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Benjamin Marauder, .25 caliber – Part 2

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by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

The last time I looked at the Marauder was when I was out of the hospital for 4 days in April. Today, thanks to the help of Mac, I’ll look at velocity. Mac tested several pellets you’re likely to use in the rifle. Because pellets have been coming up with odd weights lately, Mac weighed them to see what they really weigh. He tested Sam Yang, H&N Baracudas, Benjamin domes and Eun Jins.

The H&N Baracudas ranged from 29.8 grains to 30.3 grains. That’s a very tight spread, but not as heavy as advertised (which is 31.02). The average weight for Baracudas was 30.0 grains. We’ve weighed the Benjamin domes before, but Mac did it again. This group ranged from 27.3 to 27.9 grains. An EXTREMELY tight spread. The average was 27.6 grains. Beeman Crow Magnums ranged from 26.2 to 26.4 grains. Again, an extremely tight spread. The average was 26.3 grains. Eun Jins ranged from 35.1 to 36.0 grains. Also, not bad for such a heavyweight pellet. The average was 35.4 grains. Sam Yang was the heaviest pellet of all, ranging from 42.1 to 42.4 grains. That was also the tightest spread. The average weight was 42.3 grains. The longest pellet Mac tested in the Marauder magazine was the Sam Yang, which measured 0.456 inches long. That indicates you can use very beefy pellets in this gun, if you want.

Velocities
Sam Yang: Velocity ranged from a low of 663 to a high of 676. Average was 671 fps. That equates to an average muzzle energy of 30 ft-lbs.

Eun Jin Domes: Velocity ranged from a low of 712 fps to a high of 732 fps. Average was 724 fps. Which equates to an average muzzle energy of 41.21 ft-lbs.

Benjamin domes: Ranged from a low of 791 fps to a high of 802 fps. The average was 797 fps. The average muzzle energy was 38.94 ft-lbs.

H&N Baracudas: Ranged from a low of 774 fps to a high of 782 fps. The average for this pellet was 779 fps. Average muzzle energy was 40.43 ft-lbs.

The Beeman Crow Magnums: Ranged from a low of 814 fps to a high of 825 fps. The average was 819 fps. Average muzzle energy was 39.18 ft-lbs.

While Mac was testing the gun, all strings were fired starting at 3000 psi. In other words, he topped off the gun between each string. In doing so, he noted that the initial shots were lower in velocity, meaning that this particular rifle needs a fill of somewhat less than 3000 for optimal performance.

Shroud straightened
Mac noticed that the barrel shroud seemed to be pulling to one side when he examined it. Since accuracy testing was next, he decided to straighten it. He loosened the Allen screws that hold the shroud to its bracket, and immediately the shroud centered itself. Perhaps, when it was assembled, it got bumped during assembly. This is something you’ll want to look at when you get your own rifle.


Does your Marauder shroud touch the bracket, as shown above?


If the shroud on your Marauder is touching the bracket on one side, loosen the two Allen screws shown above to center the shroud.


Loosening the Allen screws will send your shroud straight toward the center of the bracket.

That’s it for velocity and power. Next, we’ll look at accuracy.

105 thoughts on “Benjamin Marauder, .25 caliber – Part 2”

    • This is a good question that has been the source of some speculation. Without owning or ever handling this gun, my understanding is that there is some power adjustment, but it is buried in the gun and requires disassembly to get at. Moreover, it is designed for tuning the gun within a small range to get the best velocity, not for dramatic changes between different environments like indoor and outdoor.

  2. I have a couple questions about my 2240 w/ crosman steel breech mod. In the future I plan to purchase a longer barrel and I found a Canadian Crosman dealer that sells a 24″ barrel for the 2240 as opposed to the max 14.5″ barrel that Crosman USA sells. Is there a max length that a pistol barrel can be before additional support is needed other than the single barrel band? I was also wondering, on this site they sell a muzzle brake for the 2240. What would be the advantages/disadvantages to mounting one?

    rikib

    • rikib

      BB did a test on barrel lengths in CO2 guns.

