Benjamin marauder.25 vs hatsan at44 .25 qe?

Neither are particularly quiet in 25 cal but you can get away with a few pest control shots here and there. The 22 is very quiet for both guns.

The 25's both have similarly low shot counts but the Hatsan's have the edge because you can buy additional air cylinders that can be changed in the field. 

They are both entry level guns but as long as you don't expect high quality fittings and finish they are both functional if a little rough around the edges.

I have owned both and found them both reliable. If you force me to say which I would choose if I had to have one of them, I would go with the Marauder as it has more aftermarket upgrades available, it's lighter and shorter. If you plan to do nothing to it and buy nothing extra, I'd probably go with the AT44 as it's side lever (better than bolt action) and the additional air cylinders.

The big caveat is that the world is a different place now than when I bought those guns. Recently, there have been a number of guns released in a similar price range that I think are better options than either the Marauder or the AT44. Guns that come with better barrels, better stocks and some that are regulated. I probably wouldn't buy either the AT44 or the Marauder if I was buying an entry level gun today.

Check out the Pyramyd Air site and organization the PCP rifle search results by price (instead of the default popularity) and you'll see the ones I am referring to. 

I've got both in .22 and prefer the Marauder. The Marauder is easier to adjust/tune and has far more aftermarket support. In terms of accuracy and noise, it is a tie and they both get very high marks. With a SSG from Wicked Air I can get 60-65 good shots from the Marauder and it is very easy to adjust power.

After much effort, I still cannot get more than about 30 good shots with the AT44. 

One huge plus for the Marauder is the adjustable wood stock. I don't like the cheek weld or the looks of the AT44 stock.

R

Tn_airgunnerSo is a SSG worth the extra price over the HDD from AoA for the marauder?

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Yes you won't regret it! I've tuned 4 Mrods with SSGs so far very easy and incredible results.

I'm not going to be a lot of help but I own the Mrod in .25 and the AT44 QE in .22. I'm very happy with both of them! They're both very accurate and quiet with good power. With my lower fill tune 2500-1500 psi I get 24 good shots with 33#s fpe shooting JSB Kings/25.39 gr. This is totally stock other than straightening out the lawyer spring. I get about 35 good shots with the 44 starting a bit higher in psi, 2700-1700. A solid 30#'s fpe with JSB Exacts, 15.89 gr., also completely stock. . If I could only have one I guess it'd be the Benji. It's a little lighter and although a .25 it's actually also a bit quieter. Both triggers are very good but I like the Beni's a bit more. Also, although I haven't had a problem with Hatsan service it's nice to know I can pick up the phone and talk to a live human being at Crosman and they go the extra mile to help you out.
Unless you are unfortunate and get a lemon I really think you'll be happy with either rifle.

Ed

I currently own a gen 2 Mrod .25 and used to own a gen 1 .25 Mrod and a AT44 long non QE. Out of the box with a similar power tune the shot count is almost equal between the Mrod and AT44 long. I had to do some clean up work on my AT44 to get it close to the accuracy of the Mrod out of the box. Once I had the AT44 polished up it was very close in accuracy to both of my Mrods but the Mrods just edged it out. Both are good value but I think the Mrod has the better value and the better performer most of the time right out of the box. So my pick is the Mrod.

It's not the QE model but at grabagun you can get the hatsan for 319$ and add a ldc from Neil.

I have owned both and had a very bad new gun experience with Hatsan,sold it had My marauder for 5 years now only replacing the breech o ring 1 time and the baffles one time and it still shoots the same as it did when I first got it! It has been a darn fine Squirrel gun for sure and it's quiet enough for getting two or three squirrels with out spooking them .

"Tn_airgunner"What guns would you be referring to that are in the marauder price range and ones that are regulated? Only thing I see close to there price is bsa buccaneer and airforce condor which is more than both.

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I like the Gamo Coyote SE over both the Marauder and the AT44.

