by B.B. Pelletier
Today, I’ll mount a scope on the Air Arms S410 sidelever and give you the particulars for that. But first, let me clear up some things since the initial post.
Why does the fill device look like that?
Bill Sanders of Air Arms contacted me and gave me the story about the fill device. A number of Air Arms PCPs that were sent to Japan were having trouble with the fill device due to rust and corrosion. Because they are in Japan, the company has to deal with the problem long-distance, so they decided to reengineer the fill device. They made the fill port on the rifle from stainless steel and the separate adapter from bronze. They also put a sintered bronze screen inside the fill port to keep dirt out of the gun.
Bill also told me Air Arms put ball bearings in the cocking linkage, which is why it is so easy to operate. Little touches like that do cost more, but once you try them, you usually forget the price.
Keeping track of the pellets
I mentioned in part one that there was no way to know when the gun was out of pellets, but reader Chase told me to examine the magazine closely and I’d see a dot. Wherever you position this dot (so it can be seen) when you insert the magazine, when it comes around to that place again, you are out of pellets. I also have developed a feel of the loading lever for when there is a pellet and when there isn’t, so the dot isn’t needed anymore. Thank goodness for that, because it’s hard for me to see.
The ammo reminder is a dot at 7 o’clock on the edge of the metal cylinder inside the plastic. It may be colored red, but I’m red-green colorblind and it looks black to me.
And which S410 sidelever rifle am I testing?
This one I thought I had covered, because all my links lead to the same beech-stocked rifle. So there’s no doubt, and so you can also see how it looks with the scope mounted, I’m showing it to you now.
I mounted a Swift 6-18x50mm scope, which is a good match for this rifle.
The scope must straddle that magazine
Everyone who looks at this rifle notices that the magazine stands proud of the receiver. This is typical for most repeaters that have a revolving cylinder. It means you need to use 2-piece mounts, and they have to be high enough to clear the bottom of the scope. As you can see in the picture, B-Square adjustable high rings work fine. Because the magazine goes in from the side, there are no issues of clearance above the mag housing.
The scope easily straddles the magazine. I could have used a medium-height mount and still had clearance.
How to adjust the adjustable scope mounts
You have to give each scope mount at least a half turn of elevation for the gimbal action to work (I guess we really need that scope primer, don’t we?). On PCPs that normally do not have barrel droop, I give the front ring a half turn and the rear a full turn. That gives the scope an ever-so-slight downward slant that is usually right on. I pretty much center the posts on the split-rings (these are adjustable scope mounts) which also centers the scope. If the barrel sticks out straight from the receiver and if the dovetails are machined parallel to the bore, the scope will be close to right on.
I’m using a powerful scope
Because the S410 can reach out there, I selected a Swift 6-18×50 scope. It’s clear enough for long-range shooting, yet this particular scope doesn’t weigh much. It has a 1″ tube, so it isn’t as bright as some of the newer 6-18x scopes with 30mm tubes; but on a bright range, it does all right.
In our next installment, we’ll go to the range.
hey bb,
i know what you are saying about the feel of the pellets loading. On the airwolf i can tell when its empty and when its my last shot! The mag stops on the last shot so you can feel the dead motionless mag as the probe goes to the barrel! There is NO tension on the last shot.
-sumo
Hey BB
Whats your method to align correctly the scope reticicle and the gun? Always i mount a scope the reticicle seems clearly not aligned with the gun!
Thanks, Gabriel
Gabriel.
I align the scope by eye. I try to bisect the receiver with the vertical reticle. You have to learn to hold the rifle the same way every time or this won’t work. It works best on guns that have a flat bottom on the forearm.
If any one is interisted I have a Talon SS with CO2 and extras for sale.
Contact me at f22raptor@tcq.net
Is pelligun oil really flammable? I tried lighting it up with a lighter, no go… odd am I doing something wrong? did they change the formula?
Can you light 30 weight oil with a lighter?
Bryan, et al.,
Don’t try to light it flat on the floor (no heat there). Get it on a rod or somethinjg.
