Why mod a marauder?

Nothing attracts aftermarket parts like a successful product. The AR-15, Ruger 10-22 and the 1911 pistol are popular rguns with good designs and engineered for mass production they are naturals for add on parts. Add CANC machinery and an industry is borne. Zowee!

The Benjamin Marauder, Crossman’s flagship precharged air rifle, is the most popular precharged air rifle in America. The Marauder shoots well, has great features and is user adjustable to fill many airgining roles, but it has an Achilles heel. The .22 version suffers from indifferent accuracy. Some shoot well often grouping into one inch at fifty yards, and others couldn’t hit a two pound coffee can at that distance. The rest are somewhere in between, and is seems to be a function of the barrel. It is really unknown what the overall average accuracy of .22 Marauders is. I think that overall customer satisfaction wasn’t high, the Marauder would not be as popular as it is.

Twenty two caliber air rifles have been Crosman’ bread and butter since their first air rifle in 1923. The Armada I shoot is a winner if the “barrel lottery” with 50 yard groups seesawing between ¾ and 1 ¼ inch.

Owners of Marauders/Armadas are spoiled for choice by the aftermarket parts selection. We are always thinking, “What part would turn my air rifle into a super gun”?

I chose an aftermarket barrel because accuracy was my priority. Other parts can increase the power, or extend the shoot count. Most of my shots are taken at 50 yards and further. Every time I shot a ¾ inch groupe, I said,”Why can’t I do this every time”?

Next time, Well Ron, how does it shoot?

Marmot Militia Machineworks .22 barrel for the Benjamin Marauder

Marmot Militia Machineworks .22 barrel for the Benjamin Marauder

The aftermarket parts market for for the Benjamin Marauder/Armada is certainly the largest in North America. Owners and devotees on these Crosman built air rifles should be very happy about this. Not only is this a  function of how popular their rifles are, but it is also an opportunity to improve the rifle’s performance.

For convenience the generic name Marauder will apply to all variants of the Marauder and the Armada. If there are differences significant to the subject at hand, I’ll point them out.

The Marauder is ripe for improvement. Crossman mass produces them to a set of specifications and certainly price point is one of them. Budget air rifles may be looked on with suspicion,but it is not necessarily the case for the Marauder. The accuracy of these American latecomers to the precharged air rifle market generally is way better then many airgunners suspected it 2009 when Crossman announced them. Aftermarket parts allow the Marauder to overcome its budget priced heritage and shoot up with air rifles costing far more.

“Are these parts the cost of a NASA hammer,”? Not individually, but taken in aggregate they can easily double to triple the price or the rifle. There are good reasons for airgunners to do this like the pride of ownership and accomplishment when you take the Marauder to higher performance level, but a more cautious approach fits my thinking of what makes an airgun special.

Most aftermarket products increase the rifle’s power or raise the shot count. Both are useful, but I hunt those black paper circles and I want accuracy. Without a good barrel all that power and efficiency may come to no end.

The .22 Armada is a Marauder wrapt in a stock that resembled an AR-15. Marauder. Cossman .22 barrels have a reputation for inconsistency. Some won't hit a two pound coffee can at fifty yards. Mine will shoot groups from .75 to 1.25 inch at that distance. Averaging 1 inch (about 2 MOA) that is as good as one can expect from a budget priiced air rifle. But like the airgunner who wants more power, one could also want more accuracy.

I ordered a .22 hammer forged barrel from Jim Gaska’s Marmot Militia Machineworks. The barrel is a drop in for the Marauder and should deliver  “1 MOA out to 60 yards”. It is going on the Armada which has a good .22 barrel, two MOA at fifty, but a half inch a fifty yards would help a lot in the matches shoot with this rifle. The barrel is $210 shipped.

Thanks to Crosman for providing the Armada.

Ron

Extreme Benchrest 75 vs 100 yards

What is the impact on moving the 75 yard targets back to 100 yards?

