During my search for my first PCP the last few months, I was very appreciative of a common post here on ANG asking opinions of "what is a good airgun for my first PCP". Since the Marauder is typically part of the discussion of a first PCP, I thought I would post my experiences about my recent Marauder purchase, getting it ready for the first shots, showing a few of my groups, and initial impressions. Spoiler alert - so far I am liking most things about the gun. I am hoping some of this info will be helpful to someone considering the Marauder, or even another PCP.
Decision on the Marauder: After much research I had narrowed my choices down to several guns, the Benjamin Marauder, the Gamo Urban, the Hatsan Flash, and the Umarex Gauntlet. My final conclusion was that they were all pretty good airguns, but I felt the Marauder was slightly more backyard friendly, and had a ton of manufacturer and aftermarket support and service available. I basically looked at it as the Chevy or Ford of the airgun world, meaning it does everything pretty good but not as refined as some of the more expensive guns, but if you want to increase performance there is a mountain of knowledge and parts floating around. The fact that Crosman is an American company was not a major decision factor for me, but it did make me feel a little better about the purchase as all my firearms are American made.
I was wavering between .22 and .25, but decided .22 was the way to go for reduced noise level, increased shot count, and pellet cost. I plan to do some small game hunting for rabbit and quail, and also someday teach some grandkids how to safely shoot, and it seems the .22 will fit the bill adequately.
Once I decided on the Marauder I first thought I would try to save a few bucks by purchasing used. Several used 22 Marauders popped up for sale here on ANG for around $300 plus shipping but I either was too late to the party to make an offer, or was short of discretionary funds at the time due to some home breakdowns that always seem to happen in groups of 3 at my house. I ended up purchasing the gun new directly from Crosman using the AGN's 25% discount code and Friday ordering to get their free delivery deal. So with this 25% code and free delivery the rifle came in at $404, which I believe ended up being only about $80 more than one of the delivered used guns, plus it has the 5 year new gun warranty that I hope never gets tested.
The delivery from Crosman seemed to be painfully slow – I ordered it on a Friday morning, and it arrived 10 days later via UPS ground. My eagerness to get the gun caused me to check the UPS tracking site way too often. Crosman sent it double boxed and it arrived in good shape. The serial number showed it was built February 2019, so yes it was a freshly minted specimen. The gun came filled with about 650 psi. The Crosman test fire target page looked promising – just basically one ragged hole, about a 1/4 inch.
Came from factory with ~650 psi
Crosman provides their 5 shot factory test group from 10 yards.
My first decision was whether to clean it before my first shooting. The general rule of thumb I kept reading is to clean the barrel squeaky clean before your first shots in case there is residue from the manufacturing process. However, one individual who had recently purchased a Marauder posted that he did not clean his gun at all when he first got it since Crosman test fires the gun with 5 shots, and he opined that any manufacturing gunk would have already been shot out during this test. He apparently did not have any related problems with his gun from not cleaning it. I almost took his "just go shoot the gun" path, but later changed my vote in favor of cleaning it first due to the fact that I did not know how Crosman prepares the guns after firing, such as do they add some oil or other rust preventative down the barrel before sending it to the warehouse, or it seems there is always potential for something to get in the barrel from the packaging and boxing process. The gun did come with a red plastic protective cap over the muzzle to probably reduce chances of packaging contamination.
To clean it I made myself a crown saver cleaning device out of nylon mason’s string, 1/8” shrink tubing, and a piece of ½ inch oak dowel for the handle. Someone made a nice video on this at: https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/best-diy-cleaning-rod-ever/ The only piece I did not have in my garage shop and had to go out and purchase was the three foot length of 1/8” shrink tubing, which was only about $1.50 at a local Fry’s Electronics Store. I ran about 8 patches through the barrel twice by rotating the patch to a clean spot. I used a light coating of Ballistol that I purchased from Amazon on several of the runs, just enough to have a little wetness, but not enough to cause fluid to get squeezed out and run into the valving in the breech ( I hope!). I was sure to run some dry patches at the end to not leave any fluid remnant in the barrel. I tried several size patch sizes until I came up with a size that ran through the bore with about the right amount of resistance. You can see in some of the pics where I cut some round Otis patches in half. I used the straw trick to ease the crown saver past the baffles.
DIY crown saver rod made with mason string, 1/8"shrink tubing, and 1/2" dowel.
Used a Starbucks plastic straw to ease past the baffles
Grabbing the patch at the breech for pull through to the muzzle.
Cleaning results, first patch on the right, last on the left.
