on a fill — 20 shots.

Now, don’t go running around claiming that I just said the new Marauder only gets 20 accurate shots. What I said was for top accuracy I can count on getting 2 full magazine’s worth of shots. There are a lot more than 20 accurate shots in this rifle!

If you’ve been following this report, you know that I’ve eliminated several pellets during earlier testing. They didn’t hold up to the 2 I chose for this test. That’s not to say there aren’t other pellets that might outshoot these 2 — just that, of the pellets I’ve tested, these are the best.

Testing at 50 yards
The day was completely calm — perfect for this kind of test outdoors. I shot the rifle off a sandbag rest. The first group was with Crosman Premiers, the pellet that proved to be the most accurate at 25 yards.

Since I didn’t know when the wind might kick up, I went fast in this test. There were 2 other air rifles to test on this day, and one of them was the Double Disco that shoots the same velocity as the Marauder. I wanted to complete this test so I would have time for that one afterward. I also had an AirForce Escape to test; but given how powerful that rifle is and also given the heavy weight of the .25-caliber pellets I’d be shooting, I thought that one could endure a little breeze.

At 50 yards, 10 Premiers went into a group that measures 1.112 inches between centers. It’s a reasonably round group that has 7 of the 10 shots in 0.558 inches. There’s nothing wrong with that!

Benjamin Marauder synthetic stock Premier group 50 yards
Ten Crosman Premier pellets went into a nice tight 1.112-inch group. Seven of the pellets are in 0.558 inches.

Beeman Kodiaks
Next, I shot a group of 10 Beeman Kodiaks. This was on the same fill as the Premiers. Again, I was going fast to finish before the wind kicked up, so I didn’t stop to adjust the scope. Ten Beeman Kodiak pellets went into 1.516 inches at 50 yards, with 9 of them making just 0.888 inches. As with the Premiers, this group was also reasonably round.

Benjamin Marauder synthetic stock Beeman Kodiak group 50 yards
Ten Beeman Kodiaks made this 1.516-inch group group. Nine of them are in 0.888 inches.

Here comes the wind
When I finished the Kodiak group, the breeze was just starting to blow. I refilled the Marauder and tried one other test pellet that I’m evaluating for Pyramyd AIR, but it didn’t do very well. So, I ended the test for the Marauder.

The new Marauder is very accurate. This test shows that clearly. As far as the absolute top velocity it can get or anything else, I still have to test that.

In my opinion, the new Marauder shoots as well as the old Marauder did. I do like the new synthetic stock for its slim profile and lighter weight; but as far as accuracy and quietness goes, I don’t see any difference between the new rifle and the old Marauder.

author avatar
Tom Gaylord (B.B. Pelletier)
Tom Gaylord, also known as B.B. Pelletier, provides expert insights to airgunners all over the world on behalf of Pyramyd AIR. He has earned the title The Godfather of Airguns™ for his contributions to the industry, spending many years with AirForce Airguns and starting magazines dedicated to the sport such as Airgun Illustrated.

77 thoughts on “Benjamin Marauder .22 repeater with synthetic stock: Part 5”

  1. If you look at the 50 yard test in another perspective 7 of the 10 Premiers went into a .558″ group and the other 3 Premiers stretched the group to 1.112″.

    Well the way I see it 7 of the shots just nailed a starling at 50 yards. And the other 3 shots that spread out the group to the 1.112″ probably still hit the starling and did their job. And even the Kodiak’s also. Even with the bigger group they made. A starling is about 3″ across looking straight at the bird.

    So if you look at a starling 50 yards out I think you will be surprised how small it looks to the naked eye. Well it ain’t as small as a sparrow but you get the point. If I’m using a airgun and the majority of the groups fall at a inch or under at 50 yards. Well that makes me happy. And if you stay inside of that 50 yards the gun is definitely making enough power to take on the starlings. So I wouldn’t have a problem saying this gun would work good for small pest problems if you keep the shots in a reasonable range with the groups its getting.

    • I am most fortunate that I do not have a starling issue at my house. Or maybe I am unfortunate. If I had a starling problem, I could use it as a justification to get one of these. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Here starling, starling, starling.

