.22 Air Arms s410 Carbine Review pt2

I bought and reviewed the s410 very early on this year, which really could only be a cosmetic review. Now that I have owned and used it for nearly a year, I can give a more comprehensive practical review of this classic air rifle.

.22 Air Arms s410 carbine with Bushnell Trophy 3-9x40 scope.

This particular S410 is a pre-anti tamper model from 2002; the serial number to tell you this can be found on the hammer housing below the breech on the right hand side. 

Air Arms will be happy to let you know the age of your rifle.

The bolt handle on the right hand side curves upwards, almost as if someone had put a left handed bolt handle on by mistake, but this was how they were fitted from the factory for a short period. I perfer it this way as it feels a lot more solid and easier to use, it sticks out more but you can just tap it up with your palm and pull back. To cock and cycle the mag you need to use clear defined motions with a firm hand.

Bolt sticks out, but I actually prefer it that way.

There is no safety on the trigger blade which shows it's an earlier model, so I got into the habit of not cocking the rifle until I needed to take a shot. The trigger is two stage and adjustable in both, though it is set up perfectly as it is. There is is a shortish first stage travel and the second stage let off is crisp, predictable, and relatively light. I don't have any equipment to measure the trigger pull but I know a good trigger when I feel one!

Old style trigger with no safety, but still has all the adjustment you could ever want.

The Air Arms moderator is very good and on firing the rifle is whisper quiet, in fact the spring and hammer are heard over the report.  It slips over the end of the barrel and is secured with a grub screw, the fitting is 10 mm diameter.

Air Arms moderator

The barrel band at the front is secured by two grub screws and can shift if the moderator is knocked hard enough; this is sorted by loosening the grub screws, letting the barrel reset itself, then locking it in place by tightening the grub screws. You know this has happened if your POI has shifted over to the left or right for no apparent reason, though you can buy after market barrel bands that have three grub screws to hold it in place more securely.

One of the two barrel band securing grub screws,

Accuracy is very good, with the selection of .22 pellets I have tried in it so far giving half inch groups at 40 yards. Shots were taken sat down with my elbows supported on my thighs so could be improved upon if bench rested.

Pellets in order of accuracy.               Muzzle energy.

Air Arms diabolo's 16gr                            11 ft/lb

H&N Field Trophies 14.65gr                      11.3 ft/lb

Falcon Accuracy Plus 13.65gr                    10.2 ft/lb

RWS Superdomes 14.5gr                          10.5 ft/lb

Falcon Accuracy Plus being a lighter pellet will give less muzzle energy than a heavier pellet.

Until I recently got a new chronoscope I had been charging the rifle to 185 bar, shooting six or seven mags of 10 pellets, then topping up the cylinder when I got back home. The guage on the rifle will only give you a rough idea of how much air you have, after seven mags the rifle guage reads 100 bar but the more accurate pump guage reads 115 bar. One time air pressure in the rifle got so low that it dumped the rest of the air over the two hours before I got home to refill it, and this is why I now shoot no more than seventy shots.

 

On board pressure guage gives a rough guide.

I ran a shot string through the chronoscope recently with 5,51 AA diabolo's starting at 195 bar, pellets were straight from the tin and some of their skirts were not that round either. I measured one shot in every five, removing the mag and dry firing the other four. 18 shots were recorded giving the equivalent of a 90 shot string, I was mildly surprised and very happy with the results as there was only an extreme spread of 12 FPS.

The magazine is indexed by the rifle itself from a unit that runs along the right hand side of the action, and although the mag in it's plastic casing looks like a spring loaded magazine, it's not. 

Pellets are loaded nose first through the hole in the yellow plastic.

The casing keeps the pellets in the mag and helps it slide into the action and lock it in place, though sometimes the bolt slips forwards a little if not held back, and clashes with the mag when loading it. 

The tip of the bolt can get in the way of the magazine if you're not careful.

