I bought a Benjamin Marauder almost a year ago and I have to say that until now it was boringly accurate. I made no adjustments and used it for target shooting and pesting around the house. I decided to take it squirrel hunting yesterday and after walking for about an hour I decided to sit for a while. When comfortable I took a shot at 29 yards off of my Primos trigger stick and poi was half an inch left so I figured it was me and took another shot. Same results so I adjusted windage 6 clicks right and that did the trick. I took another shot about an hour later and was left again so I packed up and came home to do some trouble shooting before dark. I set my turrets back to zero and poi was 1" left at 30 yards. I took it to the basement to shoot and it was about 3/8" left at 12 yards. This morning I shot 3 shots with the gun warm and poi was perfect so I left it outside to cool down and shot again 20 minutes later and poi was 1' left at 30 yards. I decided to try different pellets but had the same results. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Gary
Benjamin Marauder WOES!
- Thread starter profsrgary
- Start date
A couple questions,
Regulated or non regulated
What scope using and rings & are they all tight and mounted correctly
Are you using moderator, if so what type and or adapter.
Baffles and spring lined up. See if any clipping going on.
Have you cleaned your barrel
Have shot across chronograph to know fps
Regulated or non regulated
What scope using and rings & are they all tight and mounted correctly
Are you using moderator, if so what type and or adapter.
Baffles and spring lined up. See if any clipping going on.
Have you cleaned your barrel
Have shot across chronograph to know fps
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The rifle is stock and as it came from Crosman so not regulated. Fps is approx. 836 with the 16.6 gr. Terminator and 870 with the 14.35 gr. JSB. All is tight as far as scope and as I said it is boringly accurate cold or warm except for poi change. I have it warming up and will check to see if the barrel moves off of center in the barrel band as temp changes. I will later take it out to the bench, set it up in the caldwell and set crosshairs on target and check as gun cools down. I am new to these but have been shooting powder burners for almost 60 years and am wondering if it is do to barrel harmonics. I may try removing the shroud and testing it that way.
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First let me say. I’m new to air guns. So this is just my one experience. I have a Marauder Pistol. I know they are different from the rifle but I don’t know by how much. The gun is boringly accurate also. When I first got it. At the end of the day I’d set it on the couch resting on the moderator and the pistol grip.
This would cause the shroud to move just enough for the pellets to clip the moderator. Id have to unscrew the shroud kinda spin the orings that are supporting the shroud. Then reinstall. Now I hang the gun when not in use.
Ive never had any issues with temp. So my suggestion is remove and re lube the orings. Maybe rotate them a bit then re install the shroud and see what that does.
good luck.
This would cause the shroud to move just enough for the pellets to clip the moderator. Id have to unscrew the shroud kinda spin the orings that are supporting the shroud. Then reinstall. Now I hang the gun when not in use.
Ive never had any issues with temp. So my suggestion is remove and re lube the orings. Maybe rotate them a bit then re install the shroud and see what that does.
good luck.
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Also, if I may add, take away the worries of barrel shroud movement by replacing the front barrel shroud clamp with the one from hillairguns.com. It is a much better fit to the barrel shroud. It still allows some float, but not by much which is ok. It also has a picatinny rail on the bottom so if you ever go rat hunting at night you can add a flashlight. I can lean my gun upright against a tree or a corner wall and my POI never changes.
I know something else is going on causing your point of impact shifts, but next time you order pellets try the Barracuda Hunter extremes by H&N. They are super accurate in my 25 cal Marauder and my 22 PRod, along with my 25 cal wildcat and also on my break barrel guns.
I know something else is going on causing your point of impact shifts, but next time you order pellets try the Barracuda Hunter extremes by H&N. They are super accurate in my 25 cal Marauder and my 22 PRod, along with my 25 cal wildcat and also on my break barrel guns.
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Profsrgary,
I'll almost guarantee it's the shroud causing POI shift. I had this problem with my Marauder that I used for Field Target in WFTF PCP class. Here's a simple test.....
Shoot the gun. Get a group at 20 or 30 yards.
Now unscrew the entire shroud off the barrel. You are now left with a free floating barrel. Shoot another group at the same distance from before. If the group shift in ANY direction, the shroud is putting undesirable pressure against the side of the barrel. As temps warm and cool, you'll see a shift. As little as 15 degrees can affect POI, and on my u Tube Channel I describe how I fixed it and my solution.
