When newer is not always better

[oneshot99]

A friend of mine who got me onto AirArms has asked me to find out some info for him, he does not have a computer, but an impressive collection of top of the range air rifles all from new and still looking like new, he uses and looks after them.

His rifle he owned for the longest time is an AA s410 and so accurate for the age its almost unbelievable, and beats his S510 hands down. After having tried a range of pellets (I dont know what brands, he did say but I forgot) he has settled for one which gives the best accuracy but it is still not upto par as his s410?

I am very happy with my S410, despite having difficulty with my hands (old age) and cocking the bolt but I was thinking of upgrading and liked the idea of a side lever action. But not at the price of accuracy!
So my questions are; has anyone else found the s510 not as accurate or could this be a one off sort of thing.
And what if anything can be done to make it better. It has had a few tins of pellets through it and been serviced but is still the same.

Thanks in advance

[Roger5]

Hi Oneshot, there can be problems with S510s, I have three of them, one is a BTAS Regged .22 until I scrapped the shroud and fitted mod onto barrel it was awful ( pellet clipping ) another is in .177 this was as bad, the cure for this one was to open up exit hole in moderator 8mm drill I think, after that it was fine . My advice if you still fancy one, is to get an Ultimate Sporter I have one of these the moderator is fitted to the barrel where it should have been in first place, side lever is brilliant. I use mine to do benchrest competitions, a friend of mine who had never shot my rifle before put in a score of 98/100 last wed, and I don't do bad with it either, they are nice rifles, but if you buy a standard S510 I would want to try it before I parted with my money, i know other people who have never had any problems with S510s, these are in the main people who do comps and don't use moderators, as I say they are nice rifles just be prepared. Good Luck. Rog

[oneshot99]

Hi Rog, thanks for the info, I guess there will be comments from some who are very happy with theirs its just the way it goes I suppose.
I will pass the info on and am sure it will keep him busy for hours
watch this space and i'm sure there will be more questions
thanks again

[Big Dog]

I bought an S410 back in 2005, maybe 2006, found it to be an amazing rifle and had many years of shooting with it. I bought one of the early S510's as to be honest, I fancies the side lever cocking mechanism. I sold the 510 after about a year, I much preferred the feel of the 410 and to be honest and found it to be more accurate than the 510. All these years on I still own that S410, but have parted with many other rifles. I guess that kinda say's it all.