.223 Remington to .22 Pellet Conversion

Here's something I haven't seen before.  The Sportsman's Guide has a .223 Remington to .22 pellet conversion shell.  It looks like a brass shell casing, but you put a 209 shotshell primer in one end, and a .22 pellet in the other, turning your .223 Remington rifle into a pellet gun.

Pretty neat.

Midway Coupon Codes From AR-15.com

From AR15.com e-mail newsletter

To receive your Savings:

1. Place in-stock products in your shopping cart totaling:
   $50 for $10 off - Use Promotion Code 171510
   $500 for $50 off - Use Promotion Code 271510
   $1000 for $100 off - Use Promotion Code 371510
   Enter the promotion code in the box entitled "Promotion Code" on the shopping cart page.
2. You will see the discount on the Confirmation page before placing your order.
3. Remember, this promotion code is valid for orders placed on MidwayUSA.com.
4. Limited to in-stock products, one per Customer and one promotion code per retail order.
5. Excludes Gift Certificates and Nightforce products, Sale priced products and Clearance products.
6. Offer valid for retail Customers only.
7. Offer cannot be combined with Birthday or Special Pricing.
8. Hurry, offer starts at 12:00 AM CT July 15, 2010
   and ends at 11:59 PM CT July 31, 2010.

What I've Been Up To

I got some sights in from Richard Heinie on, er, Wednesday or Thursday, I think.  I got a tall front sight for my Glock 21, which was shooting high.  I also ordered a Ledge rear sight with tritium for the Glock 19, which I bought a couple years ago, but have mostly ignored, except for shooting 1200 odd rounds through it.  The old front sight from the 21 went onto the 19.  The 21 is now shooting to point of aim, and I'm ready to carry the 19.  The 19 will also likely go along for a carbine training class at some point in the future.

I also ordered a tritium sight set for the Kahr PM9, hoping it would fix my problem of hitting high with that pistol.  It didn't.  The pistol still shot 9 inches high (!) at 50 feet.  I can bring it down a bit by filing the rear sight, but probably not enough.

Heinie night sights for Kahr pistols

My Kahr With New Heinie Sights, and Custom Pocket Holster

I shot a Ruger Rimfire Match earlier today at Delaware County Field & Stream.  Although I didn't shoot all that well with the AA Glock conversion pistol, I did pretty good with the 10/22, and it was fun.  The same range is running rimfire pistol plate shoots on Wednesday nights, but I work nights and haven't been able to go.  I now have a legitimate purpose for the 10/22 that I've used to burn through 25-round mags of cheap bulk ammo.  See. . . I can shoot a rifle offhand. . . I just need 40 M.O.A. targets!   :-P 

UPDATE, 8/1/2010:  Looks like I took second in unlimited class somehow, placing just behind the gentleman who set up the shoot.  Don't quite know how that happened.

Oh, and my AA Glock conversion upper is now sporting LPA adjustable sights.  The rear sight holds a zero pretty well.  Although the front sight is much taller than the Glock front sight, and may cause holster clearance issues, I like these a lot better than the plastic Glock sights.  I can now see light between the edges of the rear notch and the sides of the front sight now.  Another issue may be the hinge pin of the rear sight, which is a cheap roll pin.  I've heard several stories of broken hinge pins in Bomar-type sights, and I don't imagine that roll pin will hold up to very many major .40S&W loads.  I'll post more on these sometime later.

LPA adjustable Glock sight set


AA Rimfire Slide with LPA Sights

LPA Adjustable Glock Sight

UPDATE, 11/20/11: The LPA sights are still doing well.  I don't recall ever adjusting the sights, after the initial adjustment just after installing them.  I'm quite impressed, and would buy another set in a heartbeat, if I needed them.

A quick shopping note:  DSG Arms is selling 5 PMags with 150 rounds of Fiocchi 62gr ammo for $109.  I've got lots of AR mags, and I'm reloading .223.  If not for that, I'd probably jump on this deal.  Scroll a bit down this page for a free shipping code I posted recently if you're buying.

I updated the Spike Network shooting/self-defense show post.

Tapco U.S.-Made SKS Bolt

I just discovered this item in the Midway Gunsmithing catalog.  Tapco is making, or at least contracting, replacement SKS bolts.  The bolts are cut so that detachable magazines can be removed with the bolt in battery, which you can't do with origional equipment bolts.  The bolt also has a spring-loaded firing pin to prevent slam fires.  Even better, the bolt is made in the U.S., and counts as a compliance part if you need that, due to a "non-sporting" configuration.