A quick solution is to get rid of the shroud if you don't mind the noise.
Tom Holland
Field Target Tech
I'll almost guarantee it's the shroud causing POI shift. I had this problem with my Marauder that I used for Field Target in WFTF PCP class. Here's a simple test.....
Shoot the gun. Get a group at 20 or 30 yards.
Now unscrew the entire shroud off the barrel. You are now left with a free floating barrel. Shoot another group at the same distance from before. If the group shift in ANY direction, the shroud is putting undesirable pressure against the side of the barrel. As temps warm and cool, you'll see a shift. As little as 15 degrees can affect POI, and on my u Tube Channel I describe how I fixed it and my solution.
A quick solution is to get rid of the shroud if you don't mind the noise.
Tom Holland
Field Target Tech
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Thanks for the quick responses ALL! I have to think the shroud may be the culprit. After shooting this morning with the gun at about 28 degrees I visually checked to see how the was positioned in the barrel band and it looked perfectly centered. After allowing the gun to warm up to about 70 degrees the shroud is visually right if center. I will not know for sure until I do testing since although it is unlikely it is possible for the barrel to be moving the shroud. I am leaning towards the shroud because do to the fact that is a much larger diameter than the barrel it should be the dominate factor of the two. Plus it seems to be what you guys suspect as well. Thanks and I will keep you posted.
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I marked my Marauder shroud on both sides of where it is under the barrel band. Then I removed it and applied a few wraps of electrical tape so as to remove any play. I have not experienced any loss of accuracy, and the peace of mind of not having a wiggly barrel is another plus.
Try it. If it works, good, if not, remove it.
Try it. If it works, good, if not, remove it.
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Now that I am aware of the sensitivity of my Prod set up I have not had any issues. But it is still somewhat of a concern. I have heard people using the above mentioned electrical tape or O-Rings to fill that gap on the barrel band. Sooo I’ve been working on making a new barrel band. Unfortunately the CNC I run is busy making money for my boss. I’m just waiting for some down time.
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Sounds like the shroud is not square to the receiver. Common problem. Unscrew the shroud 1/4 turn so it does not butt against the receiver, problem solved provided the shroud is free floating in the band.
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The marauders where mi first pcp..both were really accurate even a long distance...always stored in a hard case..but like you one day I pick them up and they go haywire shooting everywhere..tried every thing..didn't find the problem...I gave them away n buy 2 taipan veteran long..problem solved, I doesn't worth putting more money in a gun when you could buy a great accurate gun for a few bucks more..
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I tried that earlier today but the problem remains. I may try flipping the shroud end for end because it looks like the threads are the same. I locked the rifle in the Caldwell while it was warm and zeroed it on target and half an hour later it was still on target. I am beginning to wonder if it could be barrel harmonics caused by the cold barrel. I just locked the barrel in with an o ring and zeroed in at 12 yards in the basement. I will try warm and cold first thing tomorrow.
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I went through the same situation when I first got into PCP's 8 years ago. At times it was frustrating! It would have been very easy to up grade and follow the trend and make another purchase chasing perfection. However, I quietly sat back and listened, watched and learned and figured it out. Thank you everyone for all the " POSITIVE" advice and information passed on through this site.
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When you say warm and cold, are you just referring to the shroud temp to the hand, or are you moving the gun into the house where it is heated? Remember this- pressurized Air will raise in pressure slightly when warm, compared to ambient temps when cold. Leave your gun out in the cold garage right after a top off, and you’ll see the gage reading go down as the air cools. Put the gun into a warm setting and the temp will raise back up. The raise and drop with warm and cold temps is slight, only a few BAR, but that little bit will change point of impact. Not much, but if your hole in hole accurate and when you finalize sight in, and next time you shoot your 3/4” off, it can get frustrating.
Check out that barrel shroud from hillairguns. Tim Hill makes great aftermarket parts for the Marauder, and I always said if I ever got another Marauder, knowing what I know now, the first mod to it is to swap out that barrel band for the tighter one Tim makes. It just gets rid of that side to side, up and down movement of the shroud. If I accidentally banged the muzzle against a counter top while raising the gun, I would be worry free.
Check out that barrel shroud from hillairguns. Tim Hill makes great aftermarket parts for the Marauder, and I always said if I ever got another Marauder, knowing what I know now, the first mod to it is to swap out that barrel band for the tighter one Tim makes. It just gets rid of that side to side, up and down movement of the shroud. If I accidentally banged the muzzle against a counter top while raising the gun, I would be worry free.