B.B.
ha ha you can’t light a lighter facing down either. I had it tilted to the side, and the lighter was also slightly tilted.
ok bb
i never really thought you were tom gaylord but now i have my doubts. this might spoil it for some people (sorry). in todays post you mention you are red-green colorblind. in tom gaylords podcast (also released today) tom mentions he is red- green color blind- twice! thats my take on it. well i guess we’ll find out on thursday 🙂
Nate in Mass
I don’t believe a 30mm tube has any direct correlation to scope brightness, only to point of impact adjustment range.
Nate,
yep, bb is tom gaylord! Im almost sure. They also have both shot the best groups with skan guns. Its not THE most accurate gun, yet they both have shot the best groups with that gun. i also saw tg and bb mix up thr names when sighning at the end of some posts. The color blind thing is solid too!
Did we find them all? Or are thr other things that say bb is tom gaylord or tom gaylord is bb?
-sumo
Lets all hope that bb’s unveiling doesn’t also include stepping away from authoring this blog.
Hey BB,
What do you think about a Weihrauch HW30S I am thinking of getting one from Canada for $223.03 (US dollars)
I know the Beeman (importer) HW30 is a cheaper (can I say that?) version of the R7, its missing the Rekord trigger. But the HW30S has the trigger, is this a good buy?
In a scope where all things are the same but the tube diamiter…
i bet my life that the 30mm is brighter.
BUT…
i think that brightness has more to do with the optical quality of the scope. Coatings, grade of glass, etc.
-sumo
I hope bb doesnt stop this blog, or turn it over to another person. When people such as myself and nate (i can only speak for myself but i think he would agree) try to solve this before this thursday it is only because its a Mystery, and i love to solve a Mystery.
-sumo
sumo,
i agree completly. it worked out great when people didnt bother wondering who the author is and staying objective to the topic. i hope it doesent change the way people think about the blog. i just wanted to point out that simmilarity. im sure this blog has inspired many people (me) and ecouraged the safe and educated shooting of airguns. please keep up the good work bb!
Nate in Mass
ehh…i have strong doubts with what you 2 are saying(nate and sumo). if you read the way they describe a gun, they both have different takes on stuff. they each have their own preferences, and regardless to whatever airgun standards ppl try to judge a gun by, their feelings for a gun always shine through…read some reviews from tom, and bb, that are done on the same gun…you’ll see what i mean.
DED
30mm scope,
Yes, the 30mm scopes are brighter because of their size. The internal lenses are larger diameter, allowing more light to pass through them.
B.B.
Bryan,
Because it’s Canadian, the HW30S has to be limited to below 500 f.p.s., but if you don’t mind that, go for it!
B.B.
Exit pupil size (Objective lens diameter/Magnification), the number and quality of lens elements, and the quality of coating are what determine the scope’s brightness.
The nice folks at SWFA host the following forum:
http://www.opticstalk.com/
Click on F.A.Q. to see several discussions on light transmission and tube size.
Hey BB they sell a down graded version and a unmodified version!
Hi BB!
About you being color-blinded, I read somewhere that people with dyschromatopsia can distinguish camoflage, like spoting cammo soldiers on a jungle. Does dyschromatopsia ever helped you to shoot better or finding targets no one else could?
Rafael
On the BB-Gaylord connection, I’m gonna say something that might touch a bit of a nerve. Perhaps BB can shed some light on this since he knows Tom Gaylord (one way or another)…
What gives with the all those reviews Tom Gaylord does of the TF series rifles for Compasseco? Aren’t they, uh, a bit of a gloss-over? My goodness, you’d think that TF rifles were the absolute, hands-down unbeatable bargains of the airgun world.
BB is willing to say bad things about a product that his sponsor sells. I don’t think the same could be said for Mr. Gaylord.
BB,
All this talk of who you might or might not be… I hope you are able to keep up the good work after the 18th. Or maybe you meant 10-18-2021… I really appreciate your honest reviews, advice and have learned a lot from you and others on this site. I hope after that, we can still call you BB.