Although my Chinese SKS is a pre-ban, I'd like to get one for use with the detachable Tapco mags, and for the spring-loaded firing pin.  I'll probably pick one up from Midway at some point in the future.  Cutting away the ridges for removing magazines isn't that hard, but I don't want to modify the Chinese bolt, because the rifle is worth decent money in ulaltered condition.  New communist bolts are nearly as expensive from Numrich.

EDIT: Er, on second thought, the reviews on the Midway product page are not completely good.  The price of a Chinese SKS bolt seems to have gone down significantly since the last time I checked also.

PMag Coupler = 50 or 60 Round AR-15 Magazine

California Competition Works has developed a PMag coupler.  It's made of anodized 6061 aluminum.  You remove the baseplates and lockplates from your two Magpul AR-15 magazine and connect them together with the coupler, using the 30-coil magazine spring included with the coupler.  You can use two 30-round magazines (which would be bloody long), or you can use a 30-round magazine and a 20-round magazine.

Although a little on the expensive side, it would definately make for a fun outing with an AR, and it would probably be good for 3-Gun matches.

EDIT, 7/20/2010: I've just remembered that 11 round magazines aren't legal in California, much less 50 or 60 round mags.  I wonder how they do their engineering and T&E.  Drive to Nevada?

also edittedd for speelng

Shooting/RKBA Shows on Spike Next Saturday

I was checking out what's on next week, and I happened to notice some new shows on the Spike network next week.

Sat, July 17th, 10 a.m. EST
Practical Tactical

Sat, July 17th, 10 a.m. EST
Conceal + Carry = Survive

Before those is Because Lives Depend On It, at 9:30 a.m., but the name of the show and the description given by the Comcast Cable DVR is vague, and I'm not really sure what it's about.  I can't find anything about these shows on the Spike network Website.

UPDATE, 7/18/2010: Conceal + Carry = Survive now called Concealed & Carry School.  Because Lives Depend On It is a self-defense show, and, so far, is the only one to feature a significant amount of shooting.  Although the shows are pretty short, I like the content so far.  I think they are showing shooters, and those concerned with self-defense in a positive way.

UPDATE, 8/1/2010: Found the website.  http://www.dontbeavictimtv.com/

Because Lives Depend On It is a tactics show.  This weekend they had Larry Vickers on to show how to work with a pistol and weapon-mounted or hand-held flashlight.  Last week they did drills with 9mm, .45ACP, and .40S&W pistols, and discussed the pros and cons of these calibers for defense.  This show seems to have the most shooting.

Practical Tactical seems to revolve mostly around home defense.  Last weekend they focused on a hi-tech home with a lot of panic room features.  This week they brought in K-9 professionals to talk about the use of a dog for home defense.

Concealed & Carry School is about what it sounds like.  Mostly it is interviews with people that are going to the school.  Why they went, how they felt about it, what they are getting out of it.

UPDATE, 8/21/2010:  Another show added last week, I think.  It's called What If.  Last week it covered the shooting at the Holocost Museum in Washington, D.C..  This week it was a shooting at a restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown.  The show suggests things you might do if you mind yourself in these kinds of situations.

"CRANE" Extractor O-rings for AR-15/M-16 - $9/100

I was recently reading an article about direct gas impingement AR-15s and reliability.  The author was stressing the need for good springs, and a proper buffer.  It reminded me that I should post about extractor o-rings.

You might have noticed the D-Fender extractor inserts or "CRANE" extractor o-ring upgrades available for AR-15 rifles in Brownells catalogs or wherever.  You can use a pretty ordinary o-ring and get the same effect.

What you want, specifically is:

Viton AS568A Aerospace Standard ID Number: 006 Inside Diameter: 0.125 In. Thickness: 1/16 Outside Diameter: 0.250 In.

That's that description from MSC Direct*, where I bought mine for $8.48 (in November 2009) for a bag of a 100.  The part number from MSC is 09265067.  McMaster Carr has them even cheaper, part number 9464k11, but I needed a 1 1/2" die stock, and MSC had those a lot cheaper.

