What's going on with Air Arms?

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AA is like all the pother manmufacturers. They do some things well and some stupid. I have three AA guns and they are very nice but then I am not interested in hunting elephants with airguns. The Prosport is one of the very best spring guns ever made. My ProTarget and my EV-2 are very good FT guns.
They have promised a new FT specific gun for years but alas, we wait and wait and wait! The old models made new by adding a "tactical" stock is nonsense. Their charging probe is flat out stupid. Somebody at AA must hate foster fittings.
Rick Bassett
 
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When I was first looking at PCPs, way back then, I considered the AA S500, it wasn't regulated so I ended up with pair of Weihrauch HW100 FAC rifles (.177 & .22) which have been great.

Love traditional rifles so last fall I picked up a S510 SX in walnut. Beautiful airgun, shoots well but I get the feeling that it's old tech that has been patched to try to keep up with modern airguns. IMHO, the reg is cranked up too high and I need to retune it to shoot lighter pellets at 880-890 fps - which is probably what the action was designed for.

No buyers remorse, it's a beautiful airgun in every way. Think of it as a classic and really enjoy shooting it.
 
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efem09 said:
Hi,

I remember 10-15 years ago, Air Arms would be considered the holy grail of PCP air guns, everyone wanted to have one, just like before FX took the storm with the Impacts.

I believe the newest gun is the Galahad? and it wasn't a big success, because it really didn't sell well, their best rifles are the S410/S510 rifles i believe.

Is it the lack of innovation? because the guns are still very accurate and good looking, but we didn't see a new gun for a long time. The only thing they did was a another stock series of their rifles.

I kinda compare it to Nokia, lack of innovation and design but keeps selling the same guns, over and over again. I believe there are now air rifles that match the accuraccy, and cost way less, maybe it's that.

What do you think?
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You may be right.
But they did win an "industry" ? award recently? for their S510T

TGBSS - Airgun of the Year Award

" We are thrilled to announce that the Air Arms S510T has won the prestigious Airgun of the Year award at the Great British Shooting Awards 2023! It's an incredible honour to be recognized for our commitment to excellence and innovation in the airgun industry. We designed the S510T with...
www.airgunnation.com www.airgunnation.com

There are many metrics used in describing a healthy successful company.
Innovative products
market dominance
sales/profits
debt
growth
After market support
Customer satisfaction/brand loyalty

Be interesting if we could publicly compare what those numbers are between companies.

Apologies to Lord Tennyson
As consumers..ours not to reason why...ours but to buy and buy.
 
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AAs main market is the UK and many European companies with restrictions. So they've not got into the power game. That being said there are lots of well tried methods they could likely incorporate into their current PCP platform to make a gun for the American market.

Not much aftermarket products either for AA which I'd say speaks to their quality. For example BSAs R-10 regulator spawned Trenches regs and Huma regs bc the BSA regs didn't work or couldn't be rebuilt effectively. So frustrated users innovated off the design issues.

I've got a S410 and it's awesome within it's limits and purpose. They're reliable and easy to work on as well.

As for their springers I loved my TX200 in walnut. I need to save some money to get another one at some point.
 
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We own a S510 .22 cal. that we bought in 2011. It is my wife's gun that she still can out shoot me inside of 45 yards. This gun still has the original o-rings/seals and holds air forever. It's never given us any problems or issues. I say if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Accurate and a pleasure to shoot. Enough said........if you want tactical plastic/metal bling, maybe this gun is not for you. I appreciate the fit and finish and classic looks. OK, off my soapbox! :rolleyes:

KIMG3329.JPG

KIMG3330.JPG
 
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Vana2 said:
When I was first looking at PCPs, way back then, I considered the AA S500, it wasn't regulated so I ended up with pair of Weihrauch HW100 FAC rifles (.177 & .22) which have been great.

Love traditional rifles so last fall I picked up a S510 SX in walnut. Beautiful airgun, shoots well but I get the feeling that it's old tech that has been patched to try to keep up with modern airguns. IMHO, the reg is cranked up too high and I need to retune it to shoot lighter pellets at 880-890 fps - which is probably what the action was designed for.

No buyers remorse, it's a beautiful airgun in every way. Think of it as a classic and really enjoy shooting it.
Click to expand...
Does that rifle have the power adjustment knob?
 
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orangeokie said:
Does that rifle have the power adjustment knob?
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The AA S510 has a 5 position transfer port control knob that throttles the air. It's an old way to change power, works but IMHO, not as efficient/effective as using hammer spring adjustments.

Winter interrupted my testing and warm weather has just arrived. I'll be doing more testing to see what combinations of pellets and settings work best.
 
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I ended up with an S510 Carbine. Could not be more pleased with the beautiful wood, highly blued air tank and it's accuracy right out of the box. Ultimately put a Huggett Astille moderator on it and it is an extremely quiet backyard sparrow and starling eliminator. Wears an Optisan EVX 10X scope with low mount BKL dovetail rings. Rowan single shot loader. I would be interested in owning a Gallahad or a TDR. Air Arms, much like Daystate are legacy air rifles that you keep forever.

AA510.jpg


AAS510 Carbine.jpg
 
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Beautiful rifle. I was stunned at the beauty of the blueing on mine.
Wheat tripod are you using?

It surprises me how quiet 30+fpe can be. But mine is my away pest rifle. Even quieter options must be used here.

I think they all love the 18grAA, wide open shoots 910ish with good accuracy.
The 21 barracudas going 860 seem just as good.

I did crank the restrictor down once and shot wadcutters at 10m in the basement. It doesn’t miss.
 
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I've been looking at Fx for twenty five or so years. Being a Volvo guy back then who shot HW's, and such, made a quality Sweedish airgun very appealing. When I finally made the move, I started low budget Chinese. Seeing my error, I recently bought a Crown, and wow, it really is crazy good.

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maxtrouble said:
I placed an order today for an AA Pro Sport .22 walnut, left handed at Pyramid Air. Should only take four or five months to fill. That is faster than most special orders. They make works of art, and the Pro Sport is one of the best models.
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Lefty huh? 👍
Congratulations on that purchase!
 
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I think it's just a different, more traditional approach. Tactical and high power and big bore has its place, but the fad will somewhat wane and folks will come back to reasonable power, accurate traditional rifles that AA makes.
I currently have two, an HFT500 and an S400 MPR FT, both fabulous guns, and the pinnacle of non reg'd rifles. Heck both will produce longer strings with lower spreads than many reg'd rifles. Iv criticized their triggers as being middling, but with work they can be great.
I'm a fan.
 
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.20calguy said:
Lefty huh? 👍
Congratulations on that purchase!
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Hi all
Sometimes less is more ie no sophisticated mechanicals.
You can't knock AA accuracy.
But it would be nice to see a bottle fed bullpup from them at some point.
They are built to last probably hence the price tag.
The 410 is well proven as was the s200 when it first appeared on the scene.
AA definitely have the knowledge too make something great but why they don't is a mystery.
This old lady is 20 odd years old and still a nice gun to shoot" infact it's my favourite gun to shoot. 😁

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