Pulling the bolt back to change mags also cocks the rifle, so fitting a full mag will leave the rifle cocked and ready to fire. I usually leave the last chamber empty then fit the mag returning the bolt; firing the empty chamber leaves it ready to cock and load the next pellet and acts as a safety. Filling the mag with most .22 pellets is simple as they fall in leaving it free to click on to the next chamber, however pellets that are 5.52 mm tend to need a nudge in from the head of the next pellet to be loaded.

 

The brass pin moves up to cycle the magazine when cocking the rifle.

The rifle is light and has a compact feel to it even with the moderator fitted, with a bipod fitted it would need a sling but I am in no immediate rush for one. I have found that it's size and weight make it easy to carry over the most treacherous of ground, and it comes to the shoulder and aquires target easily whether standing, supported, kneeling, or prone. What would be a vast improvement would be an adjustable butt pad; the rifle tends to sit high in my shoulder most of the time. Everything else fits really well; the length of pull, the fit of the pistol grip, and the chequering on the forestock and pistol grip works well and is not too obtrusive on the laquered beech stock.

Simple chequering gives good grip, even when wet.

The Bushnell Throphy 3-9x40 scope has got to be the best scope I own, most of my other scopes are Nikko Sterling and as good as they are, you can see how much better this one is. The quality of the lenses is absolutely amazing by comparison, though to look at externally the low turrets would be the only indication that this is a more expensive scope. 

A rather splendid Bushnell Trophy scope.

The sight picture is crystal clear and at 9 mag there is no distortion around the rim of the lens, it transmits plenty of light well into dusk and in dark woods which is where I do a lot of shooting. It has a very fine half mil dot recticule, this also makes for a good aquisition of target in low lighting. It's sighted for 8 and 30 yards, around 20 yards is a mil dot above, 38 yards is a mil dot below and 45 yards is two generally.

Just to show the half mil dot recticule, the sight picture is really crystal clear. Honestly.

Admittedly I don't tend to shoot things as far out as I do my other Air Arms PCP which is the Shamal, but that one is .177 and the S410 is .22; the larger calibre with it's more pronounced trajectory hits home with more authority. There is room for improvement but Air Arms have addressed this over the years by bringing out the S510 and then the Ultimate Sporter, and the quality is reflected in the prices for these air rifles

Air Arms Shamal, one solid, accurate air rifle.

One niggle I do have is that when the end cap is removed to fill the rifle with air, if you are not careful the adapter on the pump can scratch the underside of the moderator when taking it off after charging. I have have to be really careful when doing this, although I could just wrap a piece of cloth around the moderator to protect it which is the better option all round.

Scuff marks on the moderator are caused when removing the charging adaptor.

So there you have it, a review on the Air Arms s410 Carbine after using it for ten months. I could have shown you some groupings with different pellets at different ranges, but truth be told the rifle easily outperforms my ability as a marksman.

TTFN

Best wishes, Wing Commander Sir Nigel Tetlington-Smythe.

Webley Hawk Mk II Accuracy

And General Handling.

4x32 Range Right scope fitted to the Webley Hawk and one unimpressed pooch

Now i'm happy with how the Webley Hawk is performing after a little tinkering, it's time to see just how accurate she can be with what ever .177 pellets i have. All pellets sit deep in the breech when loading, but there is no more than 10 FPS variation in velocity. I perfer pellets to sit firm and flush in the breech, but in this case i'm going to have to make a tool to seat them the same depth each time which should reduce some of the variation in velocity. I always felt that deep seating a pellet increases the transfer port size and effects a rifles power, though that is not always the case.

Making dinner while changing the main spring

With both inner and outer Relum main springs fitted the rifle takes a little more effort to cock than before, though i'm happy to note that it hasn't made the rifle any harsher to fire. 

Inner and outer Relum spring replacing the tired original with top hat, the inner spring bound up with the top hat.

To much preload to guide by hand

Blood on spring compressor to prove the point.

A block of wood helped guide the spring.

Fitted on 1st attempt.

