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Considering getting my first PCP

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Rangeland

Member
Mar 6, 2020
37
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NM, United States
As the topic title says, I am considering getting my first PCP. I have been looking into the Benjamin Marauder. 

For those of you that have one, is that a gun you would recommend? 

The Benjamin Marauder has a Lothar Walther match barrel up grade for $79.00 more . Is that something you would recommend?

How easy is the Marauder to hand pump? 

Benjamin sells a hand pump for $199.00. This pump has mixed reviews. What hand pump would you recommend?

Thanks in advance for your help with my questions. 
 
I was going to say that you can get a Hill MK4 for that price but apparently Covid has knocked those prices through the roof too. I have 2 MK4s (don't ask why) and they are fantastic. I also have a regulated .22 Marauder w/ Lothar barrel and it has been an excellent gun for me. Currently, it is my go to groundhog gitter within 40yds. Anything further than that and I usually break out the .25 Dreamline.
 
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You can't go wrong with a Marauder. I have one and have never had a problem with it. Mine is a .177 and I had a 24 inch Lothar Walther barrel made for it because there was no choice in barrels when I bought mine. A lot of info on how to set one up to get the most out of it without buying a lot of after market parts to get started. They are easy to fill with a hand pump. I think Hill is the best pump, but that is the only one I have experience with. I would go with the Lothar Walther barrel.
 
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it will shoot well without the lothar barrel but its desirable if you can swing it ... ive had a benjamin pump for 12 + years, think its probably better than most out there, and never rebuilt it yet but i have learned to disassemble, dry, and maintain it .. moisture is its enemy, get the benjamin dryer thing with it ... but a marauder is a good midrange price gun .. i think personally a .25 with a synthetic stock is the best cost, power, and weight compromise but pellets arnt cheap these days .. a .22 or .177 would have much less pellet cost ...
 
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Run! Don't do it! You're standing on the edge of the abyss, looking in, and you can clearly see - WE HAVE COOKIES! Herein lies madness...

In all honesty, go cheap. The Marauder is accurate without the barrel upgrade, and if you decide you need more you can upgrade the barrel later, or the whole gun depending on where your interest goes. 

The most valuable aspect of a first PCP is that it gives you a much better idea of what you actually want: more capacity, more rapid fire (a magazine, toggle bolt, semi-auto...), shorter, quieter, better ergonomics, cheaper magazines, a different caliber, less or more powerful - it's the suit you try on before it's tailored. It's the tool that lets you determine what is important uniquely to you. And it's a gateway drug...

Good luck!

GsT
 
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I have a Marauder pistol (Prod) and a 25 caliber Air Venturi Avenger. My Prod is definitely a lot less work to pump up than my Avenger. I think the Marauder would be less than the Avenger but definitely more than the Prod. Prod is only 25-35 pumps for a typical fill. That gets me about 20 shots at over 700 fps with a 14.3 grain. Works well for plinking or knocking squirrels out of the oaks in my back yard. It came with a lower power tune that would still kill squirrels and gave me quite a few more shots. My Avenger takes more like 100 pumps to refill and I don't get a lot more shots but they are about 45 fpe. Overkill for backyard sniping. You might want to look at the Prod too. With a buttstock and scope it weighs about 5 lbs.

I have a Benjamin hand pump and a cheap Chinese pump. I hand pumped the Avenger at first and it is a 300 bar gun. Benjamin pump won't do that. The Chinese pump was about $60 and has a little cotton water trap built in. The benjamin may be a little bit better pump but the Chinese pump is definitely a much better buy. I would not pay 3X for the benjamin pump (or the hill for that matter). For one thing you may "graduate" to a Yong Heng and/or bottle. I have both now.
 
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Rangeland

Consider new Umarex Gauntlet 2, coming soon, for about $400. My first PCP was a first generation Gauntlet .25, and I love it. I looked at Marauder, too, but after watching Matt Dubber's Air Gun 101 videos, decided a regulated PCP was for me. Benjamin Marauder does have a regulated version (Field and Target Model, I think) but much more expensive. About hand pumps, I agree with JimD, Chinese handpumps are less than $50. and work great. Don't overpay for some "name brand" hand pump with gimmicky filters. If you stay in the hobby long enough, and remember GeneT warned you, a Yong Heng compressor might be in your future.

