Pellet gun info. Benjamin Marauder

[Indiana_Tom]

Hi Mitch Booth,

The PCP air rifles like Benjamin Discovery and Marauder can be charged and keep pressurized continually. My Discovery only recommends 2000 PSI which is less than most. The manufacturer recommends leaving the rifle pressurized.

From scratch, it takes about 150 pumps with the hand pump to fully charge the system to 2000 psi. Then, you get about 40 or 45 very accurate shots before it needs re-charging. To re-charge the system, it will need about 40 pumps. You can do a lot of sparrow plinking with 40 or more shots.

The high pressure pumps look like a bicycle tire pump but are very heavy duty.

PyramydAir.com has some good training information in their air rifle section. It will answer a lot of questions for anyone that wants to check into it.

Have a good martin season

[dsonyay]

David,

I have an RWS 34 and I'm fairly accurate with it. It took me a while to learn how to shoot a springer. I wasn't aware of hold sensitive guns. My question the Benjamin Marauder is - While stored can you leave the gun charged with compressed air? I like the convenience of a springer as there isn't nothing to fuss with when that sparrow or starling shows up and you can be ready in an instant with a breakbarrel rifle.

I like that option of using compressed air vs filling scuba tanks but would not want to have to mess with going to charge it every time I spotted a trash bird.

Thanks,

Mitch

I've had a few springers and I like them-- if they are well built. They are definately hold sensitive. You must hold it the same way, everytime to maintain the same shot placement (most use the "artillery hold"). Springs are not trouble free-- they do break and if you shoot a lot, you'll see a few break. Sometimes the seals in springers go to. If you get your springer custom tuned the machining work done and high-grade aftermarket seals solve most issues.

Yes you can leave the Marauder charged-- But maybe not for extended periods of time (months?). You cannot EVER leave a springer cocked overnight. Or make the mistake of firing it without a pellet. Usually will result in some sort of damage.

All of these rifles have their good and bad points. I like the springers for target shooting, but when hunting I cannot always get the same hold on the rifle, depending on how I'm shooting (postion, etc)

BTW--- on PCP rifles, when people say you get about 40 shots or so before a recharge, they mean you need to top off back to where you started in pressure. The rifle is not shot until empty. Usually about 30 to 40 pumps from the hand pump will top the rifle off. Or refill from the scuba bottle. Some people shoot about 10 rounds then top off with about 10 pumps of the hand pump.

The Maruader can also use CO2 if the user wants to. But you cannot mix the two.

My friend will charge it during the morning if he's using it for a day of shooting, or hunting, then when he's done and he doesn't think he will shoot again or when putting the rifle up, he dumps the air. Refilling from a scuba tank takes a few seconds. You get many refills from a full size scuba tank.

check out these links: (shooting praire dogs long distance with the 25 cal version)
http://www.americanairgunhunter.com/marauder_25.html

and the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=280VfL6BIFA

here's a good review: http://www.youtube.com/user/pyramydair# ... Q2p6CzoTGU (part I)

[Guest]

Well I am going to pull the trigger and order my Marauder in the the next few days. I think I am going to go with the hand pump. What kind of pump do you use or recommend. I am thinking about the Hill or the FX pump because of all the good reviews on them but not the Benjamin because of all the problems they have with them.I would like to go with the Scuba system but no one close to me for refills. So what do you think about the Hill or FX and how hard are they to use?

Thanks
Bobby K

[Indiana_Tom]

Bobby K,

When I ordered my Benjamin Discovery, it was a package deal with the Benjamin pump. I have not had any problem with it and do not have any experience with the other pumps. One of my thoughts was that Benjamin was made by Crosman and they are supposed to be very good about standing behind their product.

Hopefully some one elso on here can give some advice on the other pumps.

[dsonyay]

Well I am going to pull the trigger and order my Marauder in the the next few days. I think I am going to go with the hand pump. What kind of pump do you use or recommend. I am thinking about the Hill or the FX pump because of all the good reviews on them but not the Benjamin because of all the problems they have with them.I would like to go with the Scuba system but no one close to me for refills. So what do you think about the Hill or FX and how hard are they to use?

Thanks
Bobby K

have you also thought about calling a welding shop and asking if they can refill scuba tanks with air? or you can maybe buy a large welding bottle to hold air. I know some have done that ( stuff I read on air gun forums)

another thing to remember is you can use CO2 with these rifles. CO2 is not as good as air for consistancy under variable temperatures, but shooting in spring summer should be fine.

Also if you use a hand pump you can pump to 2500 psi instead of 3000 and will save you a lot of pumping. The velocity will be different but you just adjust for it and top off every 10 shots or so. You can also adjust valves in the rifle to "tune" it to shoot with less pressure charge and reduced velocity for small pest hunting (like sparrows, etc) and plinking. There are web pages devoted to the entire world of marauder shooting and tuning.

[Guest]

David wrote:
You must hold it the same way, everytime to maintain the same shot placement (most use the "artillery hold").

David - I was not familiar with this hold. I have just watched several videos and read a couple of articles on it. Thanks for mentioning it.

[dsonyay]

No problem- that hold is one of the reasons I can shoot my springer rifle so well. I learned it while in the military and I was able to adapt the hold easily with spring powered rifles. I also use the same hold on any other rifle just about all the time. It's kinda drilled into my mind

I tell ya- we almost need an airgun section with all the posts we have on this topic.

take care-

[Indiana_Tom]

Bobby K,

That is a difference between the Discovery and the Marauder.

The discovery is pumped to no higher than 2000 psi.

The Marauder I think is made to be pumped to 3000 psi.

dsonyay is right, they do not have to be pumped to max psi. They will still shoot accurately.

You can buy some scuba tanks on ebay. They will need to be pressure tested and certified before they can be filled.

Some fire departments can fill tanks and all have a place to get them filled.

I have heard the places that fill them will want a letter explaining what the tank will be used for and that it will not be used to support human breathing. Other wise, you will need to be a certified diver or something like that.

As I said before, I have no problem pumping mine. Of course that is 2000 psi. I only have to pump it (about 40 strokes) once every two or three weeks. You won't get that many shots to take unless you are target shooting.

I am in pretty good health at 61 and weigh about 185 lbs.

Good luck, I hope you get what you want. I know the Marauder is an excellent air rifle and is about as accurate as you can get.