New 22 Marauder on the way, what are best practices to get ready to shoot?

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Aimright

Aimright

Member
Jan 28, 2019
609
175
AZ, United States
I took the plunge and ordered a new .22 wood stock Marauder from Crosman using the forum discount and also picked up a hand pump. The gun should arrive the next couple of days. Once it gets here I plan to check it out, re-read the manual, run some dry patches down the barrel and then mount my UTG 3x90 40AO scope. 

So after this is done and I am ready to sight it in, would it be advisable to go ahead and pump it to its 3000 capacity or would something less, say 2700 be more desirable to put it more within the average shot velocity?

Also I am not sure what pellet I should initially start out with my sight-in. I picked up 2 sampler pellet packs, one from Benjamin that contains: 14.3 gr Domed Magnum, 14.3gr Hollowpoint, 14.3gr Super Point, and 14.3gr Pointed Expanding, and another one from JSB that contains these:Jumbo Heavy, 5.52mm head, 18.1 grains, Exact Jumbo Monster, 5.52mm head, 25.4 grains, Match Diabolo Exact Jumbo RS, 5.52mm head, 13.4 grains, and JSB Match Diabolo Straton Jumbo, 5.50mm head, 15.9 grains. Any wisdom on which of these pellets to try for first use, or should I run over to Walmart and pickup some inexpensive Premier 14.3s?
 
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My mrod 22cal. Does really good shooting jsb 15.89s , my wife shot a nice 3 shot MOA @ 100yds with them, what I do is put about 30 pellets in a separate can with the foam pad in it and spray them with CRC Heavy Duty Silicone lubricant, they have it at Walmart in the auto department. Anything above 2700lbs sends them low thought. I hope you enjoy your marauder as much as I've enjoyed mine. Oh yeah! At 30yds it's a beast
 
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When I had mine, it loved any pellet with a 5.55mm head. I bought a pellet guage and sized some different brands of pellets. It didn’t matter the brand or the shape, so long as it had a 5.55 head. I think that is the definition of pellet fussy. I ended up shooting the JSB 18.3 solely because they had the most consistent size throughout the tin. My buddy couldn’t believe I would spend money on “the expensive” ones!

I sorted a whole tin of the walmart Crosmans and had a range of 5.50-5.57mm heads in one tin. At 25 yrds the 5.53 and below couldn’t group 3 inches. The 5.54-5.57 made an ok group, but when I just used the 5.55 it made a perfect little ragged hole. Before figuring this out I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out what I was doing “wrong” to have such horrible groups and then through luck of the draw (out of the tin) I was able to shoot a really decent group, only to have it fall apart on the next magazine. 

Now if I was buying the “cheap” pellets but could only use half the tin and only then after spending an hour sorting them, all of a sudden the cheap pellets cost more than the “expensive” ones! Anyway, with yours, I might suggest filling it up to 3000psi and shooting it down to find where the power curve is, only filling to 2700 you might be leaving a few shots behind. Granted, that is if you have a chrony? I know when I was pumping, I wanted to make sure I got every last shot into the gun that I could before cracking open that bleed valve and listening to 5-10 strokes release back into the atmosphere!

Have fun, I have had several “high end” guns but still come back to the MRod. I sold that original one but later bought another one that someone else had put a LW barrel and a HUMA regulator in. It shoots the 15.9 JSB lights out. Something about the simplicity and functionality of it, I guess that’s why it is the top seller all these years running. 
 
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Clean the barrel, clean it and clean it some more. Run about 100 rounds through it before you try any target shooting to lead up the barrel.



If you shoot and aren't getting 30 shots before FPS really drops, Check to make sure the hammer spring and hammer tension are set correctly. Crosman sent the settings to me a while back. The 1/4 inch hammer tension adjustment should be 1.25 turns clockwise. Turn counter clockwise till it stops, then 1.25 turns back clockwise.

The 1/8 inch Hammer Spring adjustment is 4 turns clockwise. Again, turn counterclockwise till it stops, then clockwise 4 turns.

Other than that, the Marauder is pretty much air up and shoot.

Do put a decent scope on it. Figure on a max range of 75 yards (that's my experience) Factory settings should give you about 900 fps with the 14.3 domes. 830 with JSB 18 grains.
 
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Clean the barrel, clean it and clean it some more. Run about 100 rounds through it before you try any target shooting to lead up the barrel.



If you shoot and aren't getting 30 shots before FPS really drops, Check to make sure the hammer spring and hammer tension are set correctly. Crosman sent the settings to me a while back. The 1/4 inch hammer tension adjustment should be 1.25 turns clockwise. Turn counter clockwise till it stops, then 1.25 turns back clockwise.

The 1/8 inch Hammer Spring adjustment is 4 turns clockwise. Again, turn counterclockwise till it stops, then clockwise 4 turns.

Other than that, the Marauder is pretty much air up and shoot.

