Got my Marauder for Field Target today, now what???

"John_in_Ma"For my first year in FT I shot in the Hunter class. I used a .177 Synthetic Marauder, Leapers high dovetail rings and a UTG 3-12x44 Swat Accushot rifle scope. That same year I went to Nationals and placed 7th out of 29 in Hunter class. You should do just fine with it. Oh yeah, I tuned the marauder for 35(tight) shots at 890fps with JSB 10.3's.

A couple pics for ya,


The next season I used and S500 with an Aeon 6-24x50(in the picture it is sporting a Hawke Eclipse 6-24x50). I placed 7th at nationals that year as well.

This past season I upgraded the scope and stock, turned the S500 down to 11fpe or to compete in WFTF class. Didn't do so well at Nationals this year.

If I'm honest I got my ass handed to me. 21 out of 30 shooters in my class. On to better gear for next season but that's another post.

Click to expand...

How did you tune it down to 11fpe if you don't mind me asking?

I have heard a few people say they had accuracy issues with that gun on lower power settings (when it was super accurate at higher power). I was wondering if perhaps the barrel was too long for an 11fpe rifle or was it simply that the competition was stronger in that class? I.e. We're the problems this year from the gun, you, or the competition?

I too have a MRod for FT shooting in 22 cal. Some advise given to me was you can spend lots of $ to buy accuracy but practice is what wins the match. Any way here is what I did. First you need to chronology the gun as it came from the box with +8 gn and +10gr pellets any brand. Next you need to determine what pellet the gun likes the best. ( Brand, weight, diameter) I did this after I set up the scope and found my zero at top of the pellet trajectory. Then at 30 yards shot 10 pellet groups at 1/4 in dots. Which ever pellets showed the tightist groups were the go to pellets. In my case H&N FTT in .553 dia. 14.3 gr. Note: crosman pellets need to be washed, for what ever reason very dirty. Since you will be shooting FT the American rule is no greater than 20 fpe, the WFT rule is 12 fpe or less. You can adjust your MRod to these levels. I simply adjusted my velocity port on the side of the gun to about 19 fpe or 880 fps over the chrony for 14.3 gr pellet. .177 will be different. These are all things you can do for little to no cost. If you want to play with other adjustments refer to the manual and the MRod Forum. There are several very good web articles on adjusting MRod. Check out the Maurader Forum site. Concerning your scope a side wheel is needed for range finding, and the side wheel taped for accurate distances. The marks in the wheel are usually off. This was easy by ranging on an eye chart I printed off the web, and placed for every distance on the wheel to 60 yd. An excellent web article on scope setup and adjustment is the BFTA manual. This is my scope bible now. Then get out/into practicing shooting from all the positions. In summer I set up a mini course. Winter is at the indoor range or the basement at 10 yds. You should be able to put pellets into a 1/2 inch hole at 50 ft all day long.

This is my field target setup. I actually took the pic to show someone else the knee riser I made for it.

I am in agreement with the just shoot it as is for awhile. Get your familiarity with the gun, the trigger the way it is, and the scope. Then the sighting, breathing trigger squeeze etc. Then determine the best pellet and air pressure for your shots.

Once you feel comfortable and found the pellet, air and your technique down you'll be in a better place to determine what you want/need to upgrade to improve your shooting.

I have the M 25, .22, .177 and they all shoot good.

My tanks need to be filled, so i can only fill to 2300, and this morning shooting: the .25 at 50 yds a mag full, would fit in a 30 cent piece, if there was one, the group was about 1 inch below my point of aim ( i think that was air pressure being low), , and that was because of 1 pellet, the .22 was the same but only a half inch to 3/4 of an inch low of the POA, the .177 was in the quarter ring with most in the POA.

The Marauder is a fine shooting gun as is. But i think could be improved with a regulator keeping that air consistent to whatever has been determined to be a good pressure.

Again, zero it, and put a lot rounds down range before you modify it. My .177 and 22 are 6 years old, still stock and i am very pleased, but not shooting in matches.

The .25 is only a week old and is another accurate gun out of the box.

I was too lazy to carry the shooting table up from the basement, so all of today's shooting was from the prone, and at 70, my neck and back, mostly neck was feeling it.

I'll carry the table up next time.

"zebra"

"John_in_Ma"For my first year in FT I shot in the Hunter class. I used a .177 Synthetic Marauder, Leapers high dovetail rings and a UTG 3-12x44 Swat Accushot rifle scope. That same year I went to Nationals and placed 7th out of 29 in Hunter class. You should do just fine with it. Oh yeah, I tuned the marauder for 35(tight) shots at 890fps with JSB 10.3's.

A couple pics for ya,


The next season I used and S500 with an Aeon 6-24x50(in the picture it is sporting a Hawke Eclipse 6-24x50). I placed 7th at nationals that year as well.

This past season I upgraded the scope and stock, turned the S500 down to 11fpe or to compete in WFTF class. Didn't do so well at Nationals this year.

If I'm honest I got my ass handed to me. 21 out of 30 shooters in my class. On to better gear for next season but that's another post.

Click to expand...

How did you tune it down to 11fpe if you don't mind me asking?

I have heard a few people say they had accuracy issues with that gun on lower power settings (when it was super accurate at higher power). I was wondering if perhaps the barrel was too long for an 11fpe rifle or was it simply that the competition was stronger in that class? I.e. We're the problems this year from the gun, you, or the competition?

Click to expand...

11fpe is as easy as turning the the power knob. Once regulated I played with slowly reducing the hammer weight as well as different hammer springs. When done I was able to get 170 regulated shots with an ES of 8 and SD of less than 2.

My subpar year was mostly on me. I changed from Hunter to WFTF class. Different position and 12fpe limit. The wind was not kind. The weekend after nationals I went to a club shoot and scored a 55/60. My best score to date. It would have been a 58/60 but on the last two lanes I dropped my guard and lost three points.