Benjamin Marauder Field and Target, Lothar Barrel

First off I will tell you, I am not a person who offers an opinion or rates things I purchase. However, Due to its superior accuracy, I feel compelled to do so with this Marauder .22 cal air rifle. After mounting the UTG 4-16X44 accushot scope and finding the pellet this air rifle like to shoot, which happened to be the JSB Jumbo 15.89 gr. I then locked in my zero at 50 yards, I adjusted for distances of 75 yards, 100 yard and 120 yards placing 5 round shot groups at each distance. After that I placed several tin cans at each distance and fired over 500 pellets in an effort to satisfy my own judgement of this scope, pellet and rifle combination. I also found out that this rifle does in fact, accurately shoot over 80 rounds between air fill ups. I must say that this rifle exceeds my expectations of a .22 cal air rifle. I am extremely impressed with its performance. I've been shooting PCP's since 2012 and would not hesitate to recommend this air rifle to anyone.

Pros
This air rifle is regulated, which results in superior shot to shot accuracy performance between air refills. The lothar Walther barrel is absolutely a great asset to this air rifle.

Cons
I really believe the added photo copied shot group is not true. They should stop sending them with these rifles. It's almost an insult to our intelligence. Cooper firearms does this too, however it's an actual shot group on a target, not a photocopy. To me, Cleaning the barrel before use indicated that this rifle did not have pellets shot through the barrel.

If Benjamin was really on their game, they'd either fix the design/production issues that cause a lot of these guns to leave the factory with leaks and sub-par finish work, or own up to it and offer a tinkerer's tuning kit with a degasser and the necessary instructions, small tools, seals, and lubricants to do the finish work that honestly should have been done before it was boxed up for shipment.

They should also talk to Quality Control and make sure that the rifles being packed up are at least clean. While my rifle appeared to be new, there were sticky splotches in the finish of the stock, especially around where a tester would hold it, and the shoulder pad was actually DIRTY, with brown dirt inside and out. The fitment of the adjustable cheek riser is also shoddy.

...

All that said...this is an airgun with GREAT bones, and with a little TLC it becomes something special. Off a bench or around the yard, you can't really ask for much more.

Pros
This is a well-designed, serviceable, reasonably adjustable, very quiet, and accurate PCP air rifle for a reasonable price. Despite the warranty warning that you are not allowed to disassemble the rifle...unless you get lucky, that's the first thing you will have to do, but that process itself is rewarding. Out of the box, I filled mine up twice with a hand pump, got about 80 good shots through it and watched the rest of that hard-earned hand-pumped air leak out of it overnight. So, I tore it down completely, refinished the stock, replaced the seals, re-lubricated the whole thing, and ended up with an absolute gem of a tack driver.

Cons
I have several gripes, but they are all manageable - except the weight. If you are looking for a lightweight hunter to carry around all day, this is not it. Other issues are leaks, quality control and finish level out of the factory, instructions (or lack of), a surprisingly cheap trigger guard, an initially rough bolt action, and an overall disappointing initial buyer's experience. Leaks: the air tank tube has several cutouts in it for the pressure valve, hammer interaction, screws and the like, and each of these cutouts is unnecessarily SHARP edged! They destroy seals during any but the most careful assembly, and careful assembly is not what Benjamin is doing. As an engineer, I would mandate deburring of these cutouts, inside and out, prior to assembly. At the very least, deburring just the pressure gauge port would probably fix most of these customer leaks. I'm running out of characters, but next I'd talk to the factory. My rifle arrived poorly finished and dirty.

Far bigger and heavier than I ever would have imagined for a .22. I'm disappointed - mostly in myself for not handling this air rifle before purchasing. This is the downside of buying online. Seeing an item, and handling it are 2 different things! I strongly recommend handling this air rifle before purchasing it. It is so heavy that I don't expect to ever use my $650 door stop!

Pros
Looks good

Cons
Big and Heavy!

Airgun Depot is a great vendor with excellent customer service.

Pros
Reasonable price, regulated, accurate, hand pumping not too bad, holds air, made in USA.

Cons
Lighter weight would be welcome.

Difficult to believe mine passed a 72 hour leak test.

Pros
Accurate regulated PCP at a reasonable price made in the USA.

Cons
Better QC, still working with Benjamin customer service to sort out leaking gauge mount.

Final thought, the MRODS are great rifles mounted on Pop Cycle sticks.
Buy one and get a custom built stock!

Pros
The receiver, barrel, action, and triggers, are great straight out of the box. I must have drawn a great air system, as it had 3000 psi on the dot. The air gauge, reads the same as on my air compressor. Through in a temporary scope, and certainly the worst scope I have, but immediately on paper at 25 yards. Two more shot for zero, and immediately putting shots hole in hole for a couple of ten shot mags. Right now Crosman Premier.22 cal, 14.3 grain hollow points are all I have to test, as the only other .22 is a break barrel.

