Recommend Good Pellet/BB Gun

[Indiana_Tom]

Well Donna, I think you and your husband are thinking about an excellent air rifle. There don't seem to be a lot of air rifle stores around. Most are purchased on line or by phone. I don't want to try to tell you which one is best but here are some sites to look at.

PyramydAir.com, Straight Shooters and Air Guns of Arizona.

I will say I ordered my Benjamin Discovery from Pyramyd and was well satisfied. It arrived at the house the second day after the on line order and was well shipped in double packing. The Marauder is available in two calibers, .177 and .22. My preference is .177 because I only use it for small flying devils and .177 are cheaper to purchase.

The Marauder would work well with the JSB Exact Diabolo HEAVY pellet. They need a heavy pellet to slow them down a little. The Marauder will shoot close to the speed of sound (1100fps) with a light pellet. Pellets get a little wabbly when going that fast. You will need a pellet to go between 800 and 900 fps. That means a pellet that weights about 10.2 grains / 0.670 grams. PyramydAir also has a very informational blog and review section. You may want to check that out.

I mentioned the pellets because they are the most expensive to ship. Shipping is about twice what the pellets cost. I had a tin of JSB pellets added with my (free shipping) for the air rifle. Something to think about.

Also, you will need some oil. PCP rifles don't get along with standard gun oils. They are flammable and do not do well around high pressure air. Beeman MP-5 oil is a good one to get and small tube of Crosman Silicone oil for the seals. PCP rifles need very little cleaning. Clean the barrel at around 1000 pellets or if accuracy is falling off. They are not like a regular firearm because there is no explosive propellent. Most sites will say to NEVER run a brush or metal patch rod through the barrel. I use cleaning pellets which are made of felt material and just shot through the barrel like a lead pellet.

NOTE: I think the Marauder is scope only. No iron sights. You might verify that.

Hope this is helpful
Don't forget to let the hubby know that this will be your rifle but that he can shoot it occasionally.

[dsonyay]

yeah you will love the marauder. I spent a couple hours shooting one yesterday. I was stunned with the accuracy. I was able to shoot groups the would fit under under a dime at 25 yards. There were a few times when the groups had pellets going through the same hole. The trigger on the rifle is spectacular. I think it is the best trigger out there including the Rekord trigger on Beemans- Of course that may be an arguable point. I was a bit surprised at how the pump was not too bad to use over an air tank. We initially charged the rifle from a scuba tank. Once we fired about 40 rounds we topped the rifle off with the hand pump. Took about 50 pumps- but you really need to use body weight for those pumps. If you will shoot all day, the scuba tank is preferred and makes for easy top offs.
There are NO sights on the Marauder. You will have to get a scope. Like the previous post- you must get something with an AO. To shoot accurately at 20 yards or closer you'll need to have one. They are not very expensive. Leapers makes really good scopes for air rifles. Look for a 4 to 12 zoom (that way you can put crosshairs on the eyeball of the starlings ;-)
I had a Leapers "Bugbuster" at one time- I really liked it and it was a 3 to 9 zoom. But it focused down to 5 yards from what I remembered. It suffered a drop on concrete
And yes- getting a few different pellets at time of purchase is a great idea. But the good news is that these rifles seem to prefer Crosman Premier hollowpoints- easy to find at Walmart or Academy. Thats what my friend's rifle shoots the best. 2nd best was Beeman Kodiacs.
Well I said a bunch, but after shooting the rifle all afternoon, I had to post my impressions.
And yes this rifle is ultra quiet. I've never shot anything this quiet. No neighbor will anything except the pellet hitting the target or bird. :-) All you hear is a little ping of the valve releasing. And even that can be fixed with a simple mod. Oh, his rifle is .177 too

[Donna - TX]

Thank You for such awesome information. We are going to look online today to find the gun.

Tom you are so right....the husband already said wow this would be an awesome gun to teach the grandson with so already they are planning things with the gun.

David I am so glad you were able to shoot it and get a feel for it, thanks for the great information.

[dsonyay]

good luck with the purchase. All the other rifles mentioned would be fine choices too. Beemans are superb rifles too, so my glowing review of the Marauder was not to imply they aren't good rifles.

[Donna - TX]

Tom.....I sent you an email

Trying to find the right scope for the Benjamin Marauder. Forgive me if you got the message twice because I think you did.

[Guest]

Donna, I've owned a Beeman R7 for the last couple of years and the accuracy, quietness and ease of cocking is just unbelievable. I have the R7 that came with the sighted in scope from the factory. When I bought it, I pulled it out of the box, put a target up 25 yards away, put a pellet in the barrel and when I shot it, it hit directly in the center of the bullseye. I thought, man, that was beginner's luck. I put another pellet in it and shot it again and looked through the binnocs and thought, what the heck, I must have missed the target. I walked down to the target and realized the second shot was directly in the same hole as the first shot. I knew right then and there it was going to get rid of a lot of sparrows and starlings. Last year, 2010, I had almost 300 sparrows with it. I'm sold on my R7!

[Donna - TX]

The two guns I was looking at was the Beeman R7 and the Benjamin Marauder. I went ahead with the Benjamin for a couple of reasons....total quietness (live in neighborhood) and no coking of the gun. I found a really good coupon and got a great deal so that really sold me.

I sure hope I will get that many sparrows and starlings with my gun, I know it will take practice but I will have a great gun and a great scope to help me out.

I would not have known where to look or what to look at without this post and all the great experienced people on it. Thanks Everyone! I hope this post helps others too find what they need if they are looking too.

