What next, Marauder?

[Fleshwound]

I dont have a ton of money but I have the bug to buy another. I have a Avenger 22. First PCP I love it Im thinking something in 25 might be fun. I have a 100 yard range at home. And im maybe wanting something a little better quality. I like to tinker. I think a Marauder should be in the collection but am I going to be disappointed? The Avenger shoots pretty nice. Any thoughts? Thanks Ben

[Frank in Fairfield]

You will not do better with the Marauder.
The avenger is great especially when you tune the trigger.
I owned five Generation I Marauders.
They were great fun for their time period.
They even had their own forum for Marauders only..
Users of those rifles are now shooting Daystate, FX and Thomas air rifles.
I still have a Marauder pistol which is a lot of fun.

[Fleshwound]

Thanks for the honesty Frank. Which one would you recommend?

[SwampHunter]

I like my marauder,  but I have never had an avenger lol, so I can't tell you. If you get a .25 marauder I would look for one with a green mountain barrel.

[3crows]

I have four M-Rods, one with the GM barrel. It is no better than the other three with Crosman barrels. The black side lever rifle is the most accurate and it has a Crosman barrel. The .25 M-Rods are known to be accurate unlike the .22 with out the optional barrel.



If I had $2500 to spend on a rifle it would likely not be an FX but possibly that Ghost or the Black Wolf. I had an Avenger, it never got accuracy tested because it leaked and was of such awful build quality I sent it back for money return. This is what a JSB 34 does to a raccoon at 900fps:

[Struckat]

I guess it depends on what you are looking for.

Most budget guns from certain countries seem to have too many issues, or I read too many threads about them. But I wanted a budget rifle.

I bought a Mrod with a Walther barrel from Airgun Revisions for $300. It’s a referb, which means it was returned under warranty, likey for something silly. Rich goes through them and puts them together with far more care that any factory will ever have.

Unregulated and I added AR’s SSG. I backed out the restrictor and it gives me 35-40 very consistent shots @27fpe. I haven’t got it out in the field yet but in testing it clearly likes the JTS 16 and Hades. Too early too say that it is as accurate as my Air Arms, but it sure is inthe shooting parlor. The factory mag was not good, but a couple Carm mags and and a way we go.

Now I realize I am 15-20 years behind, but for $300, this thing is awesome. No issue finding parts for years to come. Way easy to tune.

It’s just a good unregulated rifle. The Mrod and the Talon P have really diminished my want for another expensive gun.

[Frank in Fairfield]

As we age, I am told it becomes difficult to load .177 pellets so, I would suggest .22 at the minimum.
Less expensive price for pellets too but the .25 is more fun to shoot.
IMHO.
I hear the Gen II valves have been improved and more shots per fill are available then on the Gen I.
You can absolutely repair and rebuild these rifles, yourself.
Good luck.

[3crows]

You could get a .25 M-Rod all set up from AGR. His hammer kit is wonderful and works as described or similar home made FFHs. I would also recommend his hybrid steel/aluminum tube if not going regulated which i do not recommend due to the complexity of regulating a M-Rod and the reduced air capacity. He can even make a longer tube.

Speaking of which, the thing that holds the M-Rod back against so called more modern but similar air rifles and heavy, ugly, chunky bottle guns is the air capacity and fill pressure. The 210c air capacity at only 3,000 psi is a brick wall to large power and shot counts. My most powerful two M-Rods, one regulated, the other not, both can easily reach 60 fpe with a shot count of 18 shots. Or I can tune for 54 fpe and get 24 shots, regulated or not. If the tube is regulated then the capacity drops to 190cc offsetting the supposed efficiency of regulation. If I could run 3600 psi I could get a bunch more shots at high power. I carry a buddy bottle if hunting afield and expect more than 16 opportunities.

This light weight, short, Huma regulated, highly modded, mostly JSAR parts built rifle is only held back by the 190cc and 3,000 PSI fill. It will do 18 shots at 60 fpe. The last two off the reg and actually climb in velocity and will go to 24 with those last six being a mini-Bell curve. If I cut it back to 52 to 54 fpe range then it gets three solid magazines, 24 shots, on reg.



I am not a bench shooter. I do have the ability on my home range to shoot out to 200 yards. I am going to say, pellet guns at 100 yards, yeah, maybe. Here in Kansas with wind and the pellet buzzing along at subsonic velocity and the aerodynamics of a badminton birdie (an advantage for my purposes) the pellet is going to get blown all over the place. My custom built by me Ruger 7722 Hornet or either of my two .17HMR rifles the bullet gets there in a fraction of the time it takes the pellet to arrive at 100 yards and even then I need to account for the wind considerably. Now, 50 yards, yes, I can hunt EHOSP at 50 yards no difficulty.

