Thanks to PanicSteve for this post http://airgunnation.dev/topic/so-i-thought-my-25-marauder-was-cool/ that has led to the start of my own .30 Marauder. Though I am a Marauder junky, I was unaware that there was an available .30 conversion. I had originally been looking at the .30 for its possible long range benefits. After alot of thought and research I decided that there wasn't enough advantage over a high power .25 for my needs. Thoughts of a .30 returned as I began to think about the argument for a .25 vs a .22 in regards to its ability to punch a larger hole in a critter that many will argue is just as important as more fpe. I will admit that I was still leaning more towards sticking with my .25's until reading PanicSteve's post. My Marauder addiction kicked in and I was sold!!
My initial thought was to buy the .30 kit just to have it in case Mountain Air discontinued making them. Once the order was placed and the money was sent, it was clear that as soon as the kit arrives, I will have to try it out. I had thoughts of putting the .30 barrel and bolt on one of my current .25's, but as good as both are shooting I decided not to tear them apart and instead buy another .25 Marauder to complete this build. Aside from the .30 kit, I also got magazines ordered from Airgun Labs, and a valve and gauge block from Tim Hill. I would have went with a WAR valve, but they are sold out and my last WAR valve was a dissapointment compared to the original WAR valves. At almost half the cost, I will give the Hill valve a try. In case anyone is interested, here are the links
http://www.mountainaircustomairguns.com/
http://hillairgun.com/
http://www.airgunlab.com/
http://wickedairrifles.com/
The love of power had started my mind down the path of building as powerful a .30 as I could. unfortunately, the .25 I built with that same mentality is a TANK!! It is very long and extremely heavy. I really want to keep the .30 to stock Marauder weight and length, so no airtube extensions, custom shrouds, or any of that jazz. With that said, stock airtube and a custom valve I would expect to only get 8-10 shots(.30 marauder mags hold 7) in the 800-850fps range. That is based on results in .25 with slugs and pellets of similar weight to the 44gr jsb .30's. I have no clue what to expect going from .25 up to .30 in regards to tuning and how it will use air? I am excited to get started but still need to order another .25 Marauder as well as a stock pile of .30 JSB 44gr pellets. It will probably be awhile before I have all the pieces to this puzzle to start on this project. Once I do, I will post a full update.
My initial thought was to buy the .30 kit just to have it in case Mountain Air discontinued making them. Once the order was placed and the money was sent, it was clear that as soon as the kit arrives, I will have to try it out. I had thoughts of putting the .30 barrel and bolt on one of my current .25's, but as good as both are shooting I decided not to tear them apart and instead buy another .25 Marauder to complete this build. Aside from the .30 kit, I also got magazines ordered from Airgun Labs, and a valve and gauge block from Tim Hill. I would have went with a WAR valve, but they are sold out and my last WAR valve was a dissapointment compared to the original WAR valves. At almost half the cost, I will give the Hill valve a try. In case anyone is interested, here are the links
http://www.mountainaircustomairguns.com/
http://hillairgun.com/
http://www.airgunlab.com/
http://wickedairrifles.com/
The love of power had started my mind down the path of building as powerful a .30 as I could. unfortunately, the .25 I built with that same mentality is a TANK!! It is very long and extremely heavy. I really want to keep the .30 to stock Marauder weight and length, so no airtube extensions, custom shrouds, or any of that jazz. With that said, stock airtube and a custom valve I would expect to only get 8-10 shots(.30 marauder mags hold 7) in the 800-850fps range. That is based on results in .25 with slugs and pellets of similar weight to the 44gr jsb .30's. I have no clue what to expect going from .25 up to .30 in regards to tuning and how it will use air? I am excited to get started but still need to order another .25 Marauder as well as a stock pile of .30 JSB 44gr pellets. It will probably be awhile before I have all the pieces to this puzzle to start on this project. Once I do, I will post a full update.