      • RR

        You need the right habitat to have a starling problem.
        Out in the woods….no starlings.
        No old maple trees with a lot of knot holes for nesting….no starlings.
        No big mulberry trees….no starlings. You REALLY don’t want mulberry trees at certain times of the year.

        twotalon

          • RR
            You really don’t want a starling problem. They are messy birds if you know what I mean. I constantly hose off the house and the deck in the warmer months. When they eat the Mulberry’s and go it stains things kind of a red/purple color.

            So no they ain’t no fun to have around. Extra work to do in the summertime along with all the other yard work and stuff to do. So if they weren’t around it wouldn’t hurt my feelings a bit.

  2. B.B.

    You got a “B.B. Boo Boo”. 2,900 f.p.s. looks a bit wrong . Try 2,900 p.s.i. .

    How long are you going to test with CP (soon to be extinct ) ? A lot of people seem to prefer the cheaper tins to the boxes. Maybe a comparison some day in a couple different rifles ? If you feel like it, that is.

    twotalon

  3. I have both the M-Rod and the S-Rod and with both set at the same FPS the S-Rod will give me 4 less shots per fill. 20 PSI per shot with the M-Rod and 23 PSI with the S-Rod. I shoot 2600 down to 2000.

  4. How old is the Beeman R7 that I bought at the local gun show last weekend ? The serial # is 14749xx. It has a monte carlo stock without a cheekpiece. The front sight is a tapered flat tip blade in a dovetail (a mk 1 sight, according to chambers & co.). Is there a globe sight (with inserts) that will fit the dovetail slot ( without having to alter the slot)? Thanks for the help, Ed

    • Ed,

      Only Weihrauch can tell you the age of the airgun from the serial number. You can write to them in Germany and they will respond.

      But the address where Beeman was located might help us put it into the decade when it was sold.

      I’m pretty sure a Weihrauch globe front sight with replaceable inserts can be installed on your rifle, but Pyramyd Air’s tech department will know for sure.

      B.B.

    • Zed,

      in the off-chance you will get this as a e-mail that you have a response, I just now tried to see if the globe front site that AirForce sells on PA would fit an HW 50 (I don’t have an R-7 but as BB suggested and you probably know, the R-7 was made by Weihrauch. In any event, the AirForce globe front site is too wide for the barrel on the HW 50 (which is a .177).

      Fred DPRoNJ

  5. BB,

    As irritating as they are, I wouldn’t worry about those “but Tom Gaylord said” people. I’ve noticed throughout my life that they are usually blaming their own lack of research and logic on someone else to absolve themselves of the dumb, “gee I should’ve read that closer” feeling that they get from not realizing their unreal expectations. The old saying holds true. “Don’t be so quick as to point the finger in blame because there are three of your own fingers pointing back at you.” (my wording)

    /Dave

    • I’ve seen this before and took note of the interesting drawing technique with the hand inverted. I can see how that would speed up the firing process. All around very impressive. You can imagine the Mongols howling down on you spraying out their arrows like a semiauto.

      Matt61

      • I might have to try that with my recurve sometime when I have a bigger backstop. Right now, I don’t think the neighbors would appreciate a random rain of arrows from my misses in their backyard…

  6. I caught a mistake in my previous post about fill pressure on a Daisy Avanti PCP. That pressure gauge wasn’t marked in psi. It was marked in bars.

    So, if 1 bar=14 psi, then 150 bars= 2100 psi. Sounds about right to me.

    Bar would depend on ambient air pressure, wouldn’t it? I think 14 psi is ambient air pressure at sea level.
    Don’t know how to adjust for elevation, maybe it doesn’t matter. My elevation is 3270ft.

    Les

  7. Just because you used Beeman kodiaks makes me wonder if anyone else has had the problem I’ve had with the copper plated ones and if they could tell me why ? I use cp magnums.177 and they are really tight goin in, the are heavier( not much but still) then the coppers which fit smoothly but not loose, the cps come out smooth as silk and the copper kodiaks bounce the piston somethin horrible.

  8. Edith,

    I hate to be a pain but the Pyramid Air product pages for both the new and original Marauders list the weight at 8.0 lbs. The weight of a rifle is very important to me (as it probably is to everyone) so I definitely want to know the correct weight of the new Marauder. Is it closer to 7 lbs. ?

    Again, thanks for your patience.