Do put a decent scope on it. Figure on a max range of 75 yards (that's my experience) Factory settings should give you about 900 fps with the 14.3 domes. 830 with JSB 18 grains.
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Saltlake, do you use any cleaning solution with your patches? I was planning on just running dry patches with a diy crown saver cleaning rig I am making and trying the straw trick to ease it through sound baffles.
 
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Clean the barrel, clean it and clean it some more. Run about 100 rounds through it before you try any target shooting to lead up the barrel.



If you shoot and aren't getting 30 shots before FPS really drops, Check to make sure the hammer spring and hammer tension are set correctly. Crosman sent the settings to me a while back. The 1/4 inch hammer tension adjustment should be 1.25 turns clockwise. Turn counter clockwise till it stops, then 1.25 turns back clockwise.

The 1/8 inch Hammer Spring adjustment is 4 turns clockwise. Again, turn counterclockwise till it stops, then clockwise 4 turns.

Other than that, the Marauder is pretty much air up and shoot.

Do put a decent scope on it. Figure on a max range of 75 yards (that's my experience) Factory settings should give you about 900 fps with the 14.3 domes. 830 with JSB 18 grains.
Click to expand...

Saltlake, do you use any cleaning solution with your patches? I was planning on just running dry patches with a diy crown saver cleaning rig I am making and trying the straw trick to ease it through sound baffles.
Click to expand...

Personally, I use Ballistol, but other cleaning solutions will work. Ballistol won't degrade plastic O-Rings, so my personal choice.
 
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I am not recommending what I did only telling what I have done so far. I got mine several weeks ago from Crosman. I read the manual several times and also looked at the target that was sent with it. 5 shots through 1 hole. I did something I have never done before and that is I just started shooting. Yep, no cleaning whatsoever. I figured if it was already shot 5 times any harm from machining fragments and debris was already done. I took mine up to 3000 psi and ran it over the chrony. Velocity increased first several shots and at about 2700 psi it leveled off. So far I have found it shoots the cheap Crosman fairly well but likes the H and N FTT 5.53mm head the best. These are both in the 14.3 to 14.8 gr. range. I shot some H and N Terminators which weigh 16.3 and they shot well. I have done no tuning yet not even the trigger which is a bit stiff for my taste but for a rifle right out of the box I am impressed. I get three magazines per fill which take it down to about 2000psi or a little under. Then I take it over to the Yong Heng and pump it back up to 2700psi. After 300 pellets I cleaned it good and lubed some pellets and checked poi which was right on. This thing shoots so well it is almost boring. Now that being said I have not shot beyond 35 yards due to the weather. I expect when I shoot longer ranges I will have to test more pellets to fine what is best for my needs.
 
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I am not recommending what I did only telling what I have done so far. I got mine several weeks ago from Crosman. I read the manual several times and also looked at the target that was sent with it. 5 shots through 1 hole. I did something I have never done before and that is I just started shooting. Yep, no cleaning whatsoever. I figured if it was already shot 5 times any harm from machining fragments and debris was already done. I took mine up to 3000 psi and ran it over the chrony. Velocity increased first several shots and at about 2700 psi it leveled off. So far I have found it shoots the cheap Crosman fairly well but likes the H and N FTT 5.53mm head the best. These are both in the 14.3 to 14.8 gr. range. I shot some H and N Terminators which weigh 16.3 and they shot well. I have done no tuning yet not even the trigger which is a bit stiff for my taste but for a rifle right out of the box I am impressed. I get three magazines per fill which take it down to about 2000psi or a little under. Then I take it over to the Yong Heng and pump it back up to 2700psi. After 300 pellets I cleaned it good and lubed some pellets and checked poi which was right on. This thing shoots so well it is almost boring. Now that being said I have not shot beyond 35 yards due to the weather. I expect when I shoot longer ranges I will have to test more pellets to fine what is best for my needs.
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I like your experience Profsrgary, I hope mine is as accurate as yours! So what is the distance Crosman test fires at?
 
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Aimright. Crosman test at 10 meters with the rifle in a fixture. I think the most pleasant thing about the rifle is how quiet it is. You hear a slight ping from the hammer and then the pellet hitting the target. And then there is the absolutely no recoil factor. When I decided on a PCP, a quiet rifle was a must.
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Thanks profsrgary, my Marauder arrived late yesterday and I wasn’t able to shoot it today due to lousy weather, perhaps tomorrow although rain is forecasted again. I was pretty happy with the Crosman test target, just one hole like yours, and I hope that is a sign of good things to come. By the serial number I see the gun was freshly manufactured February 2019. My gun came from the factory with about 700 psi, so far I think it is still holding. I am really glad to hear you think it is quiet as I plan to use it in my backyard, and my neighbors are close. I have a target backstop made with a Costco plastic crate filled with rubber mulch, and I am hoping the sound of the pellet hitting the paper target that is stuck on one layer of cardboard, then into mulch will be somewhat muffled. The jury is still out whether I will run a patch down the barrel first, but I am leaning towards your idea of just shooting it! Crosman sure doesn’t seem too worried about cleaning your gun in the owners manual.
 
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