The D-Fender and "CRANE" o-rings will probably cost you $3 or more each from a gun shop.

Installing the o-ring is pretty simple:

1. Remove the bolt from the bolt carrier.
2. If the bolt isn't clean, then clean it. :-)
3. There are two pins in the bolt, one is solid, the other is a hollow roll pin.  The solid one is the one that holds in the extractor.  Push in on the extractor, and push out the solid pin.  It should not resist too much, and no hammer should be required.  The roll pin holds in the ejector and spring, leave that one alone, it is harder to remove and replace, and if you're not careful when removing the punch from the bolt, the ejector and spring may fly across the room, and you may never find them again.
4. The extractor spring should be captured in a hole in the extractor.  In the middle of the spring there should be a little rubber insert.  If the spring is broken, get another one.  If the insert is missing, or crumbled, get a new one.  All you need to do to install the o-ring is to roll it over the extractor spring, and seat it up against the extractor.
5. Reassemble the rifle and test fire.  Make sure it still works.  Just in case.

You're supposed to remove, clean, and inspect the extractor each time you clean an AR-15 type rifle, but I've noticed that some of the instruction manuals have this step out from the cleaning procedure.


On a somewhat related note, I'm also told that a #41 O-Ring over the front takedown lug of the upper receiver will help keep your upper and lower receivers from rattling together if there is a sloppy fit.

* - MSC runs a lot of coupon deals, check retailmenot.com for coupon codes if you're going to order.

DSG Arms Free Shipping Coupon Code

DSG Arms is offering Free UPS Ground Shipping on all orders over $99 for the month of July. Use promotional code FREEUPS99. Apply this promo code in your shopping cart as you check out at dsgarms.com

They've got Fiocchi .223Rem for $339/1000 rounds.


Sorry folks, that's kinda all I got for now.

Happy Independence Day!

Some Glock Mags Cheap

New "Law Enforcement Only" Glock 17 mags from CDNN Investments for $14.99.  Direct Link to LE Glock 17 Mags.  These are, of course, completely legal for those in free states with no magazine limits.  Good deal, but I already have, well I don't know exactly, but more than 20 of 'em.

CDNN also has new Glock 22 mags for $18.99 each.  IIRC, you can get them from Natchez Shooters Supply for about the same price.  AIM Surplus has used G22 mags for $14.95.

I don't think I've mentioned it yet, but the cheaper Korean Glock mags don't always drop free, and they jam up with hollowpoints if they are loaded on the long side.  The same hollowpoint ammo runs just fine through factory Glock, Kahr, Berretta, and S&W M&P mags.  I have a bunch, but won't buy any more.

$1.75 Solution to a 9mm AR-15 Problem

I was just about to order a Spike's 9mm buffer, but did a quick search first.  It would seem that someone on the AR15.com message boards discovered that 7 quarters dropped into the buffer tube, before installing the recoil spring and buffer, make a perfect buffer spacer.

I have an RRA 9mm buffer, but it is standard 5.56mm length.  The 9mm bolts don't need to travel as far back as a .223Rem/5.56mm bolt carrier, and they're heavier.  What happens is the 9mm bolt gets a good running start at the bolt catch.  The bolt catches take a beating.  I had a Model 1 bolt catch in the lower I first ran the 9mm upper on, and the catch quickly got bent to the point that I had to replace it.

You can get longer 9mm buffers from Spike's, Hahn, or Slash, but they aren't cheap.  Spike's also makes a buffer spacer, for people like me who already have an acceptable short buffer, but it's still nearly $30 shipped, for a small piece of machined aluminum who's sole purpose is to take up a little space in the buffer tube.

Sure enough, the American 25¢ piece fit right in both Commercial and Mil-Spec carbine buffer tubes.  Although I haven't tried the quarter trick live-fire yet, it should work just like the Spike's 9mm Buffer spacer.  The quarters won't fit inside the coils of a buffer spring, so I have no reason to doubt those who swear it works very well, and there's really nothing to lose.

UPDATE, 9/12/2010: Tried it out. Seems to work well. Put 4 30-Round mags, and a 20-Round mag through my RRA 9mm upper, with Hahn mag block and RRA 9mm buffer, without any issues. I have, on a couple occasions, had stovepipe jams with this set-up without the quarters, but no problems today. I was running hollowpoints too.

