CA: Woman Sharpshooter uses Air Rifle to Defend Home

In the Eastern California town of Clovis, California, at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, Marilyn Williams, a woman who earned a sharpshooter medal in high school ROTC, scared a couple of burglars so badly that they dropped their loot and ran.

She did it with a Marauder air rifle.  The Marauder is one of the more powerful popular air rifles.  With .25 caliber pellets, the pre-charged pneumatic can reach energy levels (45 foot-pounds) about two thirds of a .22 short cartridge , one of the lowest powered firearm cartridges.  The Marauder has multi-shot capacity.  It sports a 10 shot magazine in .177 and .22 calibers, and 8 shots in the .25 caliber.  The short bolt stroke allows for rapid fire.

In practised hands, the air rifle is capable of inflicting serious injury or death on a human target.

From fox29.com : 

She got out her gun and had them in her scope; however, she decided not to fire. According to police, the two burglars ran off. Police tried to find them but the pair disappeared and are still at large.

The burglars dropped the loot from the previous burglary of an elderly couple, their own weapon, and a mask.

In the Marauder forum at marauderairrifle.com, they seem to believe the rifle used is the largest caliber Marauder, a .25.  The bore of the rifle shown in the pictures makes it seem possible, but it could be a .177 or a .22.

The Marauder has proved to be so popular that retailers are having a hard time keeping them in stock.  That says a lot about an air rifle that retails for $500!  A pump to fill the air tank runs another couple of hundred dollars.  While I expected that users would report long and difficult pumping sessions, the reviews of the rifle say that it takes effort to recharge the rifle with a pump, but that with proper technique; the effort is not exhausting.  From a review on  amazon.com:

If your curious if the Hand-pump is worth it or if you should just get an air tank... I'm 155 lbs of nothing special and I can handle the pump just fine. Yes, it takes longer to fill the gun but it also saves you a lot of money in the long run.

Another commenter at gatewaytoairguns.org notes that technique is important:

I bought my first pcp last week, a .22 marauder and I chose the hand pump route.  I also weight 140 (5'8"). 

From my research, I wasn't sure if I can pump this thing because some people had mentioned that it was very difficult. 

When I first got it, I pumped it very slowly.  It was very easy up until 2000 psi.  Then, it was very, very difficult.  I kept looking at the pressure gauge to check my progress and it was so tiring!  But, I found that my pumping technique was bad.  I was moving the pump handle slowly, but the trick is, when pumping down, it should be one quick, fluid motion.  When the handle is extended all the way up, I put all my weight into it, using my arms and kind of jump into it.  I can bring the handle all the way down very easily like this.  Also, you need to pause at the top and bottom of each stroke. 

Once I figured this out, it is very easy to pump to 3000 psi.  When I first figured it out, I accidentally, pumped a tad over 3000 because it was so much easier.

Other options for recharging the Marauder are Scuba tanks an high pressure compressors.
 
One of the reasons for the success of the Marauder is the .22 ammunition bubble.  With .22 ammunition difficult to come by, air rifles provide an alternative.  The Marauder is very capable for small game hunting, offers multiple shots, and the ammunition is available.  It is also suppressed and very, very quite.  

Another reason is that air rifles do not have the insane amount of legal restrictions that have been imposed on firearms.  Air rifles can be ordered through the mail, just like anti-tank rifles could be in the United States before 1968.

Air rifles purchasers do not have to go through the ineffective and intrusive background checks, or worry about groups of gun confiscators coming to their house, as has been happening in California.

With the success of the Marauder, it is likely that competition will increase and the price will decrease.   The Marauder started priced far lower than the existing competition of similar air rifles.  Benjamin has already come out with a synthetic stock model at a reduced price.  The Marauder is made in the U.S.A.

Marilyn Williams' use of the Marauder to defend against burglars can only add to the air rifle's popularity.

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.     Link to Gun Watch