      /blog/2007/7/how-barrel-length-affects-velocity-in-a-co2-rifle/

      His findings seemed to be that a barrel length of 14.6″ was too short, 24″ was too long, but 18″ was just about right for maximum velocity. Incidently Crosman does have the 24″ barrel.

      The part number for the 18″ barrel from Crosman is 2400-102
      The part number for the 24″ barrel from Crosman is 2260-003

      A muzzle break will protect the crown of the barrel, and it looks cool, but doesn’t do much of anything else, unless it contains baffles that quiet the gas turbulence as it exits the barrel. Other than providing a handle for break barrel springer rifles, they are basically eye candy.

    • Rikib,

      About your 2240 steel breech mod; Where does one buy such a mod? I am interested in getting a 2240, and modding it sounds super fun, and rewarding. Thanks!

      -Ryan

      • Ryan
        I purchased my 2240 from PA and the steel breech through Crosman. You can go directly through Crosman and get the 2240 modified completely the way you want all at one time, breeches, barrels, sights, scopes, etc.

        rikib

  3. Thanks, Mac/B.B.

    I’ve been eager for the .25 Marauder to resurface. Having already done the power testing, would you guys be willing to comment on the noise level of .25 vs. .177/.22? Also, there has been a lot of talk on the new Green Mountain Barrel. Will that be mentioned?

    Great review, by the way. I’m waiting with anchovies in my mouth for the next installment.

    – Orin

    • To Orin:

      I’ve had the privilege of shooting all 3 calibers and the noise level is about about the same across all three. The gun is so quiet that if you did not see the pellet impact through the scope you’d swear the gun was malfunctioning.

      Hope that helps.

      Rick

  4. Edith,

    When I click on the link for archived comments (older articles), I get a window that shows maybe 5 lines of text and is not re-sizeable. Is this the same for you? I can manually paste the address into a new window as a workaround, but is there anything that can be done to either make the default size of the pop-up window larger, or allow it to be re-sized? Thanks.

    Oh – I’m using IE8 at 100% zoom, and standard font settings and DPI settings in Windows.

    – Orin

    • Orin,
      Either I’m misunderstanding the problem or I’m doing something different. I run IE8 and went back to some June 2009 comments had no problem with them. I could also resize by using ctrl +/- (went up to 150 mag) so maybe I’m not understanding what you are trying to read. I’m going to call it quits for the night about 3:30am, but I’ll check back see what you’ve found out.

      rikib

    • Orin,

      I use Safari, and the window to the archived comments is small but resizable by pulling on the lower RH corner. When I clicked on the comments in Firerfox, there was no reason to resize the window, as it was already large. I don’t have IE, but I see that rikib has it and doesn’t seem to have the same issues you’re experiencing.

      Edith

      • Edith,

        I found another workaround, but I still can’t get the window to resize. Here’s a screenshot of what I’m seeing. As you can see, the mouse cursor is in position over the drag handle of the comments window (lower right corner – it’s grayed out), but does not turn into drag cursor (double arrow). Also, the maximize button is grayed out. I can’t think of any settings within IE that would cause this, other than the web page coding itself.

        Has anyone else who uses IE8 noticed this? Try clicking on the archived comments link within Part 1 of the Marauder review.

        My new workaround is using the F11 (Full Screen) key to maximize the window, so it’s not really a big deal. I just wanted to show you what I was talking about.

        RikiB,

        I can still zoom (Ctrl +/-) within the window, but I can’t make the window itself larger or smaller.

        – Orin

        • Orin
          What are you using using to view comments? I viewed your “screenshot” and it does not look anything like my IE8. I use Safari as a secondary browser and it looks nothing like that either. Are you using Google Reader? If so I can’t help you you there. I found it to be a waste of time and caused more problems than anything else.

          rikib

          • RikiB,

            Sorry – that was just a cropped piece of the screenshot. I guess, technically, I should have called it a snapshot. It’s IE8, but the toolbars and such were all cropped out so the rest of the image would appear larger. My laptop has a 1920×1200 resolution, so if I posted the full screenshot, it would’ve looked huge on a smaller display.

