Updated Marauder Pistol Review

[jonnnyboy]

The Benjamin Marauder Pistol (Carbine) in .22



Recently, I uploaded an initial review of the new Marauder Pistol and I have definitely enjoyed this wonderful little airgun for about three weeks now.  You can find my initial review at: http://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php/topic,10016.0.html

I mentioned a number of things that I wanted to address immediately in that review and I wanted to share those.  There were two primary areas that I wanted to check into with my new gun.  First is the choice of pellets.  I am rather cheap, so I was hoping that the Mrod Pistol would be happy with extremely inexpensive ammo.  Unfortunately, that was not the case.  Crosman Premiers, my favorite for the big brother Marauder, was not even on the list of “fair shooters.”  But with a little perseverance I found that Beeman FTS pellets shot very well, indeed!  The problem is, they are among my most expensive pellets and did not satisfy my “cheapy” plinking intentions with the Mrod Pistol.  Enter stage right, the H&N Field Target Trophy 5.53 and voila, I am sitting on a goldmine! 




I had some time to spend with the gun and some new FTT ammo a couple days ago and discovered with the first target group that at least for this Mrod Pistol, FTT ammo from H&N and FTS Beeman shoot to identical POI and same group size.  Dime sized groups at 20yards offhand and rested repeatable hits on a Coke can at 35 yards is exactly what I was looking for when I decided on the Mrod Pistol.  Now for the satisfying part, cost:

Crosman Premier Ultramags (500 count tin) from Pyramyd Air with ‘fourth tin free’ savings come to: 8.99 X 3 tins= 26.97 / 4= 6.74 per tin before shipping. (1.35 cents per pellet)

Beeman Field Target Specials (200 count tin) from Pyramyd Air with ‘fourth tin free’ savings come to: 9.25 X 3 tins= 27.75 / 4= 6.94 per tin before shipping. (3.47 cents per pellet)

H&N Field Target Trophy (500 count tin) from Pyramyd Air with ‘fourth tin free’ savings come to: 11.99 X 3 tins= 35.97 / 4= 8.99 per tin before shipping. (1.80 cents per pellet)



As you can see at present prices, the FTT pellets from H&N are less than ˝ cent per shot more than my goal pellet.  Whereas, the FTS pellets are 2.5 times the cost of my base price (CPUM).  I have decided that I can happily live with that!  Unless, I have messed up my math, I have found my pellet for this gun.  The accuracy/price ratio is right in line with what I envisioned for this nice little carbine.

Next on my list of to-dos for this pistol was to replace the fill nipple cover with a quickly removable cover.  The original cover spins but does not unthread like its Marauder big brother.  Instead, it just remains on the gun spinning merrily away while the shooter has to decide how best to grip it and pull it hard enough to snap it off.  For some reason, the effort needed to remove the original cover made me uncomfortable enough to decide to replace it with the mushroom cover in black.  Red would have looked nice, too.



There were two problems with the carbine stock which I decided to address.  First is the low cheek weld which was problematic for me.  As I have grown older, it has become harder for me to drop my head down very low on a stock with a low cheek piece.  The addition of a cheek riser eliminated the discomfort for me completely.  It has a plastic screw and nut system to tighten the piece to the stock but I decided to add a couple of wraps of electric tape to insure that it would remain in place during a prolonged hunting or plinking session.



The last thing I initially wanted to address with the carbine stock was the ability to sling it.  With a drill and a sling stud, I was able to mount a basic over-the-shoulder type sling which I find very comfortable using when squirrel hunting.  I can mount the sling over my shooting shoulder and hold the gun close to my body while keeping my other hand free to move quietly through the woods.  I am looking forward to spring squirrel season here in another month or so to try the sling out.



My final thought on the Marauder Pistol, is that for my needs (lightweight hunter) and my wants (accurate and inexpensive plinker) this little carbine makes a great addition to my ‘fun guns.’  I would definitely recommend it to you if you are looking for a lightweight and accurate carbine that has squirrel hunting imprinted throughout its DNA.  As far as a pistol, I wasn’t looking for a pistol so I haven’t even shot it in that configuration.  BUT, as a carbine hunter and plinker, I have definitely found a new favorite shooter.

Hhmmm, I haven’t shot my Marauder for 3 weeks now!
joe

[longislandhunter]

Very nice Joe, very nice indeed     I may have to try some of those pellets, maybe my Prod will like them as well. 

Jeff

[jonnnyboy]

Thanks Jeff.  You were the one to put me on the right track with the FTS pellets and then my cheap side kicked in!  It was so nice to see the FTT's shoot as well as the FTS's.  Someone on our forum, Manny I think, recommended the FTT's as a direct replacement for the FTS's. 

I like all my bb guns, but this one keeps jumping into my hand!
joe

[aack73]

Looks good Joe. The sling and that fill cover was a simple but very nice improvement. The one i got to hold and inspect felt really nice and wasn't as large as i expected in pistol configuration. that nipple cover you had to wrestle off was my only complaint. very nice indeed. I didn't see your update on the 27th cause that was my birthday and i was preoccupied. 1 of only a couple of times a year where me and the misses get any time together. 

[Norm_m]

Hello Joe
Where did you get the nipple quick disconnect cover?

Norm

[jonnnyboy]

I've got a few left over from some paintball builds and I've been selling them on the Yellow.  You can get them from Mac1 and a couple of other vendors but if you want to pm me, we'll work something out.

joe

[bradyman1]

The gun looks great, and I'm happy for you that you were able to find an inexpensive pellet that it likes. Where did you get the cheek riser?

[dk1677]

Looking very good Joe!

[jonnnyboy]

Jason, it is an "SKS Cheek Rest for fixed/folding ultralight stocks."  It is made by ATI and I just googled it and found a couple of gunparts dealers that carried it.  The part is not too expensive but shipping is where they made their profit!!    I don't remember exactly the vendor but if you don't find one, I'll be happy to go back and look.  I ordered two myself to see if I might be able to use one on another 2250 carbine.

Thanks Dave, I am really pleased with it now.  Thinking about selling my Discovery since the carbine is so much more handy and fun as a plinker.

joe

[longislandhunter]

I just ordered 2 of those nipple quick disconnect covers from Amazon.com, here's the link if anyone is interested.....



It says the "colors vary" but I figured I don't care..... I own a can of black spray paint 

Ever since I saw the one in the pic Joe posted here I've wanted to get one.  Like you Joe, I hate trying to pull that fill cap off my Prod, I can never get a good grip on it.  Thanks for posting the pics  

Jeff

[bwana]

Great review. I'm cheap about pellets too, I look for the best pellet but I'm always hoping it's one of the cheapest. Very cool hunting carbine.