    G&G

    • G&G,

      I did some checking & corrected Pyramyd Air’s site according to what I found on Crosman’s site:

      Old wood-stocked M-rod: 8.00 lbs., 42.50″ long.
      New wood-stocked M-rod: 8.20 lbs., 42.87″ long.
      Synthetic M-rd: 7.12 lbs., 42.50″ long

      However, I’ll write to Crosman and make sure the difference in lengths isn’t just a typo on their end. Pyramyd Air’s website will reflect the edited specs when it refreshes later today.

      Edith

  9. I am truly happy to read your opinion that the old Mrod is as accurate as the new. Mostly because I own one of the old models, and I doubt I’ll invest in a new one. I would, however, love to find a way to reduce the weight, and probably more importantly, the width of mine. I am not fond of the “hand full” feel. I much prefer a more slender profile. Is there a stock maker that you recommend that might be able to help me with this?
    Ed

  10. Nice to see the Marauder holding up–a modern classic to be sure. Over the weekend, I forget to comment on the photo of B.B. shooting the SAA model pistol. Was it an Uberti? Anyway with regard to resting technique for pistols, I thought you once said that the optimum method was to rest the wrists on the sandbags, not the barrel. Is this different because the barrel is so very long? At that length, it gives “muzzle heavy” a new meaning, and I have to wonder if it’s shootable without sandbags. I’m also reminded of the Batman film that features Jack Nicholson as the Joker. As Batman flies past in his Batjet, the Joker pulls out a revolver from his pants with a barrel about as long as his trouser leg and shoots down the Batjet.

    RifledDNA, you’d have to ask the mating alligators to know their feelings for sure, but they certainly didn’t look angry. No, I’d like to think they were in full romantic mode. It’s like the Far Side cartoon where a female warthog in a crowded room is attired in cocktail party garb with a highball in one hand and she says to her girlfriend, “I think a certain someone is checking out.”

    Thanks to all for the good info about grain and powder explosions. It looks like my legal loophole has become a garage door although I certainly don’t plan to put it to the test.

    I neglected to mention how to have ultimate shotgunning fun. This comes from no less a person than my grand-uncle who was a top turret gunner in a B-17 over Europe. He even got shot down and captured. He told me that he fired the Springfield 03 for training, and he found the recoil to be significantly less than the 12 gauge shotguns they used. The reason they fired 12 gauge shotguns is for a drill where they would load up in the back of a pick-up and drive around a circular track. In the middle of the field was a launcher for clays, and as they clays came up, the fired away from the back of the truck. The idea was to practice air-to-air gunnery with relative motion. Thanks to growing up on a farm in Indiana, my uncle hit every single clay. Unfortunately, this marksmanship was not enough to save their airplane, and he tells me that he remembers seeing the fighter that got them. Anyway, the shooting from the pick-up sounds like a lot of fun. I can’t wait to see someone try that on YouTube.

    gunfun1, how wonderful to see hawks close up. It sounds like you saw a red-tailed hawk which I believe is the most common kind. I like both hawks and cats, so I couldn’t root for one or the other. However, a recent study claims that domestic cats kills billions of birds every year. The poet e.e. cummings writes,

    Cats are miniature tigers
    Who love mice
    Hate dogs
    And patronize humans

    He he. Anyway, the cats have won more than their share with the birds.

    Matt61

    • Matt
      They were red tail hawks. We have some owls that are just as big. And I seen a red fox come out of the woods this morning and go get a drink.

      My daughters like watching the wild animals also. Kind of neat to see them up close. Most of the time they are within 60 yards of us when we see them.

    • Matt61, thanks for the clarification on the alligators lol, and that is such cool history about your grand uncles time in action.
      I went out shooting with my neighbors son today and we trudged through some serious snow to find a a group of those “feral cans”, it was about a half hour the dusk closing in, we got only about ten shots each but man was that the most fun I’ve had in awhile. The kid had a blast, hisdads in a coma since he was like six so he’s never done any of this stuff. You should see how fast he moves when I ask if he wants to go shoot. That’s what its all about.

  11. GF1

    The 500 scored its first kill this afternoon. Male sparrow at about 20 yds. A lucky shot, as it was shooting a bit too high.
    I plinked it in, shooting at anything sticking out of the snow . Even shot at bird droppings on the snow. Cranked it down some, and a bit to the left. Shoots barely over the bird droppings, but right in line with them. Walked through almost knee deep snow to check out the pellet stripes in the snow.
    Was shooting 20-25 yds on the second mark (power) with RS pellets. Happy so far.