            – Orin

            • Orin
              That looks nothing like my IE8. Your not using “Google Reader”? I only have 1024 x 600 res on my netbook. I will check again but I don’t believe an RSS feed will get you anywhere with an archive and the page you sent looks like and RSS feed. IE8 has it’s own RSS built in which I use if I’m using IE8. Otherwise I use Safari which also uses an RSS feed if you want. Can you tell me a specific archive you are trying to access?

              You can pretty much ignore all that. Just tell me what you are trying to access and how you are trying to access it. I’ll try and go from there mate.

              rikib

              • RikiB,

                Sorry – I think I’m confusing you. The screenshot isn’t of the RSS comments, but of the blog article itself. Try this:

                1. Click Here
                2. Scroll down to the bottom of the article, just above where the comments start, and click on the “(cick here to view archived comments)” link
                3. A small window should pop up with the archived comments – this is the window I can’t resize in IE8

                Edith,

                Note the typo above… “cick here” instead of “click here”

                – Orin

        • Orin,

          What you are experiencing on IE8 is the way that the website is supposed to work on all browsers.

          Behind the scenes, the blog code is using some cross-browser-compatible javascript libraries to open a window for viewing the comments. The javascript code requests that the new window not be resizable, but browsers are free to ignore this. It appears that firefox and safari do while IE actually does lock the window. Welcome to the quirky world of web development 🙂

          Hope this helps,

          Bobby

          • Thanks, Bobby. I figured it was something like that. I looked at the source code to try to decipher the cause, but my HTML knowledge is pretty basic, and I’m absolutely clueless when it comes to JavaScript. Thanks for the link.

            – Orin

  5. Good morning one and all,

    Maybe my coffee hasn’t kicked in yet, but I didn how many shots were fired from the high to low velocity with each pellet. How many usuable shots per fill while hunting? Cann’t weight for the accuracy results.

    Mr B.

  6. Wow, guess the coffee didn’t kick in. Gotta try some editing. from, “but I didn how many” to “but I didn’t see” and from, “weight” to “wait”. Sure miss preview.

    Mr B.

  7. I too have been waiting for this review. The 25 seems to have much better accuracy than the 22 and 177. So despite the fact that the 25 will cost more to shoot it still might be the better choice.

    My only concerns are:
    1. shot count
    2. noise – would like it to be back yard friendly
    3. power – migth be too powerful for my back yard – heavy shooting box would be a must have

  8. The muzzle velocity numbers are somewhat a combination of the power curve and the weight variations of the pellets.

    Curious. Knowing the power curve for the PCP, could you sequence the weights of the pellets to compensate for the power change. In plain words, shoot heavy pellets when on top of the power curve and lighter pellets when the curve is at lower power?

    • Herb Says:
      May 27, 2010 at 1:41 pm

      RE: Compensate for power curve by using different weight pellets

      Standard answer applies – it depends…

      Looked at BB’s data for the Katana
      /blog/2009/11/the-benjamin-katana-part-2/

      Over the whole shot string the low is about 775 fps, the high about 820, and second low 772.

      Assuming constant power to pellet, 25 fps is equal to a 0.8 grain change in pellet weight, which is huge. You could probably use window around 810 fps. (shots 5 -17).

      – 0.1 Shots 5-9
      0 – Shots 10-14
      -0.1 shots 15 – 18
      -0.2 shots 19 – 21

      Herb

      • Interesting idea, Herb.

        Especially considering the pellet weighing discussions we just had. Now we have a practical use for those groups of pellets that fall outside of the listed weight. Maybe not for 10M, but certainly for hunting. You could potentially load 3 clips up before an outing, stacking the pellets by weight, and minimize POI changes.

        – Orin

    • I have priced nip in the pet stores. Small tubs of the stuff only cost a few bucks. Only large scale operations could show any profit.
      Some kinds may be better than others depending how it’s grown and processed.

      I’m sure that most of it contains stems and weeds, and was dried in the sun or at too high of a temperature.

      It’s easy to grow in a sunny spot. Once you get a bunch of it going, you will have nip sprouting up all over the place. Moisture and fertilizer really put some growth on it in the spring. I always let some of it go to seed.

      It can be pruned back in the spring for an early harvest before it starts preparing to bloom. It will become more bushy and produce even more later. When it’s getting ready to go to seed you see a lot of sudden height increase with long stems but smaller leaves. not much increase in yield after that point.

