Inconsistent accurancy of .22 caliber barrels

[RayK]

On the other hand, the 25 Marauder is consistently a very precise airgun.

I'm really glad I got one. It does produce a louder report and gets fewer shots per fill, but the accuracy and knockdown power are amazing.

Ray

[CraigLJ7]

I just purchased a .22 Marauder three days ago. Shoots great! I've only tried one type of pellet so far, CPH, 14.3g. I'm shooting at 25 yards with bipod mounted. Shoots in same hole when I hold still. Getting dime size groups and I'm only an average shooter. Before I purchased the .22 I spoke with Crosman because I was a little concerned about the accuracy reports. I was assured that the problem was resolved. I can say, with regards to what my gun is shooting, there are no issues now. Great gun, loads of fun!

[Sandspike]

I'm glad to know Im having trouble with my 22 Mrod. I'm getting dime size groups at 20 and quarter at 50 yard with my aweful flooting factory barrel. I guess I got a lemon.

[RayK]

You guys got lucky. There are many more 22s that still scatter pellets. If you read the forums (and there are many of them) there are still folks buying 22 Marauders that can't get any pellet to group well. It seems to me, about 20% of the 22 barrels shoot well. That leaves 80% that do not. And some of those customers are not that picky about accuracy. I read about guys who are happy with dime group at 10 yards.

The 25 Marauders typically shoot dime size groups at 50 yards. Honestly, I would not be content with quarter size groups at 50 yards. But my 22 M-rod at best would shoot 1" groups at 30 yards. With other quality pellets it would shoot 1.5 to 1.75" groups - and I bought it just last Spring. And I bought one then only because Crosman had assured us all they had fixed the barrel problems.... Yea right.

Ray

[Motorhead]

Reading posts and keeping an eye on pellets shot that scatter ... there is a large percentage that simply expects Crosman / Benjamin pellets to perform best being rifle is made my them

Having had three .22 barrels that ALL shot great with specific pellets, ONLY 1 was not pellet picky and so happened to have the greatest degree of muzzle choke present BTW

So ... read all you do on dud .22 barrels, you can toss out many of those complaints because the owners simply refuse too, or have little to no access to quality pellets such as H&N or JSB to shoot threw there rifles

JMO ... nuttin more

[RayK]

But Scott, are you talking about fully stock barrels or did you do some polishing first, then find the pellet that was accurate enough? I suspect the latter. Tuners will do a barrel recrown and inlede polishing which I believe is almost required for stock Crosman barrels (that guy getting quarter groups at 50 would see his groups shrink to dime if he did). But the 25 Marauder barrel seems good from the factory - probably because it is made by another company. If you look at the 25 barrel, the machining is a work of art and the barrel is beautifully polished/finished. The 22 or 177 barrels look like they were pulled right off the milling/turning machines, then sent to bluing.

It is true that we never know what pellets Joe Internet tried or how good of a shot he is when he comes on and complains about poor groups. And I've also seen plenty of folks who are happy with being able to hit a can at 30 or 40 feet which is really just a chip shot for high-end PCP pellet guns. I use 50 yards as my max range where I expect to be able to reliably hit and kill a squirrel. I mostly shoot them at 30 to 35 yards and occasionally out to nearly 100 yards, but if I can't kill them consistently at 50 yards with good pellets and a solid rest, I'm getting a new barrel or getting rid of the gun.

Ray

[Motorhead]

Sure .... all valid points
Before I started to tweak my first .22 m-rod shot it bone stock with local store avalible pellets ( RWS super points - Crosman - Beeman etc ... ) being not too impressed. Thus the web search for info finding out about the better pellets and choices to be had via mail order.
Only then once following suggestions to use JSB 18.1's and H&N Barracuda 21's did the rifle begin to really put a smile on my face

So in that ... my statements a few posts up does put in perspective what I suspect many simply never do chasing accuracy potential from there rifles.
* Make no mistake AM NOT stating the .22 barrel don't have issues !! .... clearly they widely do

If I were not such an AG enthusiast could very easily be VERY upset that my rifle required $18-$25 tins of 500 count pellets to shoot decently when Crosman premiums cost $8 at wally world

It's all relative pending ones view point.

[steveinla]

We don't need a fancy new stock. WE NEED ACCURACY!!!! The .177 and .22 barrels SUCK!!! OK, some of them shoot well, but many more don't. Why aren't you guys getting Green Mountain to make the barrels for the .177 and .22. Use the .25 barrel blanks so as to give stability with the thicker cross section. Many of us are frustrated and have lost respect for crosman as a result. I personally don't own and will not purchase a .177, or .22 Marauder as long as the accuracy is in question.

Look at RayK. He has helped many people here on the forum tune their Marauders. Yet he can't get an accurate .22 Marauder. The least you guys could do is send him an accurate .22 Marauder, (do a trade in.) He's certainly earned that much from all of the "customer support" and Marauder promotion he has provided your customers.

R, Steve

[Sandspike]

Motorhead is on target. IMHO Crosman should have contracted Green Mountain to make the Gen1 Mrod .22 barrels as well as the .25. I have both and the .25 is an awesome gun. My .22 shot randomly without a shroud spacer. The space filler improved things but it still was not satisfactory. 50 cent groups with 4 inch flyers at 40 yards. So after 5 months of tweeking it, I called Crosman Customer Support. They reluctantly sent me a new barrel but really wanted me to send them the gun. When I removed the old barrel I was surprised to see grinding marks in the area of the rear shroud mount and the indents for the set screws were not square with the barrel. Crown looked poorly done. IMHO a factory second (or third). The new barrel looked perfect so I installed it. (twice because I had to take it back out to get that damn bolt O ring in ) Now Dime groups @ 40 with the occasional flyer half inch out. Not bad with CPHPs from WallyMart. I tried 6 other pellets and it still preferred CPHPs. So now I have a great shooter with cheap ammo....Happy Happy Happy

Remember this is a Gen 1 Mrod. I have read that the Gen 2s are much better. Not all of the Gen1s had a problem. I just think they had a QC problem and let bad barrels slip into assembly. A cursory inspection should have culled my first barrel. But lemons are made by every manufacturing company. I bet you can even get a lemon from Daystate. Crosman's Customer support makes up for all of this. They have Customer Support that all others should aspire to be like.

Buy the 22 and if you don't like it....send it straight back to Crosman and they will make it right. That's what I think anyone can and should do.

[Blind Squirrel]

I bought a used .11 gen 1. If it turns out that it has a "bad" barrel on it, what other barrels are out there? Does Green Mountain make one for the .22 Mrod that can be purchased?