USA (FirearmsGuide.com) Posted by Firearms Guide Editor -Two weeks ago I got myself a Benjamin Marauder pistol Model BP2220 and I’ve had two weeks full of fun and good shooting. I own several PCP, pump and spring action air guns, but the Marauder pistol offered a new and unique experience. This time I wanted to experience shooting and carrying not an air rifle or carbine but an air pistol.
It came packed in a simple box and when I open it, it contained a pistol, a plastic bag with manual, magazine and test target, and a shoulder skeleton stock underneath. The first surprise I had was when I took it in my hand. It was much lighter that I was expecting and I liked that. It is not a small air pistol but I liked the fact that it’s not too heavy. It weighs only 2.7 lbs and for me that’s perfect. For 5-6 years now I own an American Classic Pistol (Model: P1377) and I like the fact that the Marauder pistol is only 4.4 inches longer than American Classic Pistol. The plastic forestock and grip and safety reminded me of the American Classic Pistol and very soon I realized that is good because it only took a moment to be completely familiar with the Marauder pistol. I was at home in a moment but this time with multiple shots and most importantly with the amount of power that I wanted. The light weight and small size gave me exactly what I want from this pistol – maneuverability beyond expectation combined with 15 fpe.
Filling your Marauder pistol:
Just like any other PCP air gun you can use a scuba tank, carbon fiber air tank or the 4500psi Compressor but I decided to always use a hand pump. The relatively small air tank on this pistol (65cc or 4 cu in) should not be too hard to fill with an air pump and I was right. I pumped it from 0 to 2900 psi with ease in 2-3 minutes and that was probably the last time I filled it to 2900 psi. I found that my Marauder pistol sweet spot is between 1500 – 2500 psi so I would shoot around 30 shots and then I would pump it up to 2500 psi again. Adding just 1000 PSI with my hand pump is not a problem at all (20 pumps in like 60 seconds) and it was never an annoyance. This is important to know especially if you are new to the world of PCP air guns. Switching from spring action air guns to PCP will require just one hand pump and you are ready to go. If you filling it with scuba tanks then use the Crosman FAH003 Scuba Yoke Adapter for K style valves or the FAH004 DIN style valves.
Adjusting the Trigger
The Marauder pistol trigger assembly can be adjusted to achieve a variety of trigger profiles. It has been factory set for a two stage profile but can also be changed to a single stage. Inside the trigger guard is a black metal trigger that is adjustable for weight, first stage, second stage, and over-travel. You will find instructions on how to do that in manual provided so there is no need to rewrite them here. I adjusted my trigger to 1.75 lbs and that was awesome. Light and crisp trigger improved accuracy but now I had to use the safety all the time. That was not a problem at all because of years of using the same safety on my American Classic Pistol. It was in my muscle memory. If you like to additionally tune the Marauder pistol in manual you will find instructions for adjusting the trigger over-travel, adjusting for various fill pressures and velocities, stroke adjustment or other adjustments. To me, the Marauder pistol with 1.75 lbs trigger was perfect and I felt no need to adjust anything else.
Loading the magazine:
The Marauder pistol comes with an auto indexing 8 shot magazine that can hold variety of pellet weights, shapes and sizes, including pellets like Predator Polymag. It is important to know that Marauder pistol clips are not interchangeable with the Marauder rifle clips...and vice versa. I have to admit that I had a problem with figuring out how to load the magazine. I was trying out several ideas and somehow none of them worked. I was even angry at one point and I used words that I will not repeat here. Then and only then I got great idea to check out the manual. Of course brief and logical step by step instructions are in the manual. Once I loaded the magazine by following the instructions I learned the trick and now I can do it blindfolded. So, check out your manual and if you bought a used Marauder pistol without a manual, download the manual from Crosman’s website. Once you learned how to load the magazine I doubt that loading could be any easier than it already is. A counter window faces the shooter, informing him which pellet it’s on. When the last pellet is fired, the gun cannot be shot again until the mag is removed. The mag rotates to block the bolt from going forward so there’s no doubt that you’re out. For me just one mag was not always enough. In many cases I felt like not reloading right now and that I would rather have an extra mag but that problem will be solved by buying two extra magazines here: http://www.crosman.com/airguns/airgun-accessories/22-caliber-marauder-pistol-magazine
Sighting in the Marauder pistol:
The Marauder pistol does not come with iron sights and that is the only thing that I would change on the pistol. My American Classic Pistol is deadly accurate with sighted iron sights and I would like to have the same option on the Marauder pistol. With one class better rear open sight than on the American Classic Pistol, the Marauder pistol would be a perfect shooting machine up to 20 yards. This way you have to mount a scope or red dot sight or something else and then sight it in. I tried 3 different sights: two scopes and red dot laser. First I mounted red dot laser and sight it in on 10 and then on 20 yards. Up to 20 yards with this thing mounted you simply cannot miss anything. Follow the red dot on the target and squeeze the trigger. Then I mounted a Walther 4x32 fixed scope that is really light and small. I like that combo but I wanted to have a stronger scope so at the end of the day I mounted a UTG Leapers UTG 3-12x40 AO Hunter Rifle Scope. It is much bigger than the Walther 4x32 scope and at the beginning it felt like too much scope for this pistol but I quickly got used to it. Later on when I attached the skeleton stock and used the Marauder pistol as a carbine it proved to be the perfect scope. Once fixed, the front part of the scope was touching the barrel so I have to remove the scope, take off the front scope cap and mount it again. (If you use a 50mm scope you will need to use high rings) This time it was perfect. I shot several shots and soon the scope was sighted in.