The trigger has no first stage travel and breaks cleanly without pulling the shot, just like my other 1970's British springers. The off hand balances the rifle about four inches in front of the trigger guard, 

Point of balance shows the rifle is front heavy.

 this is at the end of the the cocking slot on the stock which is pretty long because of the one piece cocking link. 

Very long cocking slot.

The rifle is front heavy because it sits in a Mk III stock and not the Mk II it should have, 

Trigger catches on the Mk III trigger guard.

and because of this i turned the trigger guard around to give the trigger some clearence. 

Before.

After, trigger doesn't catch on the guard.

Though whether this gives the rifle a little more pull length i'm not sure, it's certainly comfortable for me to shoulder and my cheek rests on the combe without having to stoop my neck.

Because the rear sight is not adjustable for windage until i can repair it and probably fill a whole blog on it's own, 

Rear sight in need of repair.

i fitted the Range Right 4x32 scope which gives a clear and crisp view as it did to great effect when i used it for hunting with the Sharp Innova. 

4x32 scope will sight the rifle.

It's just unfortunate i only have barrel cleaning rods for .22 as the barrel could do with a good clean, though i do have a brass wire brush in .177 i will have to wait till i get some cleaning patches to clean it properly.

The brass brush alone will not clean the barrel thouroughly.

Using a left over cardboard box as a target and for sighting in the scope i went down the woods where it wasn't blowing a gale, 

Old boxes left over from Xmas are good for target practice.

five shots had it sighted in enough for me to test the grouping. I hadn't cleaned the barrel so whatever groups i achieved would improve when i got around to cleaning it, but for now it would give me a fair idea of how it would shoot even though my off hand wasn't in exactly the same place for all shots. Out of the AA Diabolo's, H&N Field Trophies and Geco Wadcutters i found the 

In the woods and ready for target practice.

Geco's to be the most accurate at 15 yards, giving me a two pence size group every time if i sat with my back to a tree holding the rifle gently and supporting my off hand on my knee. 

Pretty good for 15 yards with a dirty barrel.

There was very mild surge and recoil so following through was easy. however at 30 yards there was too much crosswind and the wadcutters loose it at that distance. What i did discover was that the scope had crept back 3 mm along the dovetails while testing the rifle, i suppose i will have to fit it more securely next time or invest in a scope stop.

Have to do something about that scope shift.

Happy with these results i headed back home where i cleaned the barrel by pushing a .177 brass wire brush through the barrel, using some Map Pro 7 gun cleaning oil on the end of 3 mm thick metal wire being careful not to touch the rifling. I repeated this about ten times then pushed through small squares of dried baby wipes, the first one came out filthy so i repeated this till they came out clean. 

Yep! that barrel was pretty dirty alright.

Looking down the barrel i could see a marked difference as it was now clean an very shiney, all i need to do now is put some pellets down it to coat the rifling before i test it again. I also need to take it out more often so i can find a hold that is constant from shot to shot, as with all my springers that would be supporting the stock in front of the trigger guard with my off hand.

Ready for a retest.

Now all i have to do is wait for a less blustery day or find a more sheltered part of the woods, until then..

TTFN

Wing Commander Sir Nigel Tetlington-Smythe

Trigger reassembly

This is how safety, sear, trigger, and two springs should sit inside the trigger housing.

Slide in safety, fit spring in sear pin hole then fit in housing,  with the aid of needle nose pliers line up spring loop over the sear hole and safety hole in trigger housing, then insert pin.. Sear pin first, followed by safety pin.

Fit circlips to secure pins.

Use pliers to get sear in correct position and fit trigger with return spring in place, then insert pin through housing hole, safety, and trigger.

Fit final circlip to the trigger and you should be ready to go, if not just try it again till you get it right eventually.

And that's how it's done

Adjusting Down the Power on the .177 Air Arms Shamal

They don't build them like this any more, or if they do it costs a mint.

Now i have a chronoscope i have been checking all my air rifles for power output, i also found it useful for diagnosing and confirming problems i thought i might of had. When it came to putting the Air Arms Shamal through it's paces i was very pleased with it's shot to shot velocity with very little FPS variation, and filling up to 185 bar started me at the best place in the power curve. The only thing that had me concerned was H&N field trophies would produce 11.9 ft/lb, therefor a heavier pellet could put me over the UK legal limit of 12 ft/lb.

