Just joined. Looking for advice.

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amccoy

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Jun 13, 2016
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I don't own an air gun... Yet...
I have recently become addicted to the rat and squirrel air gunning videos on YouTube. In my couple of weeks of researching I think the Marauder .25 is what'd I'd like to have. My question is, if I have to hand pump it, will it still be fun? You get mixed feelings on the internet about the difficulty of using the hand pumps. If it matters, I weigh about 275 lbs and my shooting buddy (my 14 yr old son) weighs about 230. Both of us in good shape. He's an athlete and I'm in the weight room about 3 days per week. Will we have a hard time if we are set up shooting rats some night? Will we be spending all our time pumping the rifle?
Would like to do some coyote hunting with it as well- just in case you might want to mention the "overkill" aspect of the .25 on rats:) 
 
I'm 66 years old and about 210 lbs and 6ft. Used to be 6' 2". %^) I pump my Wildcat up in a few minutes, 25 strokes at a time ... three sessions ... with a few minutes cool down in between for the pump ... and me. For hunters, plinkers this is no problem. For paper punchers this would be the sh_ts. I take a couple three shots at the target 50 yds out my back door to make sure my finicky Wildcat is in a good mood and go about my business on the ranch I manage during which throughout the day I will pull up to various bird feeders around the ranch and annihilate any squirrels present. I can go two days without pumping some times.

You are not going to kill a coyote with a .25 cal Marauder unless you hit it in the eye. From relatively close range. And it is facing towards you.
 
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No offense, but as a guy that tunes and modifies Marauders as well as hunts with them, a stock .25 marauder will easily kill a coyote. I do prefer more fpe for coyotes than what a stock gun provides, but it is still lethal on coyotes. Keep your shots under 50 yards and place a pellet in the head or even a heart/lung shot and it is lights out!! I have actually killed more yotes with stock .25's than I have with highly modified powerhouses. Again, I prefer a minimum of 40fpe at the point of impact, but 40fpe at the muzzle will still kill one.

Sorry if I come off cross, but just trying to clarify that a .25 marauder will kill coyotes as I have done it numerous times.
 
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I do not own a Marauder, but maybe someone who owns one can tell you:
  • About how many pumps it takes to fill one?
  • How long it will take since you may need to let the pump cool off every 50 pumps or so?
  • How many shots you will get off a full tank?
Answers to the above questions should help you with your decision.

In general here's my 2 cents:
  • It really depends on how much you want to shoot compared to how much you want to pump. I know people who only hand pump, and have done it for years. 
  • Users of your size shouldn't have any trouble pumping.
  • If you decide that a pump will be your primary fill source... buy a good one. FX 4 stage or Hill.
  • Hunting topics should be discussed in the Hunting section. But to satisfy your immediate curiosity; Yes a .25 is more than capable of taking both of the pests you mentioned (with proper shot placement of course).
 
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"amccoy"I don't own an air gun... Yet...
I have recently become addicted to the rat and squirrel air gunning videos on YouTube. In my couple of weeks of researching I think the Marauder .25 is what'd I'd like to have. My question is, if I have to hand pump it, will it still be fun? You get mixed feelings on the internet about the difficulty of using the hand pumps. If it matters, I weigh about 275 lbs and my shooting buddy (my 14 yr old son) weighs about 230. Both of us in good shape. He's an athlete and I'm in the weight room about 3 days per week. Will we have a hard time if we are set up shooting rats some night? Will we be spending all our time pumping the rifle?
Would like to do some coyote hunting with it as well- just in case you might want to mention the "overkill" aspect of the .25 on rats:)
Click to expand...
Will it still be fun? I'm going to give that a strong yes! I have used hand pumps for about 8 years and have had a blast doing it. Sure, it may take a little longer and you'll have minimal maintenance involved, but it sure is worth it being able to jump into the PCP world. I have a pretty good selection of PCP rifles that I've used hand pumps on ranging in size from Benjamin Disco's to Airforce Condor's. I do have a compressor now and for me it was really worth the investment. However, had it not been for hand pumps, I would not have been able to justify getting into the hobby at the beginning. Now money doesn't matter. lol. I took hook, line and sinker just like most of the guys in the sport. My only recommendations would be to get a quality pump such as a Hill with a dry-pac and a micro bore hose from JB. Also, very important... do not over heat your pump! I usually pump about 50 times then let it cool down for 10 to 15 minutes and then start over. It's totally worth it in my opinion. You'll be glad you did. Worst come to worst and you don't like it, just sell it right here. Quality hand pumps will always sell. This is one of the best father and son hobbies out there and I'm glad to see your 14 year old is interested. Good luck and welcome to the Airgun World!! Exziver Out~
 
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The Mrod is a fine rifle with the ability to tune and easily get spare parts. I have heard the bolt can be a little hard to operate. I would say to also consider the the Hatsan air rifles. I have an AT 44 10 and love the smoothness of the side lever action. It has similar performance to the Mrod and a little better shot count per fill. You can also buy spare air tanks to carry out in the field to increase shot count. I have used hand pumps in the past and they can be a workout. If you are doing a lot of shooting like at rats the need to hand pump often will slow you down and decrease your fun. A hand pump though is a good way to get started in charging you pcp rifles till you can afford a HP 4500 psi tank. Bill
 
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Okay, changed my mind- I don't like this forum anymore... Because y'all just made my decision harder. You made me go look at the Hatsan guns. I really like the specs on the AT 44S-10 long as compared with the Mrod in .25. Being able to pump at home and take an extra tank for the gun with me sounds awesome. More shots per fill... Decisions, decisions...

BTW, just kidding about not liking the forum. 
 
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You are sooo hooked already. : ) Mrod marauder, synrod synthetic stock marauder, p-rod pistol marauder, hot-rod stolen marauder, a-rod some baseball player: )
I thoroughly enjoyed my synrod. It was very accurate. I did buy a tank almost immediately, but I plan to get a pump for back up in case I lose my air source, so it's not bad to start there and have one for security. 
 
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Welcome to the forum and the sport of Airgunning. The .25 Marauder is a great choice as a starter PCP,tunable,accurate and quiet. I have used a pump for years with no trouble at all. The main thing is to get out and have some fun,everything else will fall into place. You can always upgrade to a fill setup later down the road. One thing to consider from my own experience is to get a pump with a filter as it will keep the internals of the gun in better shape. Crap and crud along with corrosion is common to find in guns that have been filled with a pump. If you regularly service the gun this shouldn't ever be a problem. Best of wishes to you and hope to see more post from you when you get something to shoot.
 
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I'm the same size as you,, pumping is piece of cake, I own discos and a p'rod if you are small it could be a problem I guess? But when it's air gun Shooting I'll bring all my cross mans and shoot. 760's 1377 np2 I live close to Bloomfield and I am a fan of anything crossman ! so pumping is all part of the game for me! I do have a scuba tank and I will be asking for help to get the right filler but good luck,,,,btw cross mans and benj's shoot or like a lower pressure mine shoot fine between 1800-3000 cheers JeffW
 
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