Cons
Crosman / Benjamin, don't waste your time and money on fake test targets. The one hole in the target sent with my rifle could not have even been made with a .177 cal let alone .22. The stock has gouged and missing wood on one side next to the air cylinder. What ever country is being used now, China / Turkey, its a serious hack job, but I will live with it until I have a custom Boyds Gunstock made for it. The cut out cheek riser doesnt even line up well. I have Chinese Les Paul guitars that are 100% better fit and finish than this wood stock at 1/4th the price.

I did a ton of research on this for close to a year before purchasing. I was concerned about the reviews from others of the air rifle not holding air and needing to be sent back. This was not the case for me. Everything (minus the five (5) shot target enclosed) was top notch. Shipping, Rifle, Accuracy, & Velocity Consistency. A three (3) shot string went as follows: First Shot - 843, Second Shot - 860, & Third Shot - 852. So the average there is 851.67. Not too bad for an advertised 850FPS air rifle! This was done with just under 3,000psi in the tank. Anyone on the fence....just do it! I'm beyond thrilled with this air rifle.

Pros
Right out of the box I was impressed. Came double boxed & the standard Benjamin box inside the first box had more than enough shipping Styrofoam to ensure the rifle would make the journey unharmed. The stock was beautiful. I'd read that they come in varying shades & this one was perfect. The air rifles are now shipped with 0psi in the tanks. But there is an inspection form that said the gun was tested & held air for 72hrs before shipping. There was also a target in the box with five (5) shots @ 10yds. I'm extremely skeptical on this though as the target is almost surely a .177 target based on the size of the hole & there is no Ammo/Caliber/Grain or Tested By: information filled out. I checked the gun/fittings/etc, mounted my 3x9x44 Optic, filled the air rifle up to just a tickle under 3,000psi, & started shooting. Two (2) shots to zero at 20yds and then the following 28 shots were pretty much variants in the same hole easily covered by a nickel. Super impressed with the accuracy!!!

Cons
Nothing about the air rifle itself. I'm just let down that they would ship a five (5) shot group target of a .177 and say it's for this .22 when it clearly is not a .22 size hole. Picture of target attached. You be the judge.

It’s worth trying different ammo as some shoots way better than others for me. Crossman domed and pointed seem to be best for me.

Pros
Next level airgun for me. It’s my first pcp and I could not be happier. I have not experienced the quality issues mentioned in other reviews. Mine came with 3k psi in the tank so I know it holds pressure well. This gun is very very accurate. I got the lothar barrel and I’m shooting single jagged holes at 25-30. Aside from the weight, which is surprisingly heavy, I would not change a thing. It pumps easily, shoots hard and quiet, and drives tacks. I haven’t even had the heart to shoot any squirrels yet as it just seems too easy. They won’t have a chance. Also, I had a question on the operation of the gun when I first got it. I called and got a patient and thorough explanation from AD. Well done all around.

I suspect Benjamin may have a problem. I returned the first rifle as per my review 02-06-2021. Wouldn't hold air out of the box. The rifle received as a replacement held air perfectly for three weeks. It began to leak and got progressively worse. when it went into it's box for return it was losing dropping to 1600 psi from a 3000psi fill in 24 hrs. Too bad. I f this thing would hold air it would check all the boxes. Crosman may have a problem. Be very wary. on a positive note AD has been exceptional to work with throughout. One star Crosman, five stars Airgun Depot.

Pros
Accurate, made in USA,

Cons
I would produce one that would hold air.

The first rifle I received didn't hold air. AD was wonderful to work with in obtaining a replacement. Ten days after I called them with the problem I received a-rifle-that-does-hold-air. I mounted a Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9 EFR on Weaver medium mounts. Mounted perfectly. You guy's can have your 50mm objectives (or larger!). With the scope mounted close over the bore I've got a true 2" point blank to 25 yds. with 14.3s. 3/4 inch groups @ 75. When Leupold's custom shop gets back to work I'll send the scope to Oregon for an MOA reticule. Crosman 14.3s run 816 fps, 24 ES for 60 shots from a 3000 PSI charge. Long strings of 814 to 818 FPS. JSBs shoot at about 765. I only shot 10 for group and 5 over the Chrony. This Crosman barrel shoots amazingly well! Four out of the seven mags I originally received worked flawlessly. AD immediately shipped three more magazines. I now have six functional mags and four I can fix until I break them. If anybody out there wants a shooter, buy one.

Pros
Accurate, whisper quiet, accurate, shoots CPHPs and CPDUM 14.3s almost as well as JSB Exact 18.13s, accurate. Walmart has CPHPs @ $650 per 500.

Cons
An adjustable regulator would be nice.