Weighing Pellets - Insane question

USPS says my lighter Hill springs are out for delivery. My place is notorious for late deliveries, like after 9:00, so with luck, I'll have the springs and transfer port tonight. haven't had time to call Crosman, maybe tomorrow as I'll bet they are closed by now. Slow progress better than no progress, right?

Tom:

Springs and new transfer port was waiting when I got home from work. Mr. Hill ships FAST!

Ordered both the 255 and 262 springs because I have no idea which will work. Decided to start off with the 255 because maybe I can sneak up on the right FPS. Already had the gun together, just needed to reinstall the hammer and new spring and transfer port. Ate dinner (father wouldn't understand if I was out on the Chrony instead of dinner. You know, 93 year olds can get kind of crotchety) 

Once dinner was over straight out to the shed. Standard setup, filled the gun, set the HT and HS at Zero, TP at 5. Shooting unsorted and unweighed pellets for the test. Start by shooting tethered. First shot, 835 fps. Entire magazine between 833 and 845 FPS. VERY HAPPY!

Next test, number of shots on tank of air. Loaded all 5 magazines. Went through all 5 magazines so reloaded. Went through another magazine and a half. That's 65 shots on a fill!

I'll repeat the tests to see if it all holds, but it looks good.

So, cost wise, this little escapade cost me $70 for the regulator, $27 for the new hammer springs and transfer port, $8 for the lighter valve spring, and about $15 for the stuff to polish the barrel. So for around $125 bucks, I get a 21 foot pound gun that gets 65 shots per fill. I'll setup my scope again and start sighting in shortly. No reason this couldn't be a good 50 to 75 yard gun. Even shot the 18 grain JSB's at about 775 FPS. That figures about 24 FPE, so I'm still wasting air somewhere, but at this point, extremely happy!

This solved one of my major complaints with the Marauder. Heavy bolt pull. I could barely feel the bolt pull with the 255 spring. It's so much better! Plus I get a regulated gun out of the deal. This gun is danged near what a Marauder Field and Target could do, so now, testing for accuracy is next.

Next, I'll let it sit a couple days and see if it still leaks. If that's the case, back to the O-Rings and more grease.

Thank you Tom for all the help! Marauder is really an amazing gun! Once it's all together, it was SO SIMPLE! Thank you again, and I'll keep you posted on the accuracy tests. Maybe I'll pickup one of the new Crossman barrels that are supposed to be much more accurate. Then again, maybe not. You never know.

Lots of work to do here with accuracy testing, but 

The gun is between 5 and 6 years old. Gen 2's had been out for a year or two. I'm a pack rat, so even if I replaced the barrel, I'd never "Get rid of it". I would however, see which shoots better. Then again, if this gun drills at 50 yards, and maybe 75 yards, why foul up a good thing? This is a great learning experience. The thought that I could with a little help, take a standard Marauder and double the efficiency and flatten the shot string to this point is something I never thought i could do.

Now though, it's time quit playing with the configuration and shoot the gun for a while. No more changes before I see how accurate it is.

I'll let you know how it shoots.

Many thanks again. By the way, I can tear the gun down and rebuild in under an hour now. Way too much practice.

I've watched your videos, but consider doing an entry on the PCP thread about how you maintain / tinker with your gun. While there are probably tens of thousands of Marauders out there, I find few ever touch the adjustments. It's just a tough little gun that people can use without much maintenance.

It's been educational for me, and I can apply those lessons to any other gun. Air pressure, valves, triggers and barrels are fundamental to all guns, so in the end I should be better equipped to fix issues or shoot more accurately.

But, like I said, I'm the guy that takes great pride in sharpening the chisel and sort of forgets the point is to wood working.

Have fun and I'll post some results shortly. May move over to the PCP thread, just depends on the mood I'm in at the time.