Tag: airgun

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PACIFIC AIRGUN EXPO III IS NEAR!!!!!

EVER WANT TO GO TO AN AIRGUN SHOW?

Well, your chance is coming:

Pacific Airgun Expo III
March 7 & 8, 2015
El Dorado Fairgrounds, Placerville, CA
pacificairgunexpo.com

As for myself, I enjoy going to airgun shows so much that I organized the first two Pacific Airgun Expo’s!!!

The initial Pacific Airgun Expo was held in 2011 in Roseville, CA. I started that show because there hadn’t been an airgun show nearby since the Reno show in 2001, and I got tired of waiting for someone else to put one on. As promoter for the Roseville show, I can testify that it was a lot of fun and a great success. Here’s a peek at how it went;

With the encouragement of a team of airgun enthusiasts, we moved the 2013 show further south to Fresno, CA. You may have seen it on the TV show American Airgunner;

The Fresno show was the best show ever, with field target demonstrations by the Norcal and S. Oregon clubs; a 10 meter competition by local JROTC cadets; demonstration of historic replica Austrian military air rifles by Martin Orro and Hank Elwood; airgun repair classes with Randy Bimrose; and one of the most extensive raffles you’ll see anywhere. Plus, of course, a ton of airguns, parts, optics, and accessories for sale, and airgunsmiths available to take airguns in for repair. The only disappointment was the attendance, which was down a bit from the Roseville show.

I still want to go to another airgun show, but due to health, time, and finances, am no longer in a position to organize it. That’s why I’m glad that Michael McKeown has stepped up to take it on. Michael is a long time airgunner and was a vendor at both previous Pacific Airgun Expo’s. With his airgunning background, computer and web skills, and experience in promoting other types of events, Michael is sure to bring new energy to the show.

With a new promoter, some things are bound to be different. But the core of the show, airgunners, vendors, and casual or just curious shooters coming together to buy, sell, trade, try out, learn about, get repaired, or just show off anything related to airguns, will carry on.

I’ll have a table at the show, and encourage all of you who made it to the 2011 and 2013 shows make it to this one as well. Reserve your tables early (wall tables go first), spread the word, and contact Michael to see if you can get involved. You can reach him via the website at pacificairgunexpo.com or at (707) 337-9410.

I’m looking forward to seeing you all there. Don’t miss it!!!

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Benjamin Marauder (Mrod), strip, teardown, disassemble and operation

Well, while I’m waiting for the BSA Super 10 receiver to show up, and feeling a bit more ambition lately, I shifted attention to my Benjamin Marauder in .177 cal.  I got this air rifle from Mac1 airgun shop a few months after the marauder was introduced.   It was originally in .22 cal, but I switched it over to .177 with parts from Crosman when I decided to go pcp for field target competition.   Now that the FT season is about over, I thought I’d tear it down, clean it, replace o-rings, and get my adjustments in place for winter practice.  My bi-annual airgun check-up, so to speak.

In this video, you may notice that I took out the pressure gage and block, and put a regulator in its place in the airtube using the gage opening as the regulator atmospheric air hole.  I got the regulator from Airgun Exporter a few years ago, and it still seems to work without any problems, so I’m not going to make any adjustments to it.  It puts out 130 bar to the valve, or about 1875 psi, which is a bit on the hot side, but leaves lots of room for the other adjustments.  I was getting about 40 shots per 3000 psi fill, at about 15 ft. lbs.  I wasn’t too concerned about having enough air on match days, since there is usually air at the match site.  But, I think I can tune it to get a little more velocity and ft. lbs., and  yet maintain that same shot count.   In terms of accuracy, this gun likes the JSB Exact 8.4 gr or Crosman Premier heavy pellets best.

Tuning the marauder isn’t particularly hard, but it does require quite a bit of effort to get the rifle set up the way you want it.  And a chronograph is almost mandatory;  without it, you’ll have to shoot targets after each adjustment, consuming substantially more time and air.  A chronograph saves on both, and is a worthwhile investment for any marauder rifle of pistol owner.

As an alternative, there are a number of professional tuners out there who can set up a marauder to whatever specs you want, within the limitations of the airgun or even a bit beyond.  These guys have already put in time to figure out how to get more shots, more power, more accuracy, etc.  Unless you enjoy the tinkering part of being a marauder owner, can handle the sometimes frustrating and unexpected results, and have the time and inclination, you might be better off having your airgun professionally tuned, i.e., save your time and air for shooting instead of tuning.

This video is my method of stripping the marauder rifle, and also a bit of explanation of how the factory adjustments work.  I’m always open to better methods or tools or techniques, so feel free to offer any tips you might have.   I’ll follow this up with the tuning video as soon as I get time to put it together.