It seems like I could get another quarter or maybe two more into the buffer tube, and still be able to lock the bolt to the rear.

Minisniping

Minisniping started as a game for air rifles, but there's no reason you can't do it with rimfires, or even centerfire rifles.  The way it's done in the article, you sit a 9mm shell casing on a lump of clay 35 yards out from your shooting bench, and pick them off with your adult airgun of choice.

The price of ammo has gone up a lot since 1984, when the article was printed in Guns & Ammo, and even 9mm brass gets sold, so I wouldn't use 9mm brass, but you may be able to come up with steel 9x18 casings or something else entirely to use as targets.

Many of the newer centerfire rifles will shoot 1 inch groups at a hundred yards.  Try putting some low-brass 12 gauge shells out, and try picking those off.


Maybe something like the Rimfire Tactical Precision Match is more your cup of tea.  Put some steel targets out far enough for it to be a real challenge.  Make up some terrorist/hostage targets (if your range rules allow).  There are some more fun targets on the 6mmBR website to play with.

It summer, get out there and shoot.  Make it fun.  Dust off your imagination.

Man Uses Pistol For Protection in National Park

John R. Lott post on the Denali National Park shooting
LA Times Blog post on the shooting

You may have heard that a law passed this year allowing those allowing those permitted by state law, to carry firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges.  It didn't take very long before the law paid off, not that I'm not surprised. . .

A backpacker hiking in Denali National Park in Alaska drew a .45caliber pistol, and fired "about 9 rounds," at a bear that charged the woman he was hiking with.  The bear retreated, and was later found, dead.

Shooting Rampage in England. Bobbies Unarmed and Helpless To Stop It!!!

John R. Lott on shooting
BBC news story on Derrick Bird shootings in Cumbria

An unarmed police officer hears shots, and goes to investigate.  He got into a passing car and followed the suspect, who had gotten into a taxi.  The first Bobby was joined by two other unarmed officers, who joined chase in a police van.

The suspect, Derrick Bird, killed 12 and wounded 11, on a shooting spree in Cumbria, before finally eating a bullet.  The police, not having any firearms, couldn't do much more than watch, and try to give aid to the victims.  It's not their fault.  It's the ridiculous idea that's spread through the U.K., that there's something wrong with self-defense, or the defense of others, particularly with a firearm.  That they haven't figured out that it's not working, is rather sickening.  We need to be sure not to let this happen here.

Benjamin Marauder Pre-Charged Pneumatic Air Rifle, Part 2

Marauder Review Part 1 - Now With Pictures!

Accuracy
I was able to eliminate JSB Exact, and JSB Exact Heavy pellets just from 10 yard testing.  The Heavies shot ½ inch groups at 10 yards.  The regular JSB Exacts were strung out about two and a half inches across the target.  Crosman Premier Hollow Points shot pretty well, mostly, but one spun off to the left about six inches, and one went almost a foot high, and missed the pellet trap entirely!

It looks like my factory tuned Marauder does not really like any of the lighter pellets.  Although the Beeman FTS and JSB Exact Express pellets showed promise at 10 yards, the 25 yard groups were both over two inches.  I believe both pellets are around 8 grains, and the Crosman Hollow Points are 7.9 grains.

I had reported on the MarauderAirRifle forum that my rifle preferred Beeman Kodiac Pellets (10.6 grains) over the Crosman Premier Ultra Magnum pellets (10.5 grains).  I had done most of the testing with these two pellets at 10 yards, with the barrel band in place.  At 25 yards, without the barrel band, the groups showed something else.

25 Yard Groups - Kodiac Match Pellets - 0.868" and 0.74" center-to-center

Crosman Premier Ultra Magnum Pellets - 0.445" and .430" center-to-center

50 Yard Group, different day, Crosman UltraMag - 0.9" C.T.C.

Those are 10-shot groups.  I feel 10-shot groups give a more realistic picture of how a gun will shoot than lucky 3-shot or 5-shot groups.  I knew I had made a mistake in calling the Kodiacs the favorite when I shot the first 5 heavy Premiers at 25 yards.  They all went into one tiny bughole.  The next 5 opened up the group a little, but the end results are still pretty good.  My American dime measures just a little under 0.7” in diameter, and it will easily cover both of the 10-shot, 25 yard groups shot with the heavy Premier domes.