WM
 
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Better barrel is always a good choice in my opinion. After all, no inaccurate gun is fun to shoot. Regulated means that there's a regulator in the air tube, which basically regulates the amount of pressure that is passed from the air tube to the valve. This means the valve sees the same amount of pressure for every shot, regardless of pressure in the main tube, leading to more consistent shots. If you can swing it, the regular Marauder with a Lothar Walther barrel is a good choice. Though I agree with @Emu, if you have shot rifles before and you like shooting in general, you'll probably love airguns. If you can swing one of the Daystate or Brocock rifles in the $1000 range, you'll have little to no work to get it to shoot really well. 
 
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I got my Chinese hand pump on Ebay. There are many for sale, just make sure you check feedback of seller and how long they've been on Ebay. Avoid ones with no, or bad, feedback and recent arrivals. Back in March I got a $49.99 stainless steel 4500psi pump, water cooled. Came with tools, extra O rings and spare parts. I also bought an extra small filter, that goes in-line, paid less than $20. I didn't check Sqwirlfugger57's regulator link but search Matt Dubbers Airgun 101 series, I think the second or third talks of regulated airguns. I watched all 9 short videos so I could follow discussions on this forum.

WM
 
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I love my marauders. Are you target practicing or hunting? I ask because if you get the older Gen 2 and possibly Gen 1 marauders in 25 it comes with a green mountain barrel. Mine is extremely accurate. A used marauder is like 300 to 350 shipped and it is a very easy gun to work on. In my opinion this is the best way to go with a marauder. My reasoning is that for that cost you can buy a better rifle. One would be a Troy tuned kral or for just a tiny bit more cash you can get an air arms or any number of rifles right around the 1000 dollar mark. I think the marauder is a great gun you can't go wrong and Crosman is a great company for customer service. I just think there's other options that are more appealing at this time. 
 
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I have the Marauder and the hand pump. I bought them 8 or 9 years ago. Very happy with the Marauder, but the Hill is more efficient (fewer pumps per fill). Doesn't sound like much but pumping isn't any fun

Now, here's a however on the Marauder. While I love the gun, it has a good trigger, shoots well and all the rest. The Air Venturi Avenger gets rave reviews and I'm told has a good trigger. It's also in the $200 less range.

For a first gun, unless you have someone local that can lead you through the nuances of tuning and the rest, I'd avoid used guns. So many nuances to PCP's and if the used gun has any problems on top of learning a completely new method of shooting, it'll get very frustrating. Avoid the frustration. My second gun was used and well, I was very frustrated.

The Avenger is a good 50 to 75 yard gun, just like my Marauder. I wouldn't push either to 100 yards. My own experience is that 75 is about max accurate range.

Good luck, welcome to the dark side. It's incredibly fun and if you aren't careful, incredibly expensive. At least disposables are cheap (JSB pellets are about $.04 in bulk and Crosman Premier Domes are about $.02 each. Hollow points about $.015 each at Walmart). That can help make up for some of the other expenses
 
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Rangeland

Just hopped over to Ebay and searched Handpump-PCP. First one shown, looks like the one I bought, less than $50, now. They don't seem to be listed by manufacturer because I think they all come from same factory. Stainless steel, 4500psi, 3-stage, stirrup foot rests, tools, o rings, spare parts and whip with tiny filter. The hose connects to a standard "foster" fitting, which the Umarex Gauntlet comes with. Marauder guys will have to speak up as to what that airgun has.

WM
 
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I use the cheap Chinese hand pumps and while they may take more pumps they are reliable. I own 3. All three still work after years of use and they come with rebuild kits. They are very adequate. I add the 15 dollar Inline filter off ebay and fill it with desiccant beads. I can't imagine paying 200 for a hand pump. One exception is the one for the huban because it actually will pump to 4500psi.this is not needed unless you are using it to pump up a big bore for hunting purposes. If you only pump a gun up a handful of times per year to kill a deer or something it's going to be fine. Goodluck. 
 
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Marauder is a solid choice always. 

Personally have a 6 year "$50" (bit more?) Vevor hand pump always trouble free, lent to a number of newbies w/never a hitch. Still have all the unneeded spare parts ( 2 rebuild kits I wiped in divers grease when new) sitting. Find what the current best "cheap
hand pump is - perhaps here: https://www.airgunnation.com/forum/accessories/air-tanks-pumps-compressors-filters/ - 

Hand pumps are not worth more than $100.

John
 
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