For $500 you get a regulated, quiet and lightweight rifle with a BSA barrel. If that gun was available when I first started with PCP guns, I never would have bought a Marauder or AT44. 

It only comes in a 22 and not 25 cal but there is always compromises at that price range. As far as compromises go, that is a better one than losing the reg or a decent barrel. I'd take a quality 22 over a below spec 25 any day. If you are hunting then you'll appreciate the weight saving over the larger caliber too. 

It it has a manual safety too. The auto safety on Hatsan guns is the most annoying feature I have ever had on a gun. 

Zebra the coyote does not come regulated from the factory. People seem to confuse self regulating valve with a regulator. They are in fact not the same. Does it really matter? No it doesnt, allot of fine pcp rifles are not regulated like the AA Sxx rifles, BSA Ultra, BSA Scorpion and the daystate regal to name a few and they still have excellent accuracy.

I have a gen II 25 cal marauder on order. I purchased it with the clear intent to get the SSG and a Huma Regulator. The full SSG kit (with hammer) is $85, the Huma regulator is $120. With those components, and a proper tune, there are people getting 40 shots at 40 FPE force on a single fill. For the total cost, you end up with a great PCP rifle. Don't be scared to de-gas it and turn a wrench on it.

Have only had the Mrod (3) 1 .22, 2 .25s and one of the .25s I converted to .30 and I do have to say they are pretty fun if you like to tinker on stuff. Hard to beat with all the aftermarket mods. I currently am one of 4 who have achieved this 40 fpe 40 shot tune and although not too terribly difficult was more than just a simple add a regulator and SSG... 2 of us have aftermarket valves with very light valve springs as well as Lightweight hammer SSGs. Also you need to open up the ports from .14 to .16-.187 as well.

Dairyboy,
​Sorry, yes, I under-summarized. Thank you for providing the additional details.

addertooth,

No worries! I just wanted to make sure you knew everything that needed to be done to be able to achieve it. But it's very much worth it and I wish you luck on the tuning process!

They are priced similar because in stock form they are similar in performance. I have several Hatsans that have been heavily modified. The good thing about Hatsan mods are that you don't need aftermarket parts, most of the mods can be done to the stock parts. I have a 25 cal long that have a SSG, regulator, carbon fiber bonded barrel and a large plenum for the regulator. It get 40 shots @ 45 FPE (895 fps 25.4 gr Kings) with a 4 fps ES. Rjorge who I call the mini Bob Sterne worked on mines. As far as accuracy- it outshoots me because if I compare groups between my AT44 and my 25 Cricket rifle they are about the same size. Allen Z who tuned my Cricket shot a 10 shot group at 70 yards from the sitting FT position and the group is well under 1/2" so I know my Cricket is a laser.

"LDP"Zebra the coyote does not come regulated from the factory. People seem to confuse self regulating valve with a regulator. They are in fact not the same. Does it really matter? No it doesnt, allot of fine pcp rifles are not regulated like the AA Sxx rifles, BSA Ultra, BSA Scorpion and the daystate regal to name a few and they still have excellent accuracy.

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It says it's regulated in the review I read. The shot to shot consistency looked amazing too. Far better than anything else I've seen in that price range.

The overall performance looked to be in a different league to the stock Marauder or AT44. 

People can talk about the performance of their modified Marauders or AT44's all day long but you can modify any air gun. For the average user what matters is how well they perform out of the box and not once they have been modified beyond recognition. 

If you objectively price out the mods people talk about it takes both the Marauder and AT44 into a whole new price category with entirely different competition.

If a person is prepared to spend $800 or $1000 instead of $500 it's a different conversation. 

Deleted comment. It was not related to the AT44 vs Mrod.

I agree Zebra, I had started down that path with the Benjamin Maximus. I realized I was better served just getting a different air rifle. I actually hope the original poster gets a Gamo Coyote and does a detailed review with chrony.