New Marauder…what to expect

[leadskirt]

Today the new Marauder arrived.  I cleaned the barrel, pumped it up, loaded it, and began zeroing at 10 yards.

Some shots are on the paper, grouping is not good, and some hit the concrete about 4 feet in front of the target. 

The gun has 20 shots through it at this point.  I don't have a chronograph so I don't know what the velocity is.

Is this normal for a new gun?  Should it be that inconsistent starting out?

[Airgun.Sniper]

 What caliber?

[grobe1458]

what pellets are you using? what caliber?
at 10 yards it should be able to group extremely tight but that depends on the pellets you are using.
you may have to experiment with various pellets to find what shoots best. but the 10 yards and it falls 4ft in front, that's bad period. what did you pump it up too.
my rule of thumb is I shoot the gun before doing anything to it. get a out the box baseline.

[leadskirt]

.177 caliber and shooting Barracuda Hunters.

[leadskirt]

Gun only had about 800 psi in it out of the box so i pumped it to 2500 the first time.  Just shot it a few times with no scope to function test it.  10 rounds.

Next I pumped to 2900 PSI and put the scope on.  All over the map…some not even on the map.

[grobe1458]

.177 caliber and shooting Barracuda Hunters.

barracudas shoot well in my .177 mrod. should do the same in yours.

[Airgun.Sniper]

Agreed they should shoot very well. Im thinking 18fpe plus in .177 cal

[1216bandit]

Something is definitely not right.  Now it's up to you....do you dig into it or return it for another?  Warranty may be void if you do anything other than the very basics.  I would call crosman service and see what they say.

[grobe1458]

Gun only had about 800 psi in it out of the box so i pumped it to 2500 the first time.  Just shot it a few times with no scope to function test it.  10 rounds.

Next I pumped to 2900 PSI and put the scope on.  All over the map…some not even on the map.

at 2500 or 2900 psi it should not be falling short at 10 yards.
as for when you scoped it did you zero the scope, and what scope are you using?
are you shooting from a bench or solid platform.

I would pump back up to 2900psi then use a rest to take user error out the picture and focus on zeroing the scope.
I normally take two shots, then adjust my crosshairs towards it then another shot until I'm zeroed.
could be your scope, could be a bad rifle, but something is definately wrong.

[atvkilla1]

To the OP, no that's not normal for a new Marauder, especially a .177 cal. Even the crummiest pellet you can find should still shoot a nickel or quarter size group at that distance. When I first received my .22 Marauder refurb, I started messing with spring and hammer settings and had such low power the pellets bounced at about 9 yards. A little basic tuning fixed this but usually a brand new rifle would not have that problem.

Was the rifle completely new, like not a refurbished one? I would try shooting a couple magazines with the shroud removed (unscrew end cap first, remove all the baffles and spring, then unscrew the shroud itself).

If you don't have a chronograph and want to see if it's shooting even remotely close to what it should, shoot at a 1/2" piece of pine from a safe distance and the pellet should pretty much go through or at least be very deeply buried. This is very unscientific, but if it's barely sticking in the wood, you have an obvious problem. You might have to send back for a replacement.

[Nomadic Pirate]

At 10 yards even a non accurate gun will group pretty good, I would send it back immediatly I wouldn't even consider spending time, effort and aggravation on it

[mista meener]

At 10 yards even a non accurate gun will group pretty good, I would send it back immediatly I wouldn't even consider spending time, effort and aggravation on it

Exactly. A cheap B4 I have puts pellets in a ragged hole at ten yards. something is drastically wrong and what caliber it is does not matter

[leadskirt]

OK…so here's new information.  The base of the rear scope ring…just broke off!!!  Gun is fine…cheap ring from an old scope is the most likely culprit.  I'll know more tomorrow when I have a good scope mounted. 

I just had a cheapo laying around when the box came it today so I figured I'd slap it on just to test the gun.  HA! 

Thanks for the help trying to diagnose it…I'll post more once I've got the normal scope mounted.

Also, I am VERY impressed with how quiet this thing is.  The trigger is beautiful too…very precise…very predictable. 

[LDP]

Just as a precaution i would also double check the o-ring in the barrel to make sure you did not cause it to come out of the groove during cleaning. Most likely the only problem was the bad mount but it is easy to look at that o-ring also.

[leadskirt]

Just as a precaution i would also double check the o-ring in the barrel to make sure you did not cause it to come out of the groove during cleaning. Most likely the only problem was the bad mount but it is easy to look at that o-ring also.

Going to check right now...