[RandallRash]

Hi Donna. I also shot the Airmaster 77 for a couple of years and finally got discouraged by the randomness of the shot (hits left, then right). As you know, the S&S won't give you a second chance after a day or two. Although I got a Beeman R7, I'm sure the Marauder will be just as good. The accuracy makes all the difference. With the Airmaster, I wouldn't shoot unless the Starling was on top of the house, so that a stray shot would not hit the house. With the Beeman, I will shoot a head sticking out of a hole, even edge on. Go get'em.

[Indiana_Tom]

Donna will have her new Marauder soon and it won't take her long to get it sighted in and ready to go. So............When I see on TV that there was a massive House Sparrow Starling kill in Texas, I will know what happened

Have a GOOD Martin season

[Donna - TX]

Randall you are exactly right about the airmaster, perfect description...first left then right even with a very good scope on it.

Tom --- you bet

[dsonyay]

Donna, try to find a used scuba tank and maybe a place to refill it. Craigslist is a good place to start.

Did you decide on a scope?

have fun!

[Donna - TX]

Hi David,

Yea I looked at some used scuba tanks but all the ones I found were too expensive so I will wait on that and just use the pump or the co2.

This is the scope LE AccuShot 4-16X56 30mm w/ EZ Tap

[JamesG]

Just thought I would add an opinion on another pellet rifle that some of you may be thinking about.
About 2 years ago I decided I had to start doing something about S&S's around my yard.
I did not do any research until after the fact (but anyway) I visited my local Walmart store and there was a nice looking gun so I bought it.
It is the Storm XT model that some of you might be familiar with.
I got home and immediately was a little disappointed in it's heavy weight.
The gun is around $100.00
I was warned that the scope was a cheap version but decided to use in anyway. I had to mount it firmly and used lock tite on the screws.
After sighting it in, I was amazed that it stayed fairly accurate up until this year when I had to redo it again.
It's a powerful gun (often breaking the sound barrier) and I am satisfied with it except for 2 main reasons.
1. It is heavy and hard even for me to hold steady. I need a prop to have any kind of accuracy with it. (The S&S's never seem to corporate with this)
2. It is also hard to cock. Target practicing or siting in the scope will quickly wear you out. (This may be the norm for all air rifles for all I know)
The pluses are the cost, the looks and it will do the job.
Another couple of observations since I am no where near an expert on this. One is it seems to be more accurate with the hollow points instead of the pointed pellets. (I would have thought the opposite). Another point is I seem to to be more accurate if I set the scope on 5 instead of 9....I think this is a mental thing as on 9 all my movements are modified (is this correct)
One last observation... the new targets that show the impact of the pellets through the scope...saves a lot of walking....lol
James

[dsonyay]

Hi David,

Yea I looked at some used scuba tanks but all the ones I found were too expensive so I will wait on that and just use the pump or the co2.

This is the scope LE AccuShot 4-16X56 30mm w/ EZ Tap

also look for "buddy tanks". Much smaller than the full size scuba tanks, and less expensive. They will give you a few good refills- only not like the bigger tanks.

[db]

Question(s) which would likely require the least maintenance or have the longest life (Marauder or R7)?

Is the .22 less accurate than the .177?

[Guest]

Donna, I did the same thing and asked years ago. They recommended a Beeman R-7 and so I bought one. I never have regretted it. It works great and is very accurate with the scope that came with it!

[RC Moser]

DB, R7 would be more reliable and last very long time, yes IMO the R7 would be the choice for reliably and longivity. Any PCP (clean air, Co2, or pump ups) has higher percentage of something failing. This could be 1 year or 20 (most likely around the 5th to 8 years something starts leaking if not religously maintained). Usually from left pressurized or laying around for months and not protected from dust and moisture. IMO Both cal. (.177 or .22) are very accurate, but .22 will not be blown off target as easy as .177.

.22 usually travels 1/4 slower than most .177 due to the weight difference and type of airrifle. But, .22 hits harder due the weight. some .177s are so powerful and light the pellet will fly right through and if it don't hit a vital spot or bone, you may think you missed. .22 hits with thud and usually anything it hits drops unless it near miss.

Some will swear by their PCP's (mainly pump-up BS392s) and I will amit they usually last long time before they start to leak. I have never had PCP that didn't leak after 7 to 10 years. But that's my experience with about 30 different air guns. I rarely had any spring guns that leaked or had any other problem.

[Chriscreole]

I like my Gamo
http://www.airgundepot.com/gamo-airguns ... unter.html

[dsonyay]

spring powered rifles- even Beemans can break. My R1 broke a spring after about 3 years. I replaced the spring and later something in the cocking lever broke. Simple fix but they do break. My cheap yet accurate Gamo spring rifle has never broken but I had to buy better parts to make it shoot accurately consistantly. The Marauder will require very little maintenance and like any rifle it may break down the road too. But to me the repairs will likely be o-ring replacements at some point. I guess they all have their pluses anm minuses.

I have only owned .177 cals BUT next rifle will be 22. They are just as accurate, travel slower normally, not as affected by wind at longer distances and hit much harder. Although If you're shooting at 25 yards or so, a little bit of wind is not a big deal with 177.

The thing about spring power rifles is that you really need to practice shooting. There's two types of recoil that occur and you need to learn it through practice. PCP rifles do not have this problem, but their disadvantages are cost and refill issues. You either need to get an expensive high pressure air compressor (VERY expensive)- or a special hand pump (mid 100 to 200 bucks), or scuba tanks (used or new). Or a combo of all. Spring rifle, all you need is pellets

You just need to weigh all the benefits, do a lot of online research, and maybe shoot a few different rifles. Maybe there's airgun club in your area?

[Guest]

Hi Donna
Just wondering if you got your Marauder yet and how do you like it?
I am wanting to up grade to the Marauder and have heard a lot of good things about it. Have you shot it and would like to get your opinion on it.
Thanks
Bobby K
Victoria TX