/Shooter
On the BB / Tom Gaylord thing. Both have written about having shot a 747 pistol indoors in an office with people in the next room unaware… and they way it was written was very similar. I’m betting they’re one and the same. Pity though that the identity has to be revealed… I guess if they are one and the same one of the names must disappear. What if Tom Gaylord was the nom-de-plume? 🙂 Gazza.
For all the times that Tom Gaylord has signed out, it’s generally when BB has asked Tom Gaylord to write the blog for the day. I suspect they’re the same, when I think about it, but I tend not to.
I wouldn’t say that colorblindness is any indicator of identity since it’s somewhat common in males. I’m red/green color blind also. Vision differs per person but I don’t distinguish camo very well. Since we can’t see some shades of green very well that just increases the number of places a regular camo can be used or the number of colors that can be used on the camo. If you tied a maroon flag up in an evergreen, I would take considerably longer to find it. That is just I, though. I haven’t talked to many color blind folks so I’d like to hear BB’s experience with R/G blindness as well.
Bryan,
If you can get a full-power gun without legal entanglements, then you have found a deal.
B.B.
Rafael,
I can’t detect camoflage any better than a normal-sighted person. That attribute was always based on looking at aerial photographs.
B.B.
Kevin,
My pet peeve is companies that put red warnings on a black background. I cannot see them!
If I ever have a serious accident because of that, I plan to sue the maker of the product for not knowing that 14 percent of all males are colorblind.
My other pet peeve is advertising companies who do the same thing – put red print on a black background. Little do they know (apparently) they are losing a large segment of their audience.
B.B.
Hi!
Thanks for your answer about dyschromatopsia!
Yeah, I know about the aerial pics, but I read that people with dyschromatopsia can see better at low-light conditions and, just like Kevin said, can’t distinguish shades of green… so, the cammo will just not work (if the subject doesn’t blend with the background). Of course I believe your word about the issue, that was just something I read about WW II.
Well, eyesight is very particular to each one.
I got myopia and (with glasses and very good light conditions) I can see better than most people (with glasses I was supposed to be able to see at most like people without this disability… but I can see a little tiny better). Anyway, I don’t think it ever helped me to shoot better…
In the US is a silencer on an air rifle legal as long as it can’t be removed? Some rifles come with silencers so guessing it must be. If you put a silencer on a rifle and welded it so it wouldn’t come off would that be legal?
If the BATF&E can cut it off with a cutoff wheel and mount it on a firearm, then it must be registered.
B,.B.
Hey there, B.B.,
First off, sorry for the testy words and excess length on the Ruger Air Hawk entry a week or so ago. I was just really frustrated.
Anyway, as was predicted, BKL is gone. Recently I’ve been looking at getting the B-Square High Adjustable mounts as an alternative, but it looks in the pictures you’ve got here like I’ll have to hold my head straight upright to be able to look through the scope.
So, I was wondering if you could recommend any other mounts that will maybe lower the scope a bit, but still admit a 50 mm objective lens and a 30 mm tube? Greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Zack
Zack,
You didn’t mention the gun you are mounting the scope on. I converse with about 1200 readers every day, so I don’t remember past conversations that well.
Was it a Ruger AirHawk?
I think you should call the sales reps at Pyramyd AIR. They can talk you through the scope mount process.
B.B.
B.B.,
Okay, never mind the other conversation.
The rifle I’m talking about is an Air Arms S410, which is why I left a comment on this page. My question was whether or not you know of any other good mounts that will still admit a 50 mm objective and a 30 mm tube, but will lower everything down a bit closer to the rifle? I just don’t want to have to crane my neck to see through my scope, so I’d like to know about anything lower.
Thanks,
Zack
Zack,
You still have to clear that magazine. How are you going to do that with a lower mount?
Because the S410 receiver is so high, relative to the barrel, a very low mount will still allow the objective to clear the barrel – the same as on most PCPs. But the magazine that sticks up above the receiver has to be cleared. That’s your problem.
B.B.