I feel less dumb for having bought two tins of the Premiers, and only one of the Kodiacs.  I did spend a good bit of time washing, and swabbing bits of lead flakes out of the Premiers though.  The Kodiacs didn’t really need the cleaning, and although I’ve inspected more of the Kodiacs, while goofing around the field target course, I’ve found much fewer with imperfections and none with any lead flashing.

Pressurizing the Marauder

The protective cap is removed to show the Foster male quick-disconnect coupler.  The manual is very specific about using the Foster #12FS female coupler to charge the rifle.  This is the same type of coupler used to charge late-model Daystate and BAM pre-charged air rifles, among others.

The Marauder can be charged with compressed air or CO2.  Out-of-the-box the Marauder is set up or a 2500psi charge of compressed air.  To get it to run on CO2, you would need to purge any compressed air in the tube, by using the (included) depressurizing tool.  To charge with CO2 also requires a fill adapter to use with a paintball tank.  Using CO2 also requires a 2000psi pressure tune.

The Marauder is one of few PCP airguns that can be set up to run on a charge pressure from 2000 to 3000 psi.  There are adjustments for hammer stroke length, and hammer spring preload.  The velocity can be adjusted by turning the valve metering screw, which is on the right side of rifle, above the trigger group, and hidden below the top edge of the stock.

Shooting at 50 yards, I noticed that the rifle gets really sensitive to fill pressure.  You can see from this group that the group strung out vertically, and strangely, to the left, as the pressure went down.

I guess I really only get about 20 good shots from a full 2500 psi charge.  The gauge built into the rifle just about matches the gauge on my Hill pump.  Recharging after 20 shots takes about 45 strokes of the pump, and the pump really doesn't get very warm.  If you aren't shooting at longer distances, you can squeeze out 10 more shots, and then it takes about 80 pump-strokes to refill, and you should probably stop after 60 strokes to let the pump cool off a little bit.

Trigger (Continued)

I degassed the rifle, and finished tuning the trigger.  I backed out the return spring screw again, and turned it back in until it just barely reset the trigger.  Then I adjusted the 2nd stage, to remove most of the creep.

The trigger pull was very light, but I would sometimes miss the 2nd stage, and the gun would go off before I was really ready for it.  Turning in the return spring screw maybe a sixth of a turn more fixed it.

You want to know what the trigger pull weight is?  Hold onto your hats folks.  The first-stage pull is right around 3 ounces, and the second-stage trips at 3.5-3.7.  Ray, of the A-Team had reported that his trigger, “is set at 2.4 ounces for the first stage and breaks at 3.3 ounces.”  I figured some gunsmith at Crosman had slicked up the trigger for him, or worked some other magic, but now I’m thinking it may just be a matter of personal preferences in setting the trigger, or maybe it’s just a minor difference in trigger pull gauges.

And on that bombshell. . .

TI25 10/22 Mags Down To $17.99

Tactical Innovations has reduced the price of their adjustable polycarbonate 25-round magazines to $17.99.  They might have been up as high as $40 soon after the elections.  The one I've been testing has been flawless.

If you're interested in color-anodized 10/22 trigger housings, triggers, and mag releases, they've got those too.

They are also offering free shipping on orders over $150.

FREE SHIPPING TERMS
Free shipping offer applies to online orders with combined products totaling $150 or more excluding shipping and taxes. Free shipping offer does not apply to FFL restricted items (firearms) as well as heavy or oversize items which would require additional freight charges. Free shipping carrier and service will be selected by Tactical Innovations based on package weight, package size and shipping distance. Customer reserves the right to designate carrier and service at customer's expense.

DSG Arms New Website Sale

To promote their new website, DSG Arms is offering a $10 credit if you update your account, by creating a new password.  Here is the link to create a new password for your existing account.

Get $10 off on any merchandise order of $150 or more between now and 6/30/2010 for trying our new site. Use the discount code: 20100524 when you checkout. Watch for the 'Add a Promotional Code' box after choosing your address and shipping. Enter the code 20100524 and click the right arrow icon to apply your discount before completing your order..

The coupon code may work, even for new customers.  The e-mail they sent me doesn't really say.

Crime Rate Still On The Decline - CCRKBA.ORG

Although the gun ban lobby is still crying that guns cause crime, and we need more gun laws, the FBI numbers are out from 2009.  Violent crime rates fell again, despite the continuation of high rates of gun sales and concealed carry permit applications, following the 2008 elections.