      Frost does not kill it. No need to replant every year, unless you get too much trash growing in it and want to kill everything off and start again.

      twotalon

      • TwoTalon

        You need to appeal to the premium market. Coffee used to cost about $.60 cents a cup until Starbucks convinced everyone that it is perfectly normal to pay $5 for a “extra tall” or whatever those pretentious clerks call them. Personally I would rather drink dirty motor oil.

        On the other hand, hocking cat nip might cut into your shooting time. So nix that idea. Sometimes my cat does a full bore freak-out for no discernible reason. I suspect your catnip is being carried on the breezes.

        • Never had a Starbuck’s coffee. Doubt if it is any better than the Folgers I brew up in my own coffee maker.
          Fresh brewed with the right kind of water and just the right strength is good enough….even when reheated later.

          I said ‘the right kind of water’ for a reason.
          Different amounts of crud in the water really change the flavor even when continuing the same kind and amount of grounds.

          twotalon

    • AlanL,

      I noticed that too. It’s like the buffer forgets to run at the beginning. If you fast forward a little bit, it runs the rest of the way through, though.

      – Orin

  11. BB/Mac,
    Good review. I’m curious of the the .25 cal offerings of late. At 650-700fps and 40ft lbs this is no doubt a serious varmint airgun. And I’m also pre first cup here, but I’m going to ask anyway. Unless Coons or possums are the pests, isn’t this a bit much for backyard shooting? I mean a .22 pellet at around 1000fps easily carries enough energy out to 30 – 40 yds and my backyard isn’t that big. And I’m pretty sure these .25cal pellets are gonna render my $6 pellet trap useless.

    I want either the Marauder or the Nitro XL in .25 but it sounding like I don’t NEED one.

      • My ‘Talondor’ shoots .22 Kodiaks in the mid 900’s for MV. I understand that the guys shooting full 24″ barreled Condors have trouble getting Kodiaks DOWN to 1000 fps.

        twotalon

        • KidAgain,

          Thanks. I’ve been resisting the nearly irresistible force that is dragging me kicking and screaming towards PCP. I’m a springer guy and was hoping you had discovered the Holy Grail– a springer that’s easy to cock, light to carry, accurate and shoots heavy .22’s at 1000 fps! 😀

          -AlanL

          • RE: 0.22 heavy velocity. I’d think that you’d want to shoot below 850 fps to accuracy. 1000 fps is into the transonic region where baaa.a..a..d things happen.

            See a blog “What makes a pellet accurate?”
            /blog/2007/2/what-makes-a-pellet-accurate/

            Of course if you shoot patterns anyway, go for the full Monty and get up to the speed of sound. 😉

            Herb

            • Herb & AlanL,

              yeah, I don’t think they used heavies for that measurement. I was guestimating with heavies 1000fps at best, but as I understand springers (weather gas or coiled steel) don’t perform best with heavies. It’s my guess a midweight pellet would actually do better. Won’t know until I get the gun and go through various pellets.

              Anyway, I left the house this am w/out mentioning what I really want to know. That is which is better .22 at 1000fps, or .25 at 750? I suspect the same arguments for / against one over the other much like .45 vs. 9mm. ???

          • I would LOVE to get a Marauder. Looks like the best one on the PCP market, but the Nitro is cheaper and even though it’s more sensitive to technique, it’s cheaper. And this .25 cal offering is VERY temptious. 😉

            • KidAgain,
              Let me say this, judging by your comment you WILL be getting the Marauder sooner or later. You know you will. Come on, you will. Save yourself some money and get it now rather than let the Nitro rust in the corner after you do.

              I would also like to say (my $.02) the .22 is the better of both worlds, plinking/hunting than a .25. If you are a serious hunter I’d recommend the .25. If not, your just adding more expensive and maybe somewhat limited ammo choices.
              -CJr

              • CJr,

                Yes, it’s inevitable on the purchase of the Marauder. However if you’ve ever seen the national debt counter at work you could begin to understand my income of late vs. my wish list items for airguns and firearms!

                The Marauder is THE GUN TO HAVE. I would sell my truck and quit working for the purchase of a Carbine Marauder. there I said it, hope Crosman isn’t listening ’cause knowing them they will come out with a carbine model tomorrow!

