Most Compact Marauder

I like the idea of carbon tube, just dont like the cost! LOL.

Here is the current look



I may put a sling stud on the barrel band which i could then attach a bipod to. A sling stud will also go on the butt plate so I can sling it at 2 points

-Matt

I looked into machining carbon fiber which the rods require a bit of, and that is definitely out of my league!

The aluminum rods only weigh a total of 2.5 oz together so not much weight left to save there anyhow!

-Matt

Here it is with a hand guard I made out of Kydex. I will likely attempt another one. The hand guard design is 100% snap fit and holds on VERY well, zero wobble or movement. Can hold the rifle upside down by the hand guard itself. Pretty stout and I am proud to have found a solution to cover my even uglier gauge work/plumbing

New handguard/stock taking shape. Its not 100% complete but well enough to show off! This rifle is fully assembled, aired up and weighs just 4.8lbs! 2.5 lbs less than OEM.

Regulated it makes 12-60 FPE depending on my tune. I have 4 ssg devices that can be swapped out within minutes and they retain their tunes so after initial tuning I never really have to adjust pre-load/striker distance ect again! They are setup for 20-40-53-60 FPE tunes.

This rifle sports a custom .212 ported valve with a custom .25" peek poppet that I hand made, with a custom .225" valve seat, meaning I only have a .0125" sealing margin on my poppet! For my valve throat to flow I run only a .04" valve stem!! The valve stem is made from a HSS drill bit blank for extra strength at its tiny size and so far has 1000 shots on it without any signs of failure.



-Matt

Ordered some carbon fiber kydex (not real CF) and made a new stock. Also ordered 8mm OD / 4mm ID carbon fiber shaft/tubing from China that SHOULD work for my rods. 3-4 week wait on that shipment unfortunately, and I am not sure how they will hold up to being a sliding rod but I spent 10$ to find out. I still need to cut/mold the new stock some but couldn't help but want to show it off! I really wish I could do the pistol grips with the same material!




-Matt

More pics closer to final form, looks like it belongs and flows well enough with the rifle for me! Kydex is very easy to work with when you have a heat gun and some patience.

As T3PRanch recommended, I attempted some carbon fiber tubes for the stock rods to save weight and to look better. and WOW, the material was easy to machine coming to me @ 8mm OD x 4mm ID, the ID didn't need much material removed to tap for 10-32 which went smooth. Thank you so much for your suggestion. This rifle has come together the way it has with the help and ideas of many people and I can't thank you all enough! The rifle weighs (unscoped) 4.7 lbs!@ Now that is crazy for a .25 cal capable of 60 fpe @ 140~ bar. 

Here is the rifle in its torn down state which is 26.75" OAL. Easy to pack/case/carry. The stock baffle system on Marauders has a spring that applies tension to the barrel when installed, where as my modified one removes that and creates a gap between the moderator and barrel. It may improve accuracy, may not, not sure yet.

I had to remove 1 baffle since I just cut my stock shroud tube centered in the barrel band (hides the seem so when installed looks like 1 piece) and used the remaining length, the dead space left on the barrel end + my new end cap required the removal of 1 baffle, but I was able to regain the lost baffle volume by increasing the volume in the remaining 6 baffles. Sound level remains unchanged and now I can simply take 2 turns to either scare off all wildlife within 1/8 mile or make the rifle easier to pack and carry. The butt stock adjusts and is removed both by a push of a button so tearing this rifle down takes less than 10 seconds.



-Matt

Sweet rig mate! I sometimes wish I had my exact build but on a p-rod, but then I put myself in those shoes and I would just wish I had an mrod with the build so maybe one day I will just have to have both, but honestly I love my money more than air guns and the one I have ticks all my boxes! Thanks for sharing yours! Here is an updated few pics of mine with progress made over time.

pic with rear adapter that allows 30 second spring/ssg swaps (my ssgs retain their tunes statically so changing from 20-60 fpe on a whim with consistency is ez pz)



Glamor shot



Performance shot. 61+ FPE @ 1950 psi 



custom retractable ldc I made in action





Fully stretched out



All tucked in 



Broken down



Inside her case 

Current builds part list / specs: 

.23" valve exit port (custom work myself) 25$ valve from crossman

.1" removed from back of valve for increased throw (free)

.1" removed from valve stem OAL to increase throw (free)

.225" barrel port + tp (custom work myself) Free

.238" throat (custom work myself) Free

.044" valve stem (hss) (custom work myself) 4$

Custom 1.5# valve spring (custom work myself) 1$

Modified Gen l bolt to flow .225" porting (custom work myself) 25$

.275" peek poppet (custom work myself) 10$

aluminum air tube (custom work Lee/vash545) 150$

4x custom ssg's (5# and 7# hammer springs for 20-60 fpe tunes) (custom work myself) 20$

48 gram mds hammer (custom work Rocker1) 40$

custom leather faced striker (compressed leather, reduces striker noise) (custom work myself) 0$

custom rear adapter for ssg swap (custom work Lee/Vash545) 50$

customized prod pistol grip/trigger assembly (custom work myself, part ordered from crossman) 45$

custom stock (custom work myself) 10$

custom cheek weld w/ 3 slots for magazines (custom work myself) 10$

lee adjustable stock (custom work Lee/Vash545) 50$~ (he prototyped from mine, got discount normal cost 150$)

lane regulator (1950 set point currently) (90$)

custom ldc self made/designed (20$)

shortened shroud tube (did myself / rethreaded) (15$ tooling)

custom fill adapter cover (custom work myself) Free (had rubber cap that fit laying around and wrapped in carbon fiber vinyl)

modified air stripper (drilled / dremeled bigger) (custom work myself) Free

custom 33 cc external plenum (20 cc internal) (custom work myself) 30$

Carbon wrap = (custom work myself) 10$



So at the end of the day I've spent AT LEAST 600$ in modifications. But in the end they were ALL worth it and the end result is a very unique one off build that rivals any 1K gun on the market (in my eyes) if not supremely surpasses them. I know the quality into each part and know what the rifle is and most importantly what its not. I wouldn't trade my 1k marauder for any 2 of your best air rifles unless its for monetary value on resale to build me both a mrod and prod identically haha.



-Matt

My SSG guides for those curious how I can swap tunes statically in seconds. I set em, loctite and forget em. SSG Bolt cocks inside hammer and does not add weight to hammer strike.



My 'plenum extension'. Rated for 2k (IMO) so I wouldn't advise trying this over that pressure. 25gr co2 cartridge 

Power was limited to 56 FPE with 20 cc plenum, increasing it to 53 cc's total brought the power up to 61.4 FPE for a total of 5 fpe / 10%, this is because there was 10% less OAL pressure drop approximately during the shot cycle at max power.



PEEK Poppet + valve spring. Valve Seat, and Valve port (crude before polish) and Peek Hammer tip (replaced now with compressed leather)















Tool used to flatten stock seat: (chucked in poppet stem hole then spun with drill, dry first then finished wet with very light pressure) Opposite side not pictured is what mates with seat and resurfaces.



Bolt probe (gen l ) modified :



Its amazing how much work one can achieve with just a drill, dremel, and an imagination! Oh and a few good people such as Lee/Vash545 that know what they're doing.