Alan Gottleib of CCRKBA.ORG reports that:

. . . the murder rate fell last year 7.2 percent in larger cities. Robbery declined more than 8 percent and forcible rape was down 3.1 percent. It might just be that criminals are less likely to attack someone out of fear their intended victim is armed. Robbers might be discouraged by the growing potential that the clerk behind the counter is willing to fight back. Maybe would-be rapists are deterred by the possibility that they might get shot.

For many years, anti-gunners made all kinds of wild predictions that higher rates of gun ownership and the expansion of shall-issue carry permits would leave neighborhoods awash in blood. The data proves otherwise. America should turn its back on the gun prohibition lobby and their insidious policy of victim disarmament.

 You can read the rest of the article here.

Benjamin Marauder Pre-Charged Pneumatic Air Rifle

My Marauder (without barrel band, which I'll explain), Hill Pump, and a selection on pellets it likes.

I think I should start with the box the rifle comes in.  The box is glossy, and pretty classy, with pictures and a list of the rifle’s features.  They stapled the damn thing closed, which I could have lived without, and this lead to me ripping the box trying to get at the rifle.  I don’t have plans on selling mine though.

The rifle was held in the box with open cell foam blocks.  There was an instruction manual, degassing too and instructions, magazine and instructions in the box also, but I have them stashed in another location.  Sorry!

 Bottom of the box shows the rifle's features, and Crosman accessories for their PCP airguns.

The Marauder weighs about 8 pounds, and felt a bit light to me, at least until I put the heavy 10-40x scope on top.  Walking the field target course, it starts to feel pretty heavy.  It does hang pretty steady on the target though.  Still not as bad as the B21 springer (Chinese RWS side-lever clone), that weighed about 9 and a half pounds without a scope. 

The Stock
I could live without the cheekrest on the right side of the stock, but otherwise, I don’t think the stock is as bad as some have opined.  It’s got a matte finish, which I can see offending those who like their stocks mirror polished, but I don’t mind it at all.  I found a few small. . . lumps, in the finish, and a dent in the top rear of the cheekpiece that’s about a quarter inch in diameter and about an eighth inch deep.

The stock fits me (6 foot, 2 inches), pretty well.  It’s a half inch, maybe an inch, too short, but not short enough to be uncomfortable.  The rifle is meant to be scoped so the cheekrest is appropriately high, though somehow sort of uncomfortable.  The cheekrest feels like it’s too far to the left, for this right-handed shooter.

The ventilated buttpad is at about the right height   I’ve heard complaints about the grip being too large, but it places the pad of my index finger on trigger, where I feel that it should be, so I’m not complaining.  Although I’d prefer an adjustable buttstock and cheekrest, and a vertical grip or AR-15 pistol grip, I find the rifle to be much more ergonomic that I had expected.  They seem to have put some effort into getting the ergonomics right, at least for a tallish American.

I was hoping that it wouldn’t be like the Crosman 2289 Backpacker (discontinued; basically a 2250, but a pumper rather than CO2 powered).  The buttpad of the 2289 was several inches too high, and what would be the cheekpiece was more than an inch too low for use with a scope.

The stock comes with sling swivel studs.  The studs only cost a couple dollars each, retail price, but are usually not included with factory rifles or aftermarket stocks.  So the end user ends up paying a gunsmith $20 or so to get them installed, or pays about $30 to purchase a kit for installing swivel studs.  No worries with the Marauder though.

The Magazine
The Marauder is a repeater.  I didn’t think I really needed a magazine-fed air rifle, but when I started shooting in the basement, I remembered that it’s rather difficult to load a rifle when I’m sitting on the stairs.  I could put the pellet tin to my left, on the next higher step, but I’m right-handed, so that really doesn’t work well.  With the magazine, I can just rack the bolt, and keep shooting.

The magazine is pretty simple, but surprisingly difficult to load without first reading the instructions.  With a little practice, it’s not hard to do though, and after you get the first pellet loaded, you no longer have to fight the magazine spring, which is nice.

To load the magazine, involves three steps.