                KA

                Again, I’m pre coffee so …

                    • Check it out. The pistol grip looks just like a 1377 or 2240 grip. Thus the same $25 plastic stock should fit right on it.

                      Oh… something I just learned. There is a hole in the grip to add a spring loaded retaining pin. Meaning you can snap on and snap off the stock by just pressing the pin with your finger. You can buy it from CR. Or make it from nail and a small spring from your parts bin.

  12. The barrel shroud adjustment needed on the Marauder caused me to look at my rifle.
    It has a short wood fore stock to which I added a DIY wood,vented shroud on top.
    This has enhanced the AK47 look of the rifle but on closer inspection both my DIY addition and the existing stock are touching the fixed barrel all over the place.
    I think I had better get out to the shed with a rasp and get filing 🙂
    DaveUK

  13. Gotta weigh in on the coffee issue.
    Folgers vs Starbucks (or any premium roast such as Black Cat or Intelligensia).
    Saying their is no difference is like saying theirs no difference between a WallyMart $60 Marksman and a Weihrauch.
    Or between Cutty Sark and Balvenie Single Malt 15 year old Scotch 🙂
    So someone who is ‘into’ coffee and knows what to look for there most definitely is a difference.

    • CBSDad,
      I’ll respectfully disagree. Starbucks tastes burnt in most varieties. Roasting that dark reduces the potency of the caffeine. There’s a lot better, and much of it can be made at home from stuff you can buy at the grocery store. I don’t know much about scotch, but I heartily resent what has been done to bourbon lately, aging it too long and making it sweet and smooth for yuppy/nouveau riche palates. Not everything has to be “boutiquified”:). Many of us don’t want to waste a part of our lives “learning to appreciate” things that taste like …:). And don’t get me started on beer…Budweiser and Labatt Blue are good enough most of the time.

      • Right on with the Budweezer !!!!
        I usually drink Busch, but have drank lots of Bud in the past.
        As for bourbon…Beam black label or beams choice..with Coke.
        No rum or scotch please.

        twotalon

            • twotalon:
              Living in England I wouldn’t know a good pizza if it was slapped round my face.
              Burgers though.
              Big Mac,Large fries,strawberry shake and hot apple pie.Nice.
              I could have saved the Mcdonalds corp billions.
              After the film ‘Supersize me’ came out I would have just added extra cheese to everything not turn the menu upside down to satisfy health freaks who don’t eat MaccyD’s anyway.
              I would like to see that guy live on only carrots for a month and see how he feels after.
              A nice shade of orange I would guess 🙂
              DaveUK

              DaveUK

              • Dave, you do appreciate our best junk food.
                We have quite a selection here. Gets hard to decide which place you want to eat at. A lot of cities have what we could call ‘the strip’. Most kinds of the big name fast food places all down one street.

                I really do miss something from a long time ago. There was a ‘London Bobby Fish and Chips’ place. Huge fish sandwitches with lettuce and tartar sauce. And the chips with malt vinegar and salt. I guess you would call them chips. Huge potato wedges.

                A lot of times, you can find the best food in some of those little ‘hole in the wall’ places. Of course you can find some really bad stuff too.

                This may have made a better weekend topic.

                twotalon

                • Fish Sandwich! Lettuce & Tartar!? Deep fried fish & chips w/ malt vinegar & salt wrapped in newspaper (for extra seasoning). That is Fish & Chips! Dave you still have the Wimpy’s burger!

                  rikib

              • Dave,
                Do or did you ever have an Arthur Treacher’s Fish & Chips? We had one in town back in the 70’s/80’s. I really like it but for some reason it didn’t last very long. The fresh Northern Icelandic Cod was served wrapped in paper that looked like news print. And, yes, there was the vinegar to put on it.
                -CJr