You can see I did not get it "squeaky clean" but removed at least some lead fouling, and possibly a little oil like gunk. My final recommendation on new gun cleaning? Yah go ahead and get a few patches down the bore!
I will stop for now, and come back later with my hand pump experience, pellet testing, and other thoughts. Feel free to comment, I am eager to learn.
Decision on the Marauder: After much research I had narrowed my choices down to several guns, the Benjamin Marauder, the Gamo Urban, the Hatsan Flash, and the Umarex Gauntlet. My final conclusion was that they were all pretty good airguns, but I felt the Marauder was slightly more backyard friendly, and had a ton of manufacturer and aftermarket support and service available. I basically looked at it as the Chevy or Ford of the airgun world, meaning it does everything pretty good but not as refined as some of the more expensive guns, but if you want to increase performance there is a mountain of knowledge and parts floating around. The fact that Crosman is an American company was not a major decision factor for me, but it did make me feel a little better about the purchase as all my firearms are American made.
I was wavering between .22 and .25, but decided .22 was the way to go for reduced noise level, increased shot count, and pellet cost. I plan to do some small game hunting for rabbit and quail, and also someday teach some grandkids how to safely shoot, and it seems the .22 will fit the bill adequately.
Once I decided on the Marauder I first thought I would try to save a few bucks by purchasing used. Several used 22 Marauders popped up for sale here on ANG for around $300 plus shipping but I either was too late to the party to make an offer, or was short of discretionary funds at the time due to some home breakdowns that always seem to happen in groups of 3 at my house. I ended up purchasing the gun new directly from Crosman using the AGN's 25% discount code and Friday ordering to get their free delivery deal. So with this 25% code and free delivery the rifle came in at $404, which I believe ended up being only about $80 more than one of the delivered used guns, plus it has the 5 year new gun warranty that I hope never gets tested.
The delivery from Crosman seemed to be painfully slow – I ordered it on a Friday morning, and it arrived 10 days later via UPS ground. My eagerness to get the gun caused me to check the UPS tracking site way too often. Crosman sent it double boxed and it arrived in good shape. The serial number showed it was built February 2019, so yes it was a freshly minted specimen. The gun came filled with about 650 psi. The Crosman test fire target page looked promising – just basically one ragged hole, about a 1/4 inch.
Came from factory with ~650 psi
Crosman provides their 5 shot factory test group from 10 yards.
My first decision was whether to clean it before my first shooting. The general rule of thumb I kept reading is to clean the barrel squeaky clean before your first shots in case there is residue from the manufacturing process. However, one individual who had recently purchased a Marauder posted that he did not clean his gun at all when he first got it since Crosman test fires the gun with 5 shots, and he opined that any manufacturing gunk would have already been shot out during this test. He apparently did not have any related problems with his gun from not cleaning it. I almost took his "just go shoot the gun" path, but later changed my vote in favor of cleaning it first due to the fact that I did not know how Crosman prepares the guns after firing, such as do they add some oil or other rust preventative down the barrel before sending it to the warehouse, or it seems there is always potential for something to get in the barrel from the packaging and boxing process. The gun did come with a red plastic protective cap over the muzzle to probably reduce chances of packaging contamination.
To clean it I made myself a crown saver cleaning device out of nylon mason’s string, 1/8” shrink tubing, and a piece of ½ inch oak dowel for the handle. Someone made a nice video on this at: https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/best-diy-cleaning-rod-ever/ The only piece I did not have in my garage shop and had to go out and purchase was the three foot length of 1/8” shrink tubing, which was only about $1.50 at a local Fry’s Electronics Store. I ran about 8 patches through the barrel twice by rotating the patch to a clean spot. I used a light coating of Ballistol that I purchased from Amazon on several of the runs, just enough to have a little wetness, but not enough to cause fluid to get squeezed out and run into the valving in the breech ( I hope!). I was sure to run some dry patches at the end to not leave any fluid remnant in the barrel. I tried several size patch sizes until I came up with a size that ran through the bore with about the right amount of resistance. You can see in some of the pics where I cut some round Otis patches in half. I used the straw trick to ease the crown saver past the baffles.
DIY crown saver rod made with mason string, 1/8"shrink tubing, and 1/2" dowel.
Used a Starbucks plastic straw to ease past the baffles
Grabbing the patch at the breech for pull through to the muzzle.
Cleaning results, first patch on the right, last on the left.
You can see I did not get it "squeaky clean" but removed at least some lead fouling, and possibly a little oil like gunk. My final recommendation on new gun cleaning? Yah go ahead and get a few patches down the bore!
I will stop for now, and come back later with my hand pump experience, pellet testing, and other thoughts. Feel free to comment, I am eager to learn.
