Brass Eagle Stingray (My rating 7/10)
PT Professional (If I can ever get it to work, probably 8/10)
I've rented a Tippy Custom 98
Close friend owns a tricked Spyder Shutter
Marker Setup:
Brass Eagle Marauder 100%% Stock
Occasionally use an Adco Sight
90z tank with butt plate
Vl200 Hopper
Recommended Upgrades:
A new barrel, but don’t waste money on an extremely good one. If you're prepapred to pay $70 US on a new barrel upgrade your gun instead. Motorized hopper not recommended, (see below).
Strengths:
Say ‘hi’ to the new Stingray. The new Marauder is app. $109 CDN (i.e. dirt cheap), but I'm more than satisfied. It is lightweight & plastic, but certainly not flimsy or fragile. With a 9oz & a full hopper it is well balanced & easy to aim. I fired about 200 rounds at a yard-sign target at 50ft and missed only 5-6 times, and most of those were during rapid fire tests. Ball trajectory & velocity was very consistent: ball groupings on slow fire were very tight. Stock barrel is accurate enough for this kind of gun. It is a dream to strip & clean, compared to tapping out the pins in a Stingray with a screwdriver & hammer.
Weaknesses:
Brass Eagle is honest when it states the Marauder’s max bps is 5. When we attached my friends Ricochet 2k hopper to this marker, we experienced frequent ball chopping. The Marauder also chops balls with a standard hopper, but usually only we you are gunning for more than 5bps. A motorized hopper would probably be pointless for this gun. Installation of an expansion chamber might be tricky; the instructions are vague about detaching the bottom-line. Unfortunately I don’t own a chronograph, but I’m pretty sure the Marauder fires low out of the box, probably near 200fps.
Conclusion:
I guess Brass Eagle listended to its critics and actually got things right this time. I can't fault the Marauder for its low ROF because it's just an entry-level gun. In many ways the Marauder is a clone of the PMI Traccer, but it's a better value because it is selling for less already in some markets. If your looking for a sub-$70 US gun this marker is definately the best I've seen or used for this price range. It is twice as good as a Stingray.