    Picked up the dead sparrow and brought it out to the back door for the cats. Two came up and each walked on either side of it on their way to the food dish. One left, but came back later and got the bird . Spoiled cats.

    twotalon

  12. Man I don’t know. Accuracy is there, but the price still keeps me away. I’m curious how this compares to the Hatsan AT44, a gun with basically the same specs but that actually comes with SIGHTS, and is over $100 less. Looks to me like the only thing you’re giving up is a few db’s, but you get increased shot count, the ability to carry an extra air cylinder that plugs right in, and even an extra round in .25 caliber. And apparently no real difference in accuracy.
    Speaking of which, I wonder what brand of pellet Crosman uses in their tests of their own .25 Marauder, seeing as how they don’t make a pellet in that size.

  13. The owner’s manual for my synthetic stock Marauder makes no mention of a 2,500 psi fill. Does the old manual state such a figure? My manual simply states between 2,000 and 3,000 psi. Did *you* extrapolate?

    • John,

      I just scanned the new manual online and you are right — they no longer say that. However, the manual that came with the rifle I am testing is also a synthetic stock manual and it does say it. So there must have been a change to the manuals that didn’t catch up to the guns in the boxes.

      Anyway, now that they no longer say that, it will be up to the owners to figure it out for themselves.

      B.B.

      • I wonder why this is.. Is Benjamin putting less money into the Marauder? My thought process is: maybe the previous rifles were fired and maybe tuned for 2,500 psi before leaving the factory, now that step is omitted. Just a thought.

        • John,

          When I spoke to Ed Schultz, Crosman’s lead engineer, about this late last year, he said they were still doing it. In fact, we even discussed them doing it for the Synthetic stock Marauder, because that’s what we were talking about.

          This change is recent.

          B.B.

          • Interesting. I have yet to shoot my new Marauder, but am planning on it this weekend. I am looking forward to seeing what fill pressures it likes in its factory adjusted (or I guess not adjusted) state. Your blog has given me a lot of good information, I feel like I am much better equipped to enter the world of PCPs after reading it.

            • John,

              One good trick it to shoot at a long distance. That will enhance things greatly. Your rifle will probably be best with the same pellets mine is, but if you shoot at a long distance you should be able to ferret out those subtle nuances that hide at 20 yards.

              Be sure to tell us how it went.

              B.B.

              • OK, so I shot my Marauder .22 synthetic for the first time and I have some interesting things to report. I wish I could post pictures. Accuracy is excellent. In a 5-15 mph(!) crosswind I was able to put every pellet in the black on an official 10m air rifle target, at 38 yards. (Using boxed Crossman Premiers.) I’m impressed. It is very quiet, the ‘ping’ is the loudest part, hard to imagine how loud the ping was before the supposed depinger. I forgot to use the calibrated decibel app on my phone for empirical evidence. Will do next time. I chronographed the gun and got some results. I didn’t touch any adjustments to see how the gun behaved on a stock ‘tune’ (others: read previous if the quotation marks don’t make sense). I think my results are similar to yours, B.B. I filled to 3,000 psi and went all the way down to 2,000 psi. Here are the velocity figures:
                1 – 903
                2 – 902
                3 – 901
                4 – 903
                5 – 900
                6 – 895
                7 – 893
                8 – 895
                9 – 893
                10 – 891
                11 – 887
                12 – 889
                13 – 887
                14 – 877
                15 – 878
                16 – 873
                17 – 867
                18 – 873
                19 – 873
                20 – 862
                21 – 859
                22 – 861
                23 – 853
                24 – 851
                25 – 846
                26 – 846
                27 – 839
                At this point it dropped to 2,000 psi. Even though the velocity dropped on nearly every shot, it is important to keep in mind this is only a few percentage points, start to finish. It is also important to *interpolate* how this affects trajectory; it doesn’t significantly. Physics 101 dictates < 0.1" drop at the range I was shooting, calculated at ~40 yards.
                More notes: The bolt feels *terrible* when cocking. The best way to describe it is to say if feels like someone poured not sand, but an even courser, grittier substance into the bolt mechanism. Awful. This is major to me. Several times my dad and I could not tell if we had cocked the gun completely, and several times we didn't! When using an auto-indexing magazine this can stack pellets in the breach! Completely unacceptable. Several times I had to stop after the gun failed to fire and figure out what was going on! I'll say it again, completely unacceptable. This rifle cost $500. My Blue Streak felt much better than this, day one. My dad was a shooting instructor for the military during the Vietnam war, so I would say he knows what he is doing. (I'm using him as my 'empirical evidence' in this case.) This would never happen with a firearm of similar price. This is one reason I believe people from a firearm background hesitate to get into airgunning. Sometimes it is difficult to justify such an exorbitant price on an inferior piece of engineering. It should cock like a 30-06, or at least the plastic SA semi-auto .22 LR we bought for under $100(!) no questions. I don't subscribe to the notion that the valve costs more or high-pressure vessels cost a bunch or Crossman has less access to economies of scale or some other half-baked idea. This. Is. Unacceptable.
                Overall, I appreciate the 'point and click' ease of use (nice trigger, VERY easy to be accurate and zero recoil), but much (especially in terms of quality) is to be desired. It would be nice to purchase something that just worked. Why should i have to buy a $1,500 Air Arms if I want something that is as smooth as the cheap, plastic, sub $100 .22 LR that I bought at Big 5 to compete? I can't stand having to fiddle with a $500 pellet gun to get it to work. I welcome all comments pertaining to airgun (lack of) quality and the significance of the (economically priced) Marauder.
                On one hand I'm impressed, but overall Crossman's lackluster showing of the Marauder has somewhat disappointed me. I guess I was expecting tantamount performance to my $120 (now $200) Blue Streak.

