Sharpshooter Marilyn Williams 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.