Power and precision:
I shot only two types of pellets. Gamo 15.43 Master Point Energy pellets and Crosman Premier 14.3 Hollow Point pellets. I had around 60 Gamo pellets in the box so they were gone first while my chronometer was still in the box. I can blame this on the excitement of shooting the Marauder pistol. Then when I realized that this is work, not only fun, I took the chronometer out and realized that the Gamo Master Point pellets were gone. So testing was done with Crosman Premier 14.3 Hollow Point pellets. With them I got up to 660 FPS = 13.8 fpe. I’ve read some reviews that by shooting Beeman Kodiak Copper Plated 21.12 grain pellets people get 16 fpe out of the Marauder pistol. I haven’t tried that yet but I will and I am looking forward to that. More energy is always a good thing. I definitely have to experiment with more types of pellets of different weights but that is a good thing. What I found out on the first day of shooting was that the Marauder is a very accurate pistol right out of the box when the skeleton stock is mounted and used as a carbine. Using Crosman Premier pellets on 25 yards I got 0.5 inch group and that is OK with me. I believe that by experimenting with many other pellets that even tighter groups can be achieved but for that I need to shoot more. To shoot more is always a good thing. I am enjoying shooting the Marauder pistol so much now that this won’t be work, but pleasure. When used as a pistol without the skeleton stock it is hard to achieve the same accuracy as with the stock but it is still deadly accurate if you can rest it on something solid like a wall or something. Then it is hard to miss anything up to 30 yards and that is still a great distance in urban areas.
How quiet it is?
I have no equipment to measure precisely how loud the Marauder pistol is but with 100 percent certainty I can tell you that it’s quieter than any of my .177 and .22 spring-action rifles, quieter than my PCP air rifles and my pump American Classic Pistol. In fact, this is quietest air gun I own now. The 12-inch choked and shrouded barrel on this pistol damps the sound quite well. The only thing that is loud is pellet hitting the target so if you are a backyard shooter you will have to make a quiet target when shooting. I can shoot it all day long in my backyard without ever thinking about my neighbors. I enjoy shooting this pistol in my backyard because I am not nervous about upsetting my neighbors anymore. I just have to be sure that the target is next to the wall because this is a powerful pistol.
Fixing shoulder stock
Removing the pistol grips and fixing the shoulder skeleton stock is dumb simple. Just unscrew two screws, remove grip, place the skeleton stock in position and screw in two screws. It can be done in 45 seconds with a small screw driver and you turned air pistol in carbine with overall length of just 30.25 inches. Accuracy will improve drastically due to a better grip.
Now you see me, now you don't - when you have such small air gun you can hide it anywhere so that you always have it with yourself. Marauder pistol hidden in trunk compartment in my car.
Maneuverability – A key for urban environment
Owning several air rifles like the RWS Magnum or Benjamin Marauder always presents me with the same obstacle. They are too big, too visible, too heavy and loud for backyard plinking. But this is not the case with the Marauder pistol. As a pistol with a mounted scope it is still small enough to be carried around in a regular backpack. That allows me to have it with me all the time without raising any attention of people around me. You can go on the bus, walk around the town, ride a bike or a skateboard, sitting in Starbucks with an air pistol in your backpack without anyone noticing anything. Maybe you live in a more gun friendly state, but believe me in any Californian big city if people just see you carrying a gun around you will be in trouble very soon. Living in a big city also presents a problem if you are transporting guns in your car. Let me say that I have a Marauder rifle in a gun case on the back seat of my car and I am running some errands. If you find yourself not in a good neighborhood chances that someone will just break your car window and take your gun are huge. Not with Marauder pistol though. You can pack it in a paper bag if you want and leave it behind the driver’s seat and no one will notice. You can store it in your trunk’s hidden compartment under the trunk floorboard like I did if you car has one. You can even keep it on a seat and just cover it with a t-shirt or a hoodie. It is so small that is extremely practical to carry it around and that is huge advantage over any air rifle. If you need to take a shot at something and you need to do it with stock fixed, in just 60 seconds you can fix the stock and take a shot.
Conclusion – Pros and Cons
PRO:
- Great Maneuverability – small and light pistol, easy to carry or store
- Power - huge 15 fpe punch
- Accuracy – very accurate air gun
- Quietness – very quiet air gun
- Magazine -8 rounds magazine that takes any pellets
- Pistol and carbine in one – with shoulder stock delivered in the package
- Easy to fill with air, even with a hand pump
- 30-40 shots on one maximum fill – enough for hunting small game
- Effective on small game up to 40 yards
- Adjustability of trigger over-travel, various fill pressures and velocities, stroke adjustment, etc
- Well built, tuff
- Aftermarket stock, sights and other parts on the market
CON:
- I am not sure there is a con, but I would like to have open sights on this pistol. The ability to shoot precisely up to 20 yards without a scope would be great.
CONCLUSION:
If you’re looking for a stealth hunting air pistol out to 30-40 yards or quiet backyard plinker give this one serious consideration. Out to 40 yards max. no squirrel, rabbit of small pest can escape it’s fury. It’s a great introduction to the PCP world. I love mine and you will fall in love with yours as well. Get yours here: http://www.crosman.com/marauder-pcp-air-pistol-22-cal