Air Arms 410E Review

Overall Rating

Quiet
Consistent power
Accurate
Appearance
Balanced

Heavy cap
Magazine doesn't consistently finish it's rotation

In March '04 the S410E box arrived from SS, this simple air rifle, in walnut stock with it's long slender pratical lines, is beautiful. My hands rest where the stock is checkered and the stock molds to my cheek comfatably. The 1st shot took place before anticipated as the trigger releases at 1 lb. of pressure; smooth as glass. The retort is quiet and one needs to check his pine 2 by 4s' to realize it's magnum power. JSB pellets are this rifles' soulmate. Though only a 7 lb. gun, I replaced the large heavy airfill valve cap with a lighter 1 from an s200 saving an ounce off the front end. The cocking requires a strong arm yet has become acceptable after a 1,000 round break in. Every step of the cocking action needs to be deliberate, not rushed. Occassionally, there's a 'mush feel' when cocked back. Then I need to touch the side of the brass rotating arm, it'll give a tiny ping and then, and only then, the bolt is ready to chamber a pellet. If I fail to do this, 1 step trips up on another step. All I can do when this happens, is to load 2 pellets into the chamber and fire 'em into the dirt. This rarely occurs, and as I sense it beforehand, can act to prevent the double loading. Other than that, the 10 round mag works pretty good. I'm only seeing a 1/2" drop at 50 yds. over a 30 round shoot, from 185 bar down to 140. With a 4x-12x Burris ballistic plex, my best 10 shot group at 50 yds. could be covered by a dime. A nickel would cover 8/10 of my best 70 yd. group with the other 2 shots about an 1 & 1/4" high. Today my 282nd ground squirrel skittered over a rise and peered at me from 70 yds with only his head showing. It was just the shot I had practiced the day before, I felt steady, the air became still, I placed the 2nd mill dot down right beside his eye, and gave a little pull; 4 paws up! With the performance of a S410E, somedays you'll spend extra time rubing oil onto your gun.

Members' Comments onRandy of the Redwoods's Review

• ragkar on 19th Jul 2004

  Your trigger is a bit on the light side. I'm told that 2 pounds is considered light, though some match rifles go to 4 ounces. Seems like you're having magazine indexing problems. I have the same problem with my three AirArms yellow cover magazine. But no such problem with my two Hyteck magazines. I've developed the habit of holding the magazine in with my left hand as I cock the gun. If you have a false feed, e.g. when you pull the trigger before sliding the handle back, you should remove the magazine, index it backwards to an empty slot and then cock and fire the pellet out of the gun.

• Randy of the Redwoods on 21st Dec 2004

  Borris repaired my 410E, said a small spring was missing inside. It now is easier to cock and there's no need to check whether the mag finished its rotation. Ragkar, before I sent my rifle to be repaired, your advice was taken and proved useful, thank you. The 1 lb. trigger has me spoiled. It was relatively easy to polish the surfaces and reset it, with a lessen travel and keeping the 1 lb release.

• nzPete on 26th May 2005

  Hey Randy, no offence man but you need a woman. That gun sounds almost toooo sexy! How much did it cost you?
  Pete.