Gen 1 vs Gen 2. The Gen 2 is the better rifle. There is no difference in the valve internally that I know of. The GM barrel vs Crosman in a .25 is not important as both are accurate enough for who and what they were intended for and the M-Rod .25 is not a bench gun, it is a hunting rifle. To my understanding the Gen 1 and a few early Gen 2 rifles had the GM barrel after which Crosman went to their in house barrel which was improved and is generally accurate.

[Frank in Fairfield]

When I am hunting (antelope, wild pig, black tail deer) I rarely carry more than five .30-06 shells.
If walking the woods carrying my HW35, I carry about 100 pellets.
The .25 Marauder at 20-30 rounds per fill will suffice for any normal hunting adventure.
As does my 15fpe PRod..

[bear air]

The marauder is a good rifle. I have a whole bunch of them in various calibers and styles. I'd be watching AR website looking at the bargain bunker if I were looking for one.There are other guns out there in the same price range but I'm not very familiar with them. James it's funny how big a difference 6fpe can make.

[3crows]

I hear tell the Avenger once sorted out and the POI issues dealt with caused by multiple shortcomings, that they tend to be quite accurate. I was not willing to keep mine and sort it out since it leaked about everywhere it could leak and was pot metal and plastic. The M-Rod may or may not be more accurate but it most likely will not leak out of the box, it is a very simple and relatively robust design not prone to leaking.

Here is a target from 30 yards, five shots, Cobra valved, AGR FFH, Crosman barrel, JSAR aluminum tube, the camo stocked one:



Fooled around with it and decided to go to the lighter 26 grain Hades and 28 grain Barracuda and got a little more velocity and up to 32 shots. If I recall, these are 3 shot groups:



I hear all the time that Crosman barrels are not accurate or the M-Rod is not accurate, all four of mine will do similar all day long. Pellets at 100 yards is bench stuff which I do not do, cannot say, 50 yards is my hunting limit and for larger stuff, 30 yards and for the occasional bigger thing, I like to get close.

[3crows]

The marauder is a good rifle. I have a whole bunch of them in various calibers and styles. I'd be watching AR website looking at the bargain bunker if I were looking for one.There are other guns out there in the same price range but I'm not very familiar with them. James it's funny how big a difference 6fpe can make.

There is probably an efficiency difference between the 52-54 ish FPE and the 60 fpe due to the relatively short barrel of the M-Rod, to get that last bit of velocity to get to 60+ fpe I really have to drive the rifle hard. It is much happier around the 52 to 54 fpe mark, speaking of the black SL M-Rod. At the lower setting the rifle emits a sharp but muted pop, at 60 fpe there is a noticeable snap, especially with the short shroud and no suppressor. And there is a noticeable to me difference in recoil also.

[Fleshwound]

OK, so far from the replies. A marauder isn’t my choice for my next one. I want something that went out perform my avenger. I believe the marauders are a better built gun but I need something with more power. And probably a 25 caliber at more I think about it. I watched a YouTube video with a FX, air, arms, and brocock. A lot of times those videos are a bit biased. If you guys had to choose one to three, with consideration to money, what would you pick?

[Back_Roads]

https://www.rapidairworx.com/R-A-W-HM1000X-LRT-Rifle-p/r-hmx.htm
Or a Barra 250z in .25

[Fleshwound]

Nice

[3crows]

The limit to power is the speed limit of pellets which is somewhere around 900 fps give or take. A 34 grain JSB at that velocity is 61 fpe. If there were heavier pellets available would be nice. If you are going to shoot slugs then more velocity and more weight is possible. Slugs are a no go for me due to the same ricochet potential as a .22LR. But maybe work for you. The rifle I like now is the Day State Black Wolf and in a .30.

[Fleshwound]

Good point about the ricochet

[HunterWhite]

Nice posts guys.

I have 3 M-Rods. 
A 25 cal and a couple of 177.

I have a 25 cal Condor from AirForce for power. It makes 60 FPE stock.
I have a Raptor from Jefferson State air rifles. It is set to 40 FPE. It will do more.

I like them all.

Hunter 

[3crows]

Good point about the ricochet

The ricochet potential of my fleet of .22LR rifles is why I went to PCP. I am not against slugs but for me at that point I would as soon grab a .22LR. Pellets of course will ricochet but they just do not carry as far or retain as much energy. I have tried slugs in the chocked barrels of my M-Rods and not found any joy. However, I can drive them to over 70+ fpe either by sending them out at ridiculous velocity or going to a heavy slug. But they are just not accurate and neither is launching a JSB at 1,000 fps. They start spiraling and becoming erratic.

I can shoot between 10 yards and 100 yards, actually out to 200 yards, if I mow the grass. And now that the fence is gone I do not hit the top rail anymore, talk about a fun ricochet, zzzzziiinnggggggwrrrrrrrrzoooooom.