Air Arms S510XS Ultimate Sporter with Laminate Stock.
Part 12
Part 11 where there are links to all the previous reports
This report includes:
- Why?
- What do I do?
- Finished?
- Summary
I wanted to title this report, Sealing the Air Arms S510XS Ultimate Sporter with Laminate Stock but I didn’t for three reasons. First — because this is a series and I wanted to keep all the titles the same. