Winter 2012

The typical 7.5-grain .17 caliber pellets (left) pale in both size and weight to the Crosman 28-grain .25 caliber pellets (right).

Pressure (psi)

3,000 2,900 2,800 2,750 2,700 2,500 2,400 2,200 2,000 2,000 1,900 1,800 1,400 1,100 Page 108 Winter 2012

Crosman Benjamin .25 Marauder 3-Shot Group

(50-yds) 1"

½ " ½ " ¾ " ⁹⁄₁₆" ⁷⁄₁₆" 1 ¹⁄₁₆" 1 ⅛ " 1" ¾ " 1 ¹⁄₁₆" 2 ¼ " 2 ⅝ " 1 ⅝ "

Muzzle Velocity (fps)

742 745 738

745 753 752

756 756 756

756 760 765

770 767 762

778 775 777

771 788 786

787 784 781

774 611 774

766 759 754

747 584 736

725 717 712

702 695 686

537 652 641

prevent any leakage of the air from the rifl e, from the pump, or the connection between the two. If you are opposed to the exercise needed to pump up the rifl e there are a couple of alternatives that can be substituted for the hand pump. Cros- man sells high-pressure compressed air tanks specifi cally designed to fi ll pcp airguns. Once one of these tanks is fi lled to its capacity of 4,500 psi, usually at a paintball facility, it is capable of charg- ing a rifl e from 10 to 29 times before needing to be replenished with air. An- other method would be to use a scuba diving tank for an air supply. In this case a specialized adapter will be necessary to make the connection, which also is available for purchase from Crosman. When a comparison is made be-

tween a .17 caliber pellet and that of the Crosman .25 caliber, the difference is a substantial one. While some .17 caliber pellets weigh only about fi ve grains, the most common ones run about seven and a half grains. That means that it would take nearly four of the .17s to equal the weight of a single 28-grain .25 caliber Crosman pellet. Clearly, in order to get a pellet of that size moving in a fl at trajectory manner, it takes a siz- able amount of pressure. That is where the Benjamin’s 2,900 psi comes in. The factory brochures indicate the rifl e is capable of muzzle velocities of up to 900 fps. As my rifl e came preset from the factory it didn’t quite reach that level of performance, but in many cases it came close to the 800 fps mark. While there are procedures covered within the Cros- man owner’s manual that would allow a user to adjust the fi ll pressure of the rifl e, and I’m assuming that that would equate into higher muzzle velocities, I saw no need to do so. I found the 800 fps muzzle velocity adequate to provide the performance I was looking for. Crosman offers two different pel-

let designs for their .25 caliber rifl e. I shot the domed point version, but the company also produces a pointed ex- panding pellet, which also weighs about 28 grains. Using the domed point pellet, I was impressed by the domed point’s accuracy, capability to mushroom at 50 yards, and later on the amount of tissue damage it produced on critters the size of cottontails. Possibly the pointed ex- panding pellet may have worked a little better on game, but, like the ol’ saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fi x it.”

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