1. With the clear cover facing you, rotate the cover about 15 degrees short of a full turn clockwise.  This preloads the magazine spring.
2. While still holding the cover in position, insert a pellet into the 1st position through the slot in the cover, while holding a finger over the hole in the back, or perhaps I should say front end of the magazine.  Once the first pellet is in place, you can release your hold on the clear cover.  The spring tension of the rotor will hold the 1st pellet in place against the body of the magazine.
3. You can now rotate the clear magazine cover counterclockwise and place pellets in positions 10 through 2 in the rotor through the slot in the cover, and then snap the cover back into position.

It’s fairly simple, but fairly unconventional for someone used to loading box magazines for a firearm from the top.  I had to follow the instructions a two or three time before I caught on.

The magazine will stop you from closing the bolt when there are no more pellets left.  This is to keep you from dry firing when you really want to put a hole in something.

I’m told the Marauder magazine is very similar to the Theoben magazines.  The price of spare Benjamin magazines runs from $9.95-$20 depending on the source.  You can also get a single-shot tray that fits in place of the magazine, and the price is about the same as what the magazines go for.

The Trigger
Out of the box, my Marauder had a first stage of about 1 pound, and a second stage of about a pound and a half.  The first stage was fairly long.  The second stage had a little creep, although the sear engagement appeared to be pretty small.

The trigger reach is somewhat adjustable, by turning the screw at the rear of the trigger housing.  Adjusting the trigger reach with the adjustment screw, you can change the sear engagement, so be careful.  As I said while discussing the stock, I found the trigger reach pretty good right out of the box.

The screw at the front on the trigger housing adjusts the trigger return spring.  Inside the trigger housing, is another spring that serves the same purpose, and it’s not adjustable.  If you leave that internal spring in place, you really don’t need the screw and spring at the front of the trigger housing.  You cannot really use the rifle without either of these trigger return springs though, because the trigger will remain to the rear, and not reset, and the rifle won’t cock again without pushing the trigger forward manually.  I found this out accidentally, having tried the trigger as is, making an adjustment, and then removing the non-adjustable “lawyer spring.”  Without some tension on the front trigger return spring, and no internal return spring, the trigger pull was really too light to be even remotely predictable anyway.

Avv604's Trigger Lightening Post on Meandering Blog - Details on removing the "Lawyer Spring."

The trigger housing, by the way, is not sealed, and I was able to remove the cover without any prying.  There are no tamper-resistant screws involved.  All the adjustment screws have Allen sockets, as do the screws that hold the trigger group onto the rifle action, and the screws that hold the trigger group together.

The trigger group is a tight unit with machined steel parts.  There is very little "slop" in the fit of any of the parts.

I did a little tuning, without the lawyer spring, and I think I got the trigger down to a safe 2nd stage weight of less than 10 ounces, with very little creep.  I have a trigger gage, but I’m not going to bother measuring it until I’m finished tuning.  I think I can get it a little bit lighter, and reduce the creep a little bit more.

I wish that I could get something similar to the Marauder trigger for an AR-15 target rifle.

Cleaning the Barrel
At first, I thought the flyers I was getting with the heavy Premier pellets was from less than stellar shooting (ahem), or a sitting position on the basement stairs that wasn’t so stable.  Those might have been part of it, but I figured that I should try cleaning the bore.  Reading some of the forums, I was finding reports of dirty barrels on Marauders that just came out of the box.  Sure enough, I put about 20 patches through the bore before I got a patch to come out clean.  The first few patches had smudges that were nearly black.  I had only fired about 180 rounds at that point, probably less, and the bore should not have been that dirty.

But here is where the story gets a bit. . . interesting.  To clean the bore, you sort of have to take the rifle apart.  To get a pull-through rod into the bore I had to remove the bolt.  There’s an Allen-head screw that holds the bolt in the breech.  That’s pretty easy to remove; there’s a slot in the side of the breech where you can access this screw when the bolt’s closed.  I had been warned (those forums again) that you can damage the bolt it you don’t back out the screw that’s on the top rear of the breech.  That screw controls the spring pressure on the ball detent that holds the bolt closed.  To get at that screw, I had to remove the scope, and move the B-Square Weaver adapter forward.

Bore was probably quite dirty before I even shot anything.

But wait, there’s more.  If you try to push or pull a patch through the bore without removing the shroud or the baffles, the patches will get hung up on the baffles.  So I removed the whole shroud, just to see what was going on in there.  You could also unscrew the muzzle end cap and pull out the baffles, just make sure to take note of the order of the baffles and the o-ring.  You could also try putting a drinking straw through the baffles from the muzzle end of the shroud.