                • CJr:
                  No sorry CJr we don’t have an Arthur Treachers that I know of.
                  The biggest fish&chip chain in the UK is ‘Harry Ramsdens’ but the overwhelming majority of ‘Chippys’ are stand alone operations.
                  And some very good one’s there are too 🙂

                  rikib:
                  ‘Wimpy’ introduced the burger to the UK but alas has largely gone now.
                  I still see the odd ‘Wimpy’ outlet on my travels.
                  My mate worked in his dads ‘Wimpy bar’back in the day and us teenage roughnecks hung around the place.
                  The smell of frying onions always brings back memories of getting verbally abused by the staff(my mate) 🙂
                  DaveUK

  15. I own one of the first 100 Marauders in .22 . I too had a problem with the barrel shroud touching the barrel. At first the gun didn’t shoot as well as I wanted it to, but after I made the shroud adjustment it shot great. I also find that the sigle shot tray makes the gun shoot even more accurate than with the magazines.

  16. bg-farmer…okay, we’ll agree to disagree.
    Many think that Starbucks tastes ‘burnt’…yet I like it for the same reason I use a very dark Italian Roast (usually used in espresso machines) in my press pot…it’s the taste I like.
    What I was trying to say (perhaps not very well) was that there most definitely is a difference between Fogers (the example used), and those expensive premium roast. To tell the truth I cringe when I hear people say that the best coffee in the world comes from Tim Horton’s (and probably the average Canadian feels this way from Tim Horton sales).
    Lots of people just want a ‘cuppa joe’, and that’s fine…but not recognizing there is a difference is, as I mentioned, the same as not recognizing the difference between the WallyMart Marksman and the Weihrauch…
    And all of us here appreciate that difference.
    Now take into account…this is coming from a guy who has a $2k espresso machine and grinder sitting on his kitchen countertop 😉

    • CowboyStarDad,
      You know I would never try to force my opinion, no matter how mistaken the other party is:). It certainly isn’t something I would want to quarrel over, and I think if you looked hard enough (!) you could find some eccentricities about me:).

      I remember Tim Horton’s as the place to stop at those roadside plaza’s (can’t remember what they were called exactly, something different from here). I think it might be where I was introduced to one of nature’s most perfect foods, poutine, but I’m not certain. I enjoyed the occasional vinegar and salt fries (most common), but the poutine took things to a different level. I’ve learned to reproduce it partially at KFC but it is sometimes hard to convince the kid behind the counter to add gravy to my fries:).

  18. I’m now changing my views of my IZH 61 after all this time. While it’s billed as a starter gun, it also has another use as a very high-level trainer. I got into the zone last night and dropped 10 through the same hole. The best group of the night–even surpassing the B30. I was well into the next 10 when I became self-conscious of what I was doing and threw the next shot. Mostly because of its light weight, the rifle is very delicate. But, if you get everything right, it is astoundingly accurate. Once I get this down, the Anschutz will be a snap. I was led to reflect that airgunning somehow allows you to see into the structure of a shot better and appreciate it more than firearms shooting, particularly the follow-through. Try as I might with firearms, the discharge is so fast that any opportunity for follow-through is pretty much gone before I know it. With airguns, at least with low-power springers, it is possible to follow through in a way that will affect the shot. This brings dangers, but also a kind of reward that even the Anschutz can’t provide.

    Along these lines, I’ve noticed before, as I did with my last outing at the shooting range, that airgunning positively effects my firearms shooting. Once I got into the groove with the Glock and the Beretta, I could feel my airgun sensibilities fasten like tiny jaws on the exact right moment to release the shot. (Mr. Spock would not approve of this description I know.) But firearms shooting always seems to degrade my airgunning and it takes awhile to recover. I’m guessing that this shows that airgun skills are more refined.

    • The firearms might be causing you to flinch. It happens to everybody to some degree as fatigue sets in. As soon as you detect it, rest or slow down if possible — you won’t be able to shoot as well once it sets in and its hard to get rid of. I flinched with my air rifle — the little 490! — one day because I had been shooting heavy loads in my shotgun (and fighting a flinch), and just the act of pulling the trigger in turn triggered the flinch:).

      • That could be. I was very serene on the shooting range firing the Beretta and the Glock. The orange flame and discharge didn’t bother me at all and the groups were good. But I was shaky when I got back to the airgun range at home.