Air Arms Shamal, the most accurate rifle i have come across to date.

When the Shamal was first introduced in 1989 it came with ability to adjust the tension on the hammer spring slightly, allowing your pellet of choice to perform just below the legal limit. However that wouldn't wash nowadays as the police will test your rifle with a variety of pellets, so i thought better play it safe and tune the Shamal down a tad. What follows is what i did to achieve this, if you own a Shamal use this information wisely.

The stock comes away from the gun by removing three screws with different heads, this has to be removed to get access to the adjustment port at the rear of the hammer spring. At the front is a hex head screw that connects to the support band, this also is used to attach slings and bipods. 

Front stud for sling and bipod.

 Further up is a flat head screw, this one connects to in front of the trigger below the action. It's best to use the widest head you can that fills the whole channel, ill fitting screwdrivers can damage the screwhead. You can get proper gunsmith screwdrivers but they cost a bomb, any decent multi head screwdriver set should have one wide enough. They have the advantage of having the blade head the same length as the diameter of the shaft, full contact with the head is a bonus in any situation.

Main bearing center flat head screw.

Next is a hex head screw which is accessed through a hole at the front of the trigger guard, this screw also connects the stock to the gun itself.

Tricky little hex screw through trigger guard and stock

Finally in order to remove the stock the whole trigger guard needs to be removed, there is a smaller star head screw at the rear of the trigger guard that secures it to the stock. 

Final star screw to remove trigger guard.

Unfortunately i did not have a star head of the right size but was able to use a hex head instead, though i wouldn't suggest using this method repeatedly and i don't intend to.

Trigger guard removed.

And gently lift the action out.

Now the gun will simply lift out of the stock giving full access to the plastic dust cover in the adjustment port at the rear of the spring and hammer housing, which i was able to prize out with my thumb nail instead of something thin like feeler gauges.

Not easily noticable but there is the dust cover.

First i had to remove a locking grub screw that has a hex head before i could get to the adjustment screw, which is also adjusted with a hex head but a tad smaller.

 

locking grub screw between action and dust cover.

Looking face on to the rear of the gun, turning the screw anti-clockwise releases tension on the hammer spring and only needs small adjustments to make a difference. 

Best picture i could get of the adjustment screw deep inside.

 I first turned it a 180 degrees and put a H&N over the chronoscope, this was too much as the muzzle velocity was reading 10.9 ft/lb. 

Make sure you turn it anti clockwise to reduce the power.

Turning the screw clockwise 90 degrees gave me the reading i wanted of 11.4 ft/lb which is pretty much the at top of the power curve, i would imagine this would now perform under 12 ft/lb with heavier pellets. 

11.51 ft/lb, nice and legal.

But as i don't use them apart from Crosman Premier heavies in the SMK multi pump i couldn't really test them, besides the Premier Heavies are a hard pellet and give less muzzle energy than the H&N's when used in the Shamal. The SMK multi pump can chew pellets with thin skirts, so likes the more solidly constructed pellet.

Now the Shamal was performing with a more pleasant muzzle velocity i fitted and tightened the locking grub screw then popped in the dust cover, fitting the stock was a matter of reversing the instructions for removal.

The Air Arms Shamal is an incredibly accurate single shot PCP air rifle which i use for excellent results when hunting, it would be really good if used in FT or HFT as i can hit the Knockdown target at 45 yards when using the correct breathing technique. This is i have to admit , my favorite air rifle in my collection and you wouldn't be able to pry it from my cold dead fingers. It's quite heavy at over 10 lbs with scope and lamp fitted, but it's built to an excellent standard and i find it easy to shoot as i can lug it around using the sling the rest of the time. I can sleep easy now , knowing my favorite air rifle is safe and legal.

TTFN

Wing Commander Sir Nigel Tetlington- Smythe.