          • Wulfraed,
            Thank you for the information. I plan on starting with a 2,500 psi fill and shooting the same pellets B.B. did, just to see how my numbers compare to his. It would be interesting to see if one rifle was ‘adjusted’ from the factory drastically different than another. I put quotes on adjusted because I am eager to see if Crossman is still tuning rifles before they leave the factory. I think a starting point will be to see if mine in stock form compares to B.B.’s in stock form. I think since the Marauder has more adjustments than other PCPs, they should all be set to perform to a set of specifications before they leave the factory. BTW, I have a synthetic .22.

      • Hi, folks. My two original Marauders came with tags affixed to the trigger guard, suggesting a 2500 psi fill for the factory settings. No such thing on the new rifles?

        -Jan

  14. Fred DPR etc.-Thanks for the reply, but my R7 has a dovetail slot cut into the barrel. Only a sight or sight block with a male dovetail will fit. Air rifles have smaller dovetails than firearms, I will have to enlarge the dovetail slot, or file down the male dovetail on a sight made for firearms. BB I just heard from Weihrauch, my R7 was made in 1999. Ed

    • Zed,

      the AirForce sight is a male dovetail. But it’s for 10 M rifles and the dovetails on the barrels apparently are very wide compared to sporters. Here is what I was talking about.

      /product/airforce-front-target-sight-fits-most-10-meter-3-position-rifles-all?a=2238

      However, these will work for you:

      /search-results-ext?Ntt=globe+front+sight&sid=1375A617A415&N=0&Ntk=primary&q=globe+front+sight&cx=002970863286801882398:jlcminxfwdw&cof=FORID:11;NB:1&saSearch

      On the other hand, if you’re not going to use the rifle for punching holes in paper, a Red Dot or the See All is a good option, I think.

      Good Luck!

      Fred DPRoNJ

  15. BB except for the front sight. The product schematics for the W hw30s and Ls (Pyramyd Air) show a globe sight that will not fir my B R7. The diagram for the HW 30 show the blade sight that is on my R7. They are not interchangeable. There seems to be some confusion re 2 parallel grooves cut into a barrel (like receiver scope mount grooves), and a triangular transverse slot for both rear open and front sights (traditional sight mounting dovetail slot). Only the slots that have the shape of a birds tail should be called dovetails. Fred etc, the above also applies to the sights that you mentioned. Thanks for your interest in my problem. Ed

  16. Fred etc, PS My R7 came with a genuine Gamo rear sight. It would go to waste if I put an optical sight on the R7. I am used to iron target sights, having used them in smallbore and high power match shooting for many decades. Ed

  17. I think this is a post people may want to see, I know I would, and may get overlooked as a direct reply to B.B., so I’m re-posting is here at the end in hopes it will generate some insightful responses.