Having to do all that, just to clean the bore, sucked.  It’s almost like having to remove all the suspension from a car to unbolt wheels from the backside, if you need to change or rotate tires.  Cleaning the barrel should be a pretty regular maintenance task, and it shouldn’t be so complicated. 

The Barrel Shroud
The shroud is surprisingly effective.  The report from the muzzle end is pretty much non-existent.  Pretty much all you hear when shooting is the PING of the hammer hitting the valve, and maybe the smack of the pellet hitting the target.

The shroud on my Marauder was touching the bottom of the barrel band, which probably isn’t really good, although it still shot pretty well.  Tim McMurray at Mac1Airguns has reported on one of the airgun forums that Crosman is now shipping all Marauders with the slightly larger band that they were putting on the .25cal models.  I learned that the barrel probably does touch the inside of the shroud from taking the shroud off to clean the barrel, which means that as the pressure changes in the air chamber as I shoot, it may have some impact on where the muzzle is pointing in relation to the scope.  There is a pretty simple solution to the problem, which is just to remove the barrel band altogether.

Overall Impression
I am really impressed with this pre-charged adult airgun that you can get for about $413 shipped at the moment, maybe less if you can catch them in stock at Midway, and find a coupon at RetailMeNot.  The Benjamin PCP rifles are competing with European models that cost nearly twice as much, and in some cases are matching the performance of rifles that cost more than double.

The trigger, without the lawyer spring, is NIIIIICE, after a little adjustment of the 2nd stage screw.  The stock is much better engineered than I had expected, and the sling swivel studs are a nice touch.

If you are used to Crosman's cheaper air rifles, this rifle is really nothing like that.  Except for the magazine, the baffles in the shroud, and the polymer bushings in the trigger group, there's really no plastic to be found.  For the most part, everything fits together very well.

The shroud touching the barrel band is a bit of a disappointment, although I might be able to talk Crosman into sending me one of the ones they were using on the .25cal models.  Having to take the scope off, remove a screw and bushing, and loosen another screw to clean the barrel will continue to make cleaning the bore rather tedious.

I’ll write some more about the Marauder at a later date after I get to spend some more time with it.  I’ve still got 3 different types of JSB pellets, and the Beeman field target pellets to test yet.  Eventually, I’ll get my Pact timer returned, and have it working with the sky screens as a chronograph, and I’ll be able to say how fast it shoots with various pellets, and how many useful shots it will get from a charge, and I might try adjusting fill pressure and velocity.

Airguns of Arizona - Looks like they have Marauders in stock for $399.00.
Crosman Airguns Official Website - .177 Marauder Page
Greg Davis Forum - Probably the #1 tuner of Marauder air rifles right now.  Check link for information on tuning, along with some things you can do yourself.
MarauderAirRifle.com - Some good information in the forum.

Hawaii Passed Gun Owner Protection Laws?

Got an e-mail from the Second Amendment Foundation that Hawaii passed two laws to protect gun owners recently.  One prohibits siezure of firearms in the event of a disaster; a law that came about after the mess in New Orleans after the hurricane.  The other is a "Castle Doctrine" law.

I'm a bit shocked, as Hawaii certainly isn't the most gun friendly state in the country, with discretionary carry permits, and, IIRC, a state "assault weapon" ban.

It would be nice if Sam Rohrer would get elected as governor in Pennsylvania, and my state could get some of these laws along with one that would make it illegal for an employer to fire an employee with a legal firearm locked inside their car on company property.  We are presently ruled over by "Fast Eddie" Rendel, who ranks up there with NYC Major Bloomberg in the list of anti-gun politicians.

3-Gun TV Show Coming to VS Network

FNH USA (Fabrique National.  You know.  The PS90, SCAR, FiveseveN people) are sponsoring a show to air on the Versus TV Network.  It's a 3-Gun competition show.  The show is scheduled to begin in July of this year.

From what I'm reading in America's First Freedom, the show sounds a lot like the Front Sight Challenge show that aired on Versus a few years ago, but at least it will bring a shooting TV show to those (like me) who can't get The Outdoor Channel.

UPDATE, 8/7/10:  Don't know what happened, but the show is on The Sportsman's Channel, or something like that, not Versus.