If you had to pick a caliber which one would it be ?

[rld1965]

Hi , if you were going to buy a new maurader which caliber would you pick out of the two  the .22 cal or .25 cal ? Or is there no bad choice of the two ? I have read that the .22 cal had accuracy issues because of bad barrels ! Some people say that issue was fixed  if it was fixed what was the problem with the .22 cal barrels and what did they do to fix the issue ? As for the .25 cal some people say it’s under powered and the shot count isn’t like the .22 cal .

[Ribbonstone]

The potential energy inside a fill tube is the same for all calibers.  In a perfect world, would be directly proportional.  If you got 67  12 foot pound shots in .177, should be 27 30 foot pound shots in .22, and 20 40 foot pound shots in .25.


But in the real world, it it takes a disproportional amount of air to generate more energy....it's that  diminishing returns thing.

So..yeah...the .177 gets more good shots than the .22, which gets more good shots than the .25.

(Actually, if you were  to crank up a .22 to the energy level of the .25, would likely see fewer shots with the .22)

As for barrel quality....I did see where Crosman mentioned that....but also it's been just recently, and I've no idea if all the "old" barrels have been sold off.  Might be your best bet for getting the "improved" version would be ordering direct from Crosman .

[Sfttailrdr46]

  For an accurate all around Marauder I would go with the .25 the Green Mountain barrel is excellent and not pellet picky

[Back_Roads]

 IMO it all depends on what you plan on shooting the most , targets/ pest, or larger game / pest. also distances yo think you may be shooting at. As of late I have not heard mention of bad .22 barrels, and I don't think people have stopped buying them in .22, just nothing to complain about, so we don't hear about it.

[Ribbonstone]

Between a .22 and a .25 in an M-Rod, I'd go .25 myself....maybe in a year, with enough of the "for sure" new barrels being independently tested, I'd go .22.....but right now, would bet on a more assured thing.

Personally, almost 95% of anything I do with an airgun can be well-done with a .177.

[Rich7777]

It depends on your intended purpose. If you're looking for a fun airgun to go plinking with, it's hard to beat .177 caliber. .177 offers dirt cheap ammo and high shot count. If you want to hunt small game, I recommend using the most accurate, hardest hitting small caliber you can. 

In general, I prefer .25 cal. for its larger mass / hard hitting, more humane when taking small game, and affordable ammo. If you need a higher shot capacity, there's always buddy bottles. The .25 cal Marauder has a Green mountain barrel with a proven track record. As far as being under powered, there's a large number of Marauder modifications available to boost capacity, power, and efficiency.

[Tweeter]

I'd go .25 if you have a tank or compressor and .22 if you're hand pumping.   I've done a lot of hand pumping and .25's just don't work all that well if you plan to shoot targets a lot.  Hunting strictly would be fine I would think.

[anti-squirrel]

Since the word Marauder was used, .25 as GM barrels are purportedly the cat's meow.

We'll see how the new crop of .22 barrels hold up, but I like sure things.

[pecor]

Since the word Marauder was used, I would get one with a Reg'ed and with a LW barrel from crosman.  Problem solved

[Dbez1]

Since the word Marauder was used, I would get one with a Reg'ed and with a LW barrel from crosman.  Problem solved

Good idea but $$$. By that time, you’re gonna have as much or more invested than a moderately high end airgun. Answering your question, I would go .25. Accurate and not really expensive to  shoot compared to a .22 rimfire.

[mobilemail]

.25 Great accuracy, not hard to get tuned to nice performance with very little additional investment.  The pellets cost a little more, but they are still dirt cheap compared to rimfire if you buy them on the right sale.

[Ribbonstone]

Have down tuned a .25 to about 25 foot pounds...which isn't a really low energy, but considering the weight of the pellet, was a pretty low velocity.  Certainly got a lot of shots for a .25....but pretty much the same total energy per fill up.

But that's not really what a .25 is all about, is it? Most .25 owners are going to expect 'mo-power' rather than less (or else why bother with a .25?).

[Bicycleman]

I did have to pick, and I picked .22 caliber.   

[pecor]

Duplicate

[pecor]

Good idea but $$$. By that time, you’re gonna have as much or more invested than a moderately high end airgun. Answering your question, I would go .25. Accurate and not really expensive to  shoot compared to a .22 rimfire.

                                                                                                                                                                                       
                   That LW barrel from crosman, Is a bargain$$  Compared to what It would cost you as an aftermarket Or Afterthought !! Have you looked at the prices from Mountain Air or any Other Airgun-smiths?  Have you ever pushed a pellet thru a crosman factory barrel with a small dia carbon rod? Eek   Then pushed one thru a LW barrel with the same? Ahh?? Huge Difference!!  It's like a Pothole filled Road, Compared to fresh smooth asphalt 

[Ribbonstone]

I'd likely pick a .22 over a .25...are some nice heavier weight .22 pellets being made now ....except this is Crosman we're talking about, and I'm not yet convinced about the barrels (yet).

 Likely, I'd go with another maker or bite the bullet and pay the $ for the LW .22 barrel....but as we're talking out-the-box M-rods, would just go with the .25 as the most likely to shoot well.

[skorec]

Advantages for caliber .25 :
-The same pellets asymmetry do less inaccuracy because higher weight and skirt   drag stabilization .
That means fewer pellets picky.
-The same FPE you may reach with less air pressure.

Disadvantages for caliber .25 :
-More noise
-Less shots
-More expensive pellets
-More danger for backyard shooting .

Advantages for caliber .22 :
-Less noise
-More shoots
-Cheaper  pellets
- Less danger for backyard shooting
- More type/weight  of  accurate pellets available from 15gr  to 25/30 gr however adjusting power seems to be necessary
- Better trajectory and wind resistance for extra heavy pellets/bullets

Disadvantages for caliber .22/.177 :
-Higher air pressure necessary for the same FPE ( Also more power stroke is necessary to open the valve that effect inaccuracy a little bit too )
- More pellet and pellet speed  picky.

Personally I like  my 45 FPE  .177 Puncher. 
After I have found out right bullets the one disadvantage  only is  that I have shoot only from 3200PSI to 2600 PSI.

[AlanMcD]

I think you need to tell us more about your intended uses for us to give you a good answer . . . .

Not having that, I can tell you that I have both a .22 and a .25 Marauder, both of which are Gen 1 guns and both of which have been heavily modified over the years.  The .22 is on a semi-permanent loan to my father, as I have a .22 Air Ranger that makes the .22 Marauder a bit redundant for me.

I can say that if I could only have one, and that both were going to be equally accurate, I would choose the .22 over the .25 for the increased shot count, lower shot noise, and cheaper ammo.  Yes, the .25 has more power, but lets face it - that can be a curse as much as a benefit.  My .25 shoots at ~54 FPE as tuned now, and if anything that is a bit much for most pesting / small game hunting situations (virtually every shot can be a pass through, so a safe backstop behind the target is a must - no squirrels up in trees unless the squirrel is immediately in front of the tree trunk).  For me, more than 90% of my shooting is at paper targets anyways, so the .25 simply does not get shot as much as the others.

The challenge in this decision with the Marauder is that the .25 is most likely going to be a better shooter out of the box than the .22 for many reasons, not just barrel quality (for example, the .22 has the thinnest walled barrel of the three calibers, thus is more sensitive to shot cycle and barrel harmonics).  The .22 can be made to be a better shooter than even a modified .25, but it may cost a bit more in the end as you have to consider that a new barrel might have to be part of the equation - but if not, you end up with a better shooting gun for much less.

[Ribbonstone]

I do applaud Crosman's efforts for a new improved process in making their barrels.  Evidently that was cheaper than just more strict quality control, which would have work as many of their .22 barrels shoot well.

If I knew for sure a rifle I ordered today had the new barrel, would likely order a .22 as it better suits my needs.
   
No way to tell old and new barrels apart.  They could have announced that all after XYXXXY serial number have the new production (which would have made existing dealer stock a bit harder to sell) or they could have made the new barrel run 1/8" longer (which would let buyer take off the shroud and measure) or they could have stamped a number/letter/symbol someplace on the new version.  But, Crosman doesn't even do that for the LW barrels they sell in the custom shop.

Not anti-.25, do have 3 .25's of various makes...are way under-used rifles as I just don't have that many big-critters to shoot and it seems wasted on inanimate objects.  The under-used .25's got more under-used with the addition of a powerful .22 PCP that likes pellets of the same weight class (+25gr.)

But if you like power...will mention that nothing alive I'd shot so far has shown any difference between a 34gr. .22 or a 34gr. .25 when both are at 865fps.

As for shot count....would bet that if shooting the same weight pellets to the same speed, there wouldn't be a great big difference in shot count....and what difference there is in shot count (lets say both of them tossing 25gr. @ 850fps/ 40 foot pounds) would most likely go to the .25. 

But .25 owners don't LIKE 40 foot pounds, they crank it up looking for 50foot pounds (or more)...and that's where the difference in shot counts starts to get more drastic.

[DameSp]

My .22 mrod w the lw barrel is fantastic shooting the remodeled jsb monsters.  So as long as it’s the lw barrel .22.  Otherwise it’s .25