PCP Follies or Initial Marauder Impressions

First Marauder impressions. Completely random; things I thought would be interesting to others interested in a PCP or Marauder. My .22 caliber Marauder is 709120357, which I think means that it is #357 of July 2009.

No screws
The Hill hand pump did not include the screws to connect the shaft to the base. Needless to say, this makes pumping extremely difficult. I tried to rig up a way to pump, holding the base tightly with my feet, and for the most part this worked. The Marauder gauge indicated that I was at a shade over 2100; the Hill pump actually registered lower. Not sure if this is a problem with either gauge or just the nature of PCP.

Straight Shooters to the rescue; they are going to send me a set of screws that should arrive in the next few days.

The sound of silence
One of the primary reasons for my Marauder purchase was to have a quiet backyard shooter. This PCP delivers in spades. It is truly remarkable how much softer the Marauder is compared to my other springers, even the little giant – the Beeman R7. I do not know any other way to describe it, but I now know what folks were talking about when they said the Marauder needs a depinger. The pinging does not really bother me, but it was pronounced, and it is probably louder than the actual act of firing a pellet (or rather the sound of firing a pellet).

Clip and Bolt
I have zero experience with a repeater, much less an airgun with a clip and bolt combination. To be honest, I struggled with both. It took me a little time to figure out how to get the clip loaded and then locked into the Marauder. Removing the clip was also an adventure. The loading is now second nature, but not so much with removing the clip. And the bolt? That has been an adventure and needs some work.

At some point in my first shooting session the gun did not fire. I pulled on the trigger, but nothing happened. Before I knew it, I had actually rotated the clip multiple times, and I guess loaded up multiple pellets. I am sure that is not good for the gun!

I also ended up with a couple of dry fires, which were loud (almost springer like), but at least the manual talks about dry firing as a way to remove air from the reservoir, so I assume this is acceptable usage of the gun.

When I was doing my Marauder research I read a lot of posts about sticky bolts; not sure if I have one of those or if I am running into user error. Something to watch.

Finish
My first impressions of the stock finish are not so … well … impressive. I read somewhere that it looks like Crosman brushed on a coat of brown paint and called it a day. I am not sure that is completely fair, but the finish on the stock is nowhere near as nice as my Beeman airguns, especially my R1 Carbine.

Somehow I already have several light scratches on the barrel and reservoir. Not really a big deal because I do not consider this a “show” gun; it has the potential to be my everyday backyard shooter. With that said, I was surprised at how quickly the gun scratched, and I have no idea how I scratched it already!

Will this dog hunt?
Time will tell on this one. My initial shots all grouped in the target area, and that was with a scope that was not setup and some Napier Power Hunter pellets. Sitting or standing, I was hitting around my intended area. I am encouraged. Next to zero the scope and get some much needed practice. The tree rats are going to be so hosed this fall!

Future reports to follow, God willing and if the creeks don’t rise.