MarauderAirRifle.com

[avv604]

Greetings All,

I have not posted here much, but I wanted to share what I have done with the Marauder. Well, after mounting a Hawke Sidewinder 8-32x56, I found I needed the high mounts (the medium mounts - I think- would put the objective on the barrel). Now my cheek rest was way too low. So - what to do now. I did not want to pay $40+ for the hardware... so after some searching and standing in the hardware isle at Lowes for 30 minutes, this is what is came up with.

For the refinishing of the stock, I took a belt sander with 120 grit to the forearm and removed the cheezy checkering and non-centered wording. I then hand-sanded out a groove for the thumb area to rest and sanded down the rest of the stock (120-200-400). It took about a week to sand everything. I cut the cheek with a jig saw.

The finish is simply six (6) coats of Tru-Oil with a light 400grit sanding between each coat. Next is a knee riser and I think I will be ready for some FT this year.

Enjoy.






And of course, my new vinyl sticker on my FT tote box... my wife cut it out for me.

[wahoowad]

Outstanding work! I really like the lighter finish. It makes the blue/black of the gun show better.

[Supercharged86]

Hey Jeff, Nice job. How did you incorporate the adjustment for cast on and cast off? How's that scope? I've been looking at them, boy that's a monster side wheel! Is that a Hawke wheel? Now that you have your high rings installed, have you measured your AO clearance out front and compared that to the heights of any the medium rings out there? Cheers. Steve

[avv604]

Hey Jeff, Nice job. How did you incorporate the adjustment for cast on and cast off? How's that scope? I've been looking at them, boy that's a monster side wheel! Is that a Hawke wheel? Now that you have your high rings installed, have you measured your AO clearance out front and compared that to the heights of any the medium rings out there? Cheers. Steve

Greetings Steve,

Thanks! I am not sure what you mean by cast on/off.

The scope - is nice and range finds well. After optically centering the scope, it seems to be a bit more clear now. I am sure it is not as good as a Busnell Elite or a Leupold, but for $300 (used), it will do for FT.

Side wheel - it is a combination of the 100mm Hawke and a toilet flange. I found the HOWTO on the Yellow forum and simply followed suit. It is not the prettiest, but it works great!
Rings - No, I have not compared them with a tape measure; however, in talking with Steve at KY Historic Salvage (where I have bought other Hawke scopes), he was of the opinion that the scope might be so close that you could not put the end cap on. So I just went with the high mounts. I am sure if I really spent some time comparing the medium mounts I could find one that works, but I don't have that kind of time.

[Supercharged86]

Jeff, Cast on and cast off is basically the movement of the comb, either away from you or towards you (as needed). I couldn't tell from your photos how you had the comb riser posts fastened to the stock, but with a Graco kit, the lower base plate that sits down into the stock has two slotted holes. This allows you to push the entire comb away from you (cast off) or towards you (cast on); just an additional way to fine tune the fit and feel of the comb to your cheek (two axis instead of one). Unfortunately, this is why the kit is $40 , but it works well. Good luck with FT. Cheers. Steve

ps. Can you post the procedures for optically centering the scope. I saw something about that a while back but can't find it.

[avv604]

Jeff, Cast on and cast off is basically the movement of the comb, either away from you or towards you (as needed). I couldn't tell from your photos how you had the comb riser posts fastened to the stock, but with a Graco kit, the lower base plate that sits down into the stock has two slotted holes. This allows you to push the entire comb away from you (cast off) or towards you (cast on); just an additional way to fine tune the fit and feel of the comb to your cheek (two axis instead of one). Unfortunately, this is why the kit is $40 , but it works well. Good luck with FT. Cheers. Steve

ps. Can you post the procedures for optically centering the scope. I saw something about that a while back but can't find it.

Steve,

The bolt threads are in the top portion and I cut off the hex head of the bolt, which goes into the bottom portion of the stock. I then used longer bushings for the bolts to fit in at the bottom. Near the top of the buttstock is the set screws. I did not want the set screws to press into the wood, so with the bushings the bolts basically stay where they are but the set screws are binding it to one direction and not pressing into the wood. There is no way to move the comb left or right, only up or down. However, I did not want to move it anyways - so it worked out. The Graco kit looks very nice, but I did not want to spend that much. I spent about $4-6 on my setup but as you state, it does have a limitation.

[avv604]

Outstanding work! I really like the lighter finish. It makes the blue/black of the gun show better.

Thank you wahoowad.