    OK, so I shot my Marauder .22 synthetic for the first time and I have some interesting things to report. I wish I could post pictures. Accuracy is excellent. In a 5-15 mph(!) crosswind I was able to put every pellet in the black on an official 10m air rifle target, at 38 yards. (Using boxed Crossman Premiers.) I’m impressed. It is very quiet, the ‘ping’ is the loudest part, hard to imagine how loud the ping was before the supposed depinger. I forgot to use the calibrated decibel app on my phone for empirical evidence. Will do next time. I chronographed the gun and got some results. I didn’t touch any adjustments to see how the gun behaved on a stock ‘tune’ (others: read previous if the quotation marks don’t make sense). I think my results are similar to yours, B.B. I filled to 3,000 psi and went all the way down to 2,000 psi. Here are the velocity figures:
    1 – 903
    2 – 902
    3 – 901
    4 – 903
    5 – 900
    6 – 895
    7 – 893
    8 – 895
    9 – 893
    10 – 891
    11 – 887
    12 – 889
    13 – 887
    14 – 877
    15 – 878
    16 – 873
    17 – 867
    18 – 873
    19 – 873
    20 – 862
    21 – 859
    22 – 861
    23 – 853
    24 – 851
    25 – 846
    26 – 846
    27 – 839
    At this point it dropped to 2,000 psi. Even though the velocity dropped on nearly every shot, it is important to keep in mind this is only a few percentage points, start to finish. It is also important to *interpolate* how this affects trajectory; it doesn’t significantly. Physics 101 dictates < 0.1" drop at the range I was shooting, calculated at ~40 yards.
    More notes: The bolt feels *terrible* when cocking. The best way to describe it is to say if feels like someone poured not sand, but an even courser, grittier substance into the bolt mechanism. Awful. This is major to me. Several times my dad and I could not tell if we had cocked the gun completely, and several times we didn't! When using an auto-indexing magazine this can stack pellets in the breach! Completely unacceptable. Several times I had to stop after the gun failed to fire and figure out what was going on! I'll say it again, completely unacceptable. This rifle cost $500. My Blue Streak felt much better than this, day one. My dad was a shooting instructor for the military during the Vietnam war, so I would say he knows what he is doing. (I'm using him as my 'empirical evidence' in this case.) This would never happen with a firearm of similar price. This is one reason I believe people from a firearm background hesitate to get into airgunning. Sometimes it is difficult to justify such an exorbitant price on an inferior piece of engineering. It should cock like a 30-06, or at least the plastic SA semi-auto .22 LR we bought for under $100(!) no questions. I don't subscribe to the notion that the valve costs more or high-pressure vessels cost a bunch or Crossman has less access to economies of scale or some other half-baked idea. This. Is. Unacceptable.
    Overall, I appreciate the 'point and click' ease of use (nice trigger, VERY easy to be accurate and zero recoil), but much (especially in terms of quality) is to be desired. It would be nice to purchase something that just worked. Why should i have to buy a $1,500 Air Arms if I want something that is as smooth as the cheap, plastic, sub $100 .22 LR that I bought at Big 5 to compete? I can't stand having to fiddle with a $500 pellet gun to get it to work. I welcome all comments pertaining to airgun (lack of) quality and the significance of the (economically priced) Marauder.
    On one hand I'm impressed, but overall Crossman's lackluster showing of the Marauder has somewhat disappointed me. I guess I was expecting tantamount performance to my $120 (now $200) Blue Streak.

      • John,

        No, 200 psi is minimal. You can expect up to 300 psi and I have seen 600! Small gauges simply deo not all agree.

        Next, the cocking effort of your new gun is also to be expected. You will get the same thing in a $1600 FX. It is the striken breaking in the inside of the tube in shoch it slides. When the bolt trys to withdraw it during cocking, it tilts away from the force and dugs into the walls of the tube. There are small imperfectiuons there. They are not burrs.

        You get exactly the same thing in a new bolt action centerfrire rifle, and I have even seen it in some rimfires, though not as much, since their striker springs are not powerful.

        It does go away, but tyhe bolt will always reflect the strength of the strike spring.

        Sidelevers can be even worse before they break in.

        You should try to cock a new big bore sometime! I have had to use my foot to cock some rifle for the first few shots.

        But they all do smooth out and after 100 shots or so they settle into what they will be.

        Hang in there!