The extreme benchrest match is held over three days. On the first two days each shooter fires 
25 shots at 75 yards. On the third day the top 10 from each day shoots 25 more shots at 100 yards, but on the same target that was used at 75. Those targets look small at 75, but they really look little at 100! The "difference" is the best score at 75 less the 100 yard score.

Scores dropt 10 to 15 % for a range increase of 33%. 

Final standing	1st 75 Yard	2nd 75 Yard	100 Yards	difference	%
1	233	236	217	19	8%
2	235	237	211	26	11%
3	231	222	208	23	10%
4	227	225	202	25	11%
5	227	230	198	32	14%
6	224	228	197	31	14%
7	221	217	194	27	12%
8	214	223	193	30	13%
9	228	226	192	36	16%
10	220	233	188	35	15%

Extreme Benchrest,Cast Bullet Match

A hit with a .45 cal air rifle

Introduced in 2015 as a paper target match, the cast bullet match was expanded into a two format competition by adding a second contest called the Steel Challenge fired on reactive targets at distances announced just before the shooters came to the firing line. This doubled the shooting but it also more than doubled the challenge and for the onlookers, more than doubled the fun.

Range Officer explains the SR-1 targets

The Benchrest portion, fired on Saturday, was 2 sighting shots and 20 record shots at 200 yards. The target was the NRA SR-1, and the time limit was 35 minutes. In 2015 I saw hits just barely score at 3:00 blown on winds that might have moved a .30 caliber 169 boat tail

bullet from a ten to an eight.

Last year’s Benchrest portion was retained for 2016. The Steel Challenge was added. This match was shot at reactive flash targets at 82 yards and at 190 yards. These targets consist of a round steel target underneath two large rectangles one white and one red. The two rectangles are set so the white rectangle obscures the red. When the target is hit the assembly rocks back and the red is visible. Each shooter has a scorekeeper assigned. Red flash equals a hit. Targets looked to be 4 inches at 82 yards and 8 inches at 190.

Targets at 82 and 190 yards

Competitors shoot 24 shots with two sighting shots in 35 minutes. Hits on the close targets count 5 points. Hits of the far targets count 10. However, you must score 12 hits on the close before going to the far. Add in that the distances were not announced until just before the

match, and this becomes a unique challenge in what is an already unique shooting match.

A hit at 190 yards

The winner was determined by the combined score for the two days. Kip Perow’s score of 309 was broken down into 169 for the Benchrest and 140 for the Steel Challenge. He had to score 60 (12X5) to go one to the long range targets. So he had eight hits (140-60=80) at 190 yards. He had to have an accurate rifle and the skill to hit at that range. He also had to know its trajectory to get his point of aim. A truly outstanding feat of air arms.

Ron Blueflax Airguns

Extreme Benchreat winner

Ted Bier
Winner 100 yard Extreme Benchrest final

Extreme Benchrest, final match

Thunder heads in the afternoon during the 75 yard match
Extreme Benchrest in Mesa, Arizona

Over the years the biggest change is in the signature 75 yard Extreme Benchrest match. It has to be “Extreme”. Phrases like almost pretty good just don’t cut it. This match started as a 25 shot match at 10 meter pistol targets. Relays were scheduled for the near freezing morning into the windy afternoon. The right relay meant a good score. At Green Valley the wind blew out of 7 and 8 o'clock, and as the day wnet on your hits wandered off toward 1 and 2 o'clock, and your score went with them.

The solution at Mesa is to shoot two 75 yard matches over two days. One day the relays are in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Shooters with top aggregate scores in both the Sportsman and Pro Classes then shoot a final 100 yard match on the same size targets that were used at 75. Not only is this more fair, it puts the extreme back into Extreme Benchrest. It provides an exciting conclusion to four days of shooting.

Today is that day.

Ron, Blueflax Airguns

Extreme Benchrest Friday

Ol' Gator and a Coyote, Dave too

Dave AKA I Like Irons

Last turkey down, and 4 rams to go