What caliber for Benjamin Marauder/

[TexasLeagle]

I am about to purchase a Benjamin Marauder which will be my first PCP air rifle. I am trying to decide between a ,22 or .25 I want a .22 primarily due to pellet cost and shot count.

There is a great deal on the web, including Ted's videos, about the accuracy of the .25 Marauder. There is also quite a bit of negative about the .22, but these videos and comments all seem to be several years old. Does anyone have any recent experience (good or bad) with the .22 Marauder?

 

[ashes5]

I loved my .25 but shot count was only 16 to 20 if you wanted to stretch it. I never changed the factory settings. I had POI drug around a little.

 

[wyshadow]

Get the 25

 

[30cal]

If I had it to do over I would get the .25 I just had to spend $210. on an after market barrel for my .22. Now it shoots very accurately. Crosman uses Green Mountain Barrels in the .25 which are very good barrels. The .22 and .177 are not nearly as good quality. You may get lucky and get a good .22 but you may not either and just be frustrated. If you just want to hunt at closer ranges then a stock barrel may be just fine but if you like target shooting and long range use then go for the .25.

 

[NMshooter]

The .22 may require a few modifications to get it shooting on par. That being said, I will be getting my .22 in a few weeks and expect it to be quite accurate. The mods I have done are: A HUMA regulator, Marmot Malitia barrel, and Motorhead power tune. I placed the regulator and barrel. There are some who are fortunate to not have to do this but I am OK with all of it. I learned a tremendous amount of knowledge. I have not read any negatives on the .25
Best of luck with your decision,

Doc

 

[clgraham82]

My .22 was very accurate right out of the box with 40 shots per fill. 

 

[GLPalinkas]

Another vote for the .25. Extremely accurate rifle. Mine was shooting MOA (1" groups at 100 yards).

You can detune it to get 25 or so shots at 36 FPE instead of the 40 FPE factory. It's what is called a low tune (NIBLT) and here are what I had my .25 Marauder shooting.

NIBLT Low Tune using JSB Kings 25.4gr
Fill 2650 -1850 settings HS 2 7/8 HT 6 1/4 VMS 5 ccw (your settings will probably differ)
771-792-772 25 good shots AVG 785 ES 23 SD 7.7

It's also filled at a lower pressure so it is easier to fill whether manual pumping or using a small tank.

Hope this helps.... If you decide on the .25 and need more assistance in tuning it for more shots using the NIBLT, pm me.

 

[NMshooter]

There is a .25 listed in the classified

 

[guod123]

I started with the .22, new barrel, other mods, they can be modded to any level your wallet can handle. The .25 is usually very accurate out of the box. The limited shot count is a trade off for the superior accuracy. The 25.39 JSB's work very well in most of the guns

 

[John "spysir" Blount]

I have a fairly recent .22 marauder, no issues at all, good 50 yard grouping, no leaks, .... .


John

 

[Crane_Hard]

Go .25. You won't be disappointed.

 

[NorthLand43]

I have had my Marauder for over a year.
Took me a bit of reading and trial and error to find mine likes the 5.52 head sized pellets.
I like the availability of pellets in .22, as I can walk into my local sporting goods store and find .22 pellets. Wont be JSB, or H&N, likely CP, but better than nothing. Have never seen .25 in a local sporting good store.
My Marauder shoots what I think is pretty good, if I do my part. 
I shot out to 100yrds a few weeks ago and got a sub-2inch group. 
If you look closely at my avatar, that is a 5 round group I shot last summer, at 100yrds.