Hi all,question about my Marauder i just bought.

[MaineJim]

First off hi to everyone here,been lurking for a while soaking up the info and really enjoying it.I  own a Diana 48 in .177,a China Beeman dual caliber,a Disco in .177  and just bought a .22 cal Marauder 2 days ago.
First impressions are that the gun is quality built well finished,easy to use and very quiet.What im having a problem with is the level of accuracy so far.At the stock settings it shoots Discovery 14.3 grain
hollow points at 870-890 fps with 2.5 k fill for 30 shots.It will put 3-4 shots in same hole at 25 yds with 1-2 flyers half to one inch away from main group in random directions.Tried cleaning the barrel and
r-seasoned with enough shots ,had no effect.I should add it has a brand new Center Point 4-16 x40mm.My Disco has the same scope and it works great.While handling the gun i noticed that the barrel band
was touching the shroud in one spot so i readjasted the 2 set screws and the shroud was free floated.After that groups improved a tad and had my first one holler at 25 yards but im still getting the flyers
although not as far from main group.Last night i downloaded the schematics/parts list and noticed that it shows an 1.5mm x 22.5mm o-ring thats supposed to be between the barrel band and the shroud,so for
now i  put 4 pieces of thin plastic the eliminate the slop in barrel band since my gun is missing the o-ring.Shooting it in the rain but from under my garage today i was getting .5 to 1 inch groups at 30 yards,
i think the gun is trying to shoot but its not up to its potential yet.My Disco certainly outshoots it ,hell my Diana and Chinese Beeman does too.Im planning to go to NAPA monday and find me an o-ring,
question is do your Marauders have it? Any other ideas are welcome,all screws on mount and scope are secure and im pretty sure the scope is not at fault.I can actually see those wild flyers on the way to the target
seems like something grabs them and yanks em off course.My first day shooting it was windy but i dont think the .22 pellets would deflect that much at 25 yds?.I shot the Disco at the same time and was shooting
better under same conditions.Anyway my apologies for first lengthy post but wanted to include as much info as i could  and would welcome your input.As far as my ability to shoot ,i can shoot a properly set rifle
in less than half an inch at 100 yds and my Anschutz .22 at .1s and .2s at 50.Forgot to add that i also tried RWS superdomes with similar results.

[daveshoot]

Have you tried it shooting without the shroud and baffles? That might eliminate or confirm whether the pellets are clipping the baffles. It will be loud but that would be an easy experiment.

Curious whether you tried the Crosman Premiers? They do seem to be this gun's favorite food for whatever reason.

I guess your description of the occasional flyers makes me think there is another cause.

[tunaboat]

Hi James and welcome.  Others with more experience than I will jump in here shortly and help with your Mrod problem.  Great bunch of very helpful and friendly people here.

[longislandhunter]

Hi James,,,

Welcome to GTA,, nice to have you with us.  Congrats on the new Marauder,, I have one in .22 also and love it.  I left mine at the factory 2500 psi settings and couldn't be happier.  I have her sighted in with CPHP's and she shoots great groups.  I'm patiently waiting for small game season to arrive here, which unfortunately doesn't open until November 1st.

Anyway, back to your question..................I would try Daves suggestion and try shooting without the baffles and shroud.  As Dave said that should tell you if you're getting clipping in the baffle area.  Before doing that though try shooting the pellets without using the clip.  Shoot a group by loading them 1 at a time by hand. If the flyers disappear then it would probably mean the pellet skirt is getting deformed during the clip loading process,,,, which can happen with some pellets depending on their skirt thickness.  

I have a question for you ...   Have you lightened the trigger pull at all ???  

Like I said, my rifle is still set up with all the factory settings,,,, with the exception of the trigger pull.  I lightened it up 2 full turns and the difference was amazing.  I didn't mess with any of the other "fine" adjustments on the trigger,,,, I just lightened it by 2 full turns.   The reason I did that was because while my rifle was shooting very accurately I was finding I was getting some flyers that were driving me crazy.  Lightening the trigger pull eliminated my flyers and helped me correct the problem.  

I love my Marauder but I have to say that I personally have found it to be a bit "trigger sensitive".  My trigger is now set to the perfect setting for me but even now if I don't concentrate and practice good trigger control I will wind up throwing a flyer.  We all know the stories, which are of course true, about how installing one of Charlies GRT triggers in a GAMO rifle literally transforms the rifle and results in greatly improved accuracy,,,,,, Well,,,, same basic principle applies to all rifles, whether they be powder burners or air rifles.  While we all know that there are a number of things that have an effect on accuracy I'm a firm believer that the major factor is trigger control.  I have found this concept to be true for me when shooting any of my rifles and handguns, both powder burners and air powered.  

Anyway, try adjusting the trigger to be a bit lighter and start shooting some groups.  I'll betcha you'll see a marked improvement.  

Well, I'll end here by saying once again..... Welcome to GTA   :)

I'll be looking forward to your future posts.....

Jeff

[MaineJim]

Hello again and thank you all for the welcoming words.
First,hi Daveshoot i did check the baffles for clipping and that wasnt it.I would think that the Discovery pellets are the same with CPHP since they are both made by Crosman.I  find em to be identical.Since they are available localy and inexpensively i bought a bunch.I do use CPHP light and heavy in my Discovery and it loves em both ,thank you for the suggestion.
Tunaboat ,thank you for the welcome.
Longislandhunter you hit the proverbial nail upside the head lol.The trigger pull was indeed pretty heavy from the factory but since i can shoot the rest of my rifles,some of which like the Beeman and the Discovery even have even heavier pulls let alone shooting revolvers double action accurately i didnt realy give it much thought.There is apparently a ''trigger sensitive'' issue with my Marauder as well just like springers tend to be ''hold sensitive''.Well before heading to work this afternoon i lightened the trigger pull as much as i could and blue locktited it.I then went outside and shot 2 five shot groups at 25 yards from my bench.
First one went into .450,second in .500 and thats all i had time for.Since those are the two best groups so far without any pesky fliers i would say that i need to get a bit more trigger time with the gun ,ive only had it for 4 days now.The gun really felt very responsive with a light trigger,its most likely it was the nut behind the trigger at fault and not the gun itself.Time will tell and more trigger time wont hurt either for sure.
Thanks guys for the welcome and your input,ill be lurking here till i have something to contribute.
Regards,James.

[MaineJim]

Just wanted to add that i weigh the pellets i use for testing and find the Discovery 14.3 gr HPs very consistent .
Roughly 95 percent of them are split evenly at 14.3 and 14.4 grains.
There are very few that are above or below those numbers and i just use em for offhand plinking.
Later, MaineJim.

[longislandhunter]

Glad things worked out for you.... no better feeling than when the pellet goes exactly where you're looking  :)

Jeff