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I am talking about taking the rifle from a warm house to the patio and shooting. I am zeroed but if I let the rifle stand outside for 30 minutes in the 30 degree air the poi will be 1"left. I placed an o ring on the barrel but there is a purpose in free floating a barrel. One of the advantages of a floated barrel is it is supposed to eliminate the problem I am now experiencing. I will give the o ring a try in the morning and if it doesn't work I will set up the chronograph to see if there is an appreciable difference in fps from a cold gun to a warm one.
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@profsrgary, I was having a lower POI in colder temps 32 - 40 degrees F. So I ran some shot strings in the cold. My JSB 18s were 28 FPS slower than in the summer. No left to right, just a lower POI.
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Your gun could be shooting inconsistently for a variety of very common reasons. And in fact you could have more than 1 issue going on. Fortunately most issues come down to whether you have some tightened or fitted correctly. For this reason I always like to think about it from the perspective of do I have everything the way it is supposed to be? And to remove all doubt you should check everything (within reason), especially because the gun seems relatively new to you.
- Remove the baffles and shroud, carefully observing how the baffles need to go back in. Google on Marauder baffles as these can be put back in wrong or the o-ring wrong. Happened to me.
- Clean the barrel and reassemble the shroud and baffles correctly
- Remove the action from the stock then put back in and use a torque wrench on the stock screw (not trigger guard screws). I use 25 in-lbs.
- Use the torque wrench on your scope rings and base. If you don't you never really know what they are set to and can't consistently check them periodically. I use 15 in-lbs for the ring caps and 30 in-lbs for the bases.
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Not sure how you store it but never ever place it in a way that any pressure at all is against the shroud.
What scope are you using?
What pressure are you shooting at?
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I've never owned a Marauder, but I have owned several rifles with shrouds, and my guess, that is your problem. There is a reason that precision BR rifles never use shrouds. I've found some more finicky than others, probably depending on the design of the attachment. I've had a couple that would shift POI at the slightest touch, and sometimes for no identifiable reason at all. Some rifles with shrouds use a threaded muzzle or air stripper for attachment, and if so, you can usually remove the shroud and attach a suppressor directly to the barrel.
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Well as promised I was back at it bright and early this morning. I stood the rifle inside to make sure it was warm and then I took it out to the patio and set it in the Caldwell again to make sure it was not something in the scope contracting which was moving the reticle. After a half hour the crosshairs were still dead on so I felt confident I eliminated that. Last night I placed an o ring in the barrel band and zeroed it when warm at 12 yards and then adjusted 10 clicks down to ready it for this am. I shot several CPHP's at 30 yards and the group was about an inch which just wasn't going to cut it. I decided to back the shroud out 1/4 turn which I tried yesterday but that was before I placed the o ring on the barrel. Whoa, now I am putting them through a ragged hole except for the occasional flier. So now it is time to try the Terminators but I was sad to see they would group 1 to 1.25" at 30 yards. I tightened the shroud and tested again but still the same result so I backed the barrel shroud back out 1/4 turn. The terminators grouped poorly and the CPHP's would throw the occasional flier which was usually caused by an undersize pellet but poi was no longer affected by temp change. I then got a tin of 14.35 gr. JSB Diablo's and was quite impressed. Honestly I didn't think neither I or the rifle was capable of shooting that well but it seems I have found my cold weather combo. Because the Terminators never were extremely accurate I switched to boilerhouse shots on squirrels but with the accuracy of the JSB's I may be tempted to take some head shots again if the conditions are favorable. I wish I could say I corrected the problem, and I may have, but I can't help think I may have caused an issue that will show up in the future by removing the barrel's ability to move freely but at the present I am going to hunt with it as is. When I was looking for an entry level PCP I looked at the Stormriders and scratched them off the list because so many reviews stated how well they shot after installing another barrel band. When I looked at the Mrod I was impressed with the setup in which the band left the barrel vibrate but did not allow it to move excessively. I am a big advocate of free floating a barrel so as you can guess I am very skeptical of this fix. Only time will tell. A great big thank you to all the guys who took time to help guide me through this journey and a special thanks to Airgun Nation for this great forum. I truly hope that besides helping me with my issue this thread offers a tip that benefits another member as well. Thanks again, Gary
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