        B.B.

        • It is the striken breaking in the inside of the tube in shoch it slides. When the bolt trys to withdraw it during cocking, it tilts away from the force and dugs into the walls of the tube.

          Pardon?

  18. Just a friendly suggestion for a future update on the synrod to help out the leftys that purchased this rifle without reading the fine print. A step by step process of reversing the bolt with plenty of pics would be very helpful. I bought my synrod before Crosman put on their site they don’t show you how to do it. I didn’t find out until I read the owners manual after I bought the gun from Pyramyd AIR. I can’t find anywhere that has pics on the process either.

    • Scott,

      I will look into it, but that really exceeds the scope of this blog. I know I do take guns apart and show modifications from time to time, but that is for information more than for people to actually do it. And if Crosman feels the reversal process is so difficult, I would be running against their policy to do this.

      However, I will look into it.

      B.B.

      • Thank you and I appreciate the response. I hope Crosman doesn’t have an issue with it. I’m sure lefty Synrod owners will rejoice if you do post how to do it 🙂

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Cancel reply

Buy With Confidence

  • Free Shipping

    Get FREE shipping on qualifying orders! Any order $150+ with a shipping address in the contiguous US will receive the option for free ground shipping on items sold & shipped by Pyramyd AIR during checkout. Certain restrictions apply.

    Free shipping may not be combined with a coupon unless stated otherwise.

    View Shipping Info

  • Shipping Time Frame

    We work hard to get all orders placed by 12 pm EST out the door within 24 hours on weekdays because we know how excited you are to receive your order. Weekends and holiday shipping times will vary.

    During busy holidays, we step our efforts to ship all orders as fast as possible, but you may experience an additional 1-2 day delay before your order ships. This may also happen if you change your order during processing.

    View Shipping Times

  • Shipping Restrictions

    It's important to know that due to state and local laws, there are certain restrictions for various products. It's up to you to research and comply with the laws in your state, county, and city. If you live in a state or city where air guns are treated as firearms you may be able to take advantage of our FFL special program.

    U.S. federal law requires that all airsoft guns are sold with a 1/4-inch blaze orange muzzle or an orange flash hider to avoid the guns being mistaken for firearms.

    View Shipping Restrictions

  • Expert Service and Repair

    Get the most out of your equipment when you work with the expert technicians at Pyramyd AIR. With over 25 years of combined experience, we offer a range of comprehensive in-house services tailored to kickstart your next adventure.

    If you're picking up a new air gun, our team can test and tune the equipment before it leaves the warehouse. We can even set up an optic or other equipment so you can get out shooting without the hassle. For bowhunters, our certified master bow technicians provide services such as assembly, optics zeroing, and full equipment setup, which can maximize the potential of your purchase.

    By leveraging our expertise and precision, we ensure that your equipment is finely tuned to meet your specific needs and get you ready for your outdoor pursuits. So look out for our services when shopping for something new, and let our experts help you get the most from your outdoor adventures.

    View Service Info

  • Warranty Info

    Shop and purchase with confidence knowing that all of our air guns (except airsoft) are protected by a minimum 1-year manufacturer's warranty from the date of purchase unless otherwise noted on the product page.

    A warranty is provided by each manufacturer to ensure that your product is free of defect in both materials and workmanship.

    View Warranty Details

  • Exchanges / Refunds

    Didn't get what you wanted or have a problem? We understand that sometimes things aren't right and our team is serious about resolving these issues quickly. We can often help you fix small to medium issues over the phone or email.

    If you need to return an item please read our return policy.

    Learn About Returns

Get FREE shipping on qualifying orders! Any order $150+ with a shipping address in the contiguous US will receive the option for free ground shipping on items sold & shipped by Pyramyd AIR during checkout. Certain restrictions apply.

Free shipping may not be combined with a coupon unless stated otherwise.

View Shipping Info

Text JOIN to 91256 and get $10 OFF Your Next $50+ Order!

* By providing your number above, you agree to receive recurring autodialed marketing text msgs (e.g. cart reminders) to the mobile number used at opt-in from Pyramyd AIR on 91256. Reply with birthday MM/DD/YYYY to verify legal age of 18+ in order to receive texts. Consent is not a condition of purchase. Msg frequency may vary. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply HELP for help and STOP to cancel. See Terms and Conditions & Privacy Policy.