  19. Matt says “I was well into the next 10 when I became self-conscious of what I was doing and threw the next shot”
    Ohhhh, I hate that!!!
    I have a shooting regime that I follow nearly every night with my 853c. First 20 practice shots…mainly just to calm the nerves.
    Than 40 shots on regulation 10m air rifle targets, the one where 10 is the size of this dot (.)
    One shot per bull.
    380-385 (out of 400) is pretty much average. What ruins the ever elusive perfect score is just as you say above.
    1st shot…10
    2nd shot…10
    3rd shot…10 (feeling pretty good, I’m going to have a good night)
    4th shot…10 (okay, now I’m getting a bit nervous and I reallllly have to slow
    down)
    5th shot…nerves are hitting and I can tell the moment I release the trigger…9
    Nerves of steel…rather than skill is what seperates 1st from 2nd a lot of the time.

    • Maybe I am entering into the territory of weird mind games. I had such a good string going with my B30 (at 5 yards) that I got it into my head that I might never fail to get one-hole groups for the rest of my life. It seemed like such a bleak and confined future. Maybe I was having Sundowner’s Syndrome. Anyway, I have since busted out of the one-hole cage as one might say and am feeling better….

      Yes, I think self-consciousness is the key. If you’re worrying about yourself, you’re taking mental energy from the shot. David Tubb says that by focusing on the mechanics of the shot, you literally force the demons of doubt away. Also along these lines, I was reading a novel about a Japanese warrior-monk who was wiping out Mongols in extraordinary numbers. Based on his spiritual training, he reached a sense of union with the universe so delightful that one instant of it was supposed to be equivalent to 100 lifetimes of joy. But, as soon as he realized it, he fell off his peak and rounded a curve to find a whole troop of Mongol archers facing him….

      The only other time I’ve heard that comparison of one instant to 100 lifetimes was in a trashy novel about a mad scientist who liked to kidnap beautiful women and implant electrodes into the pleasure centers of the brain…for what purpose I could not divine from a quick scan.

      On another note, perhaps it was our very own Jane Hansen who enabled the Air Force plane to exceed Mach 6 for several minutes today. An EYES ONLY matter that we will never know, but it is nice to imagine. I believe that this aircraft was flying at five and a half times the speed of our faster pellets.

  20. After much rasping and gnashing of teeth I now have a free floating barrel on my air rifle.
    It is getting dark now but I will try it out tomorrow I hope.
    A nice cup of ‘Rosy Lee'(tea)milk 1 sugar as a reward. luverly jubbly.
    I only drink Coffee on special occasions….like when I’ve run out of tea 🙂
    DaveUK

  21. I see there is another Chuck joining the blog so I’ll go back to CJr. It has fewer characters to type, too.

    BGF,
    I want to report in on my Savage so you don’t think I’ve forgotten you. I tried to shoot it yesterday but failed. It was a nice day, weather wise, but gremlins were afoot.

    To start off with, I drove the 30 minutes to the range only to realize I had forgotten my range badge. We are supposed to wear it at all time while there. I might have gotten by without wearing it except, more importantly, the combination to the lock at the gate in printed on the back of it. They change the combination every year and since this is the first time I visited this year I didn’t have it memorized. An hour later I was back with the combination.

    I got the gear out of the car and laid out on the table, got permission from the firing line to set up targets, walked 50 yds out and set the targets, walked back, notified the firing line it was safe, checked on the location of a small child who was at the range with his dad, picked up the Savage Woman…argh! no clip! I then remembered two days before I was showing a friend my recent acquisition and some stuff fell out of the case when I unzipped it. I took the stuff and set it on the shelf without really looking at it. I never put it back in the case.

    To salvage the day I took out my Talon SS that I brought with me to check it out at 50 yds. Argh, I forgot the bench rest. I tried using my grandsons car seat for a bench rest (you should have seen the looks I got from that) but it was not stable enough to get a steady shot.

    Bottom line my Savage Woman is still a virgin and I still don’t know about Mr T.

    -CJr

    • Chuck, that sounds like the time that I didn’t tighten the scope on my Savage and forgot the Allen wrench; or the time I went out to the range and forgot the cardboard backing for the targets; or the time I forgot the ammo and just took the empty casings. One develops resilience. But get the Savage out and shooting.

      • Oh, good. I thought I was the only one who did stupid things like this. Like forgetting to take the ammo with me to the range or not having any tools with me when the scope screws loosened up. It’s nice to have company.

        Fred PRoNJ

    • Chuck,
      I just remembered one more thing (too late to help, sorry) — you should be able to shoot without the magazine, single shot. Its a little tricky because the magazine acts as a ramp and keeps the shells from falling out, but it should be doable. I’ve done it or at least almost done it by accident a few times after the range went hot; We’re req’d to remove mag. when racked (cold range), so I set up rifle on bench after resume and started shooting (never used magazine, except a couple of times to test it). Didn’t realize what I was doing until one dropped through and made tinkling sound on the bench.

      By the way, run a few magazines through it just to test magazine, extractors and ejectors, even if you intend to load single-shots. There have been a few reports of problems feeding, particularly the last round. Supposedly related to magazine spring…probably not a common problem, either.

  22. twotalon,

    I took your advice and got down on the floor with Muffles and he was kind enough to share some nip with me or too stoned to complain about getting off some of it. He’s faster pushing himself along the rug on his back than I am and his fur rotects him from rug burns.

    The mail man said that he just couldn’t believe how many cats were following him around the other day–wonder why?

    Mr B.

  23. CJr,

    Then there was the time I asked my son to pack up a rifle to go Atlantic Guns for an estimate on installing some iron sights. The rifle in question was a 308 built on a Mauser action. You should have seen the look on my face when he pulled my Diana 35 out of the soft case.

    Mr B.

    • Mr B,
      Now that I would love to have seen. I can’t imagine how your son must have felt when you told him. But after all he did give you your best gun didn’t he?
      -CJr

  24. Herb,

    I thought that to be subjected to instability, the pellet would actually have to cross, then recross the sound barrier. Since that’s 1125 fps, I thought 1000 fps would be sufficiently below that so that the building pressure wave wouldn’t bother it?

    Also, assuming a faster than sound pellet (say 1200 fps), given that it achieves its highest velocity while still in the barrel, wouldn’t the pellet’s flight still be highly accurate while flying at supersonic speeds? The question is, how soon after leaving the muzzle does a supersonic .22 caliber heavy diabolo recross the sound barrier back into subsonic range?

    -AlanL

    • AlanL,
      Do a search on “transonic”: it is ~0.8 to 1.2 x speed of sound. The instability is not a simple discontinuity at the speed of sound, it is an effect that is encountered at a wide range of velocities around that area. Pellets, even domes, are simply the wrong shape to be anywhere near transonic velocities.

  25. Let us all remember this on Memorial Day and Everyday!

    We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.
    George Orwell

    rikib

    • AMEN. It’s fleet week here in NYC and the Navy is showing off the Osprey. The downtown heliport is behind my office building and the Navy seems to be giving rides around the harbor to veterans, I think. Quite impressive to watch this big plane do a VTOL. Quite a bit of downward propwash over the water, let me tell you.

      Fred PRoNJ

  26. The .25 Calibre Marauder isn’t as powerful as my .22 Calibre Evanix Blizzard. Why all the hoopla for the rifle? It isn’t as nice looking or finished as well either.
    Save your dollars and buy a new model .25 Calibre offering from Evanix and you will have a much nicer rifle and more power as well.

    • I had the Evanix for a total of 2 days and sent the piece of JUNK back.
      It didn’t even come close to the performance of my 22 cal Marauder.
      I told Pyramyd Air to exchange the Evanix for another Marauder in 25 caliber.
      Best decision I ever made !!!!!

    • Pretty pathetic that you think the only thing we are capable of is airgunning! We do have the ability to think of other things MR. DOLLAR!!!!

      rikib

      ps. IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT DON’T READ IT!

      • Jerry D.,

        we do tend to wander a bit off-topic. You’re not the only one who has raised a complaint or comment on this in the past but, for the most part, we’re not only very tolerant amongst ourselves but also have significant knowledge on air guns. I can only suggest you skip through the comments or discussions that don’t interest you and look for the topic discussions that do.

        Hope you stick around – there’s a lot to learn here, not only from the comments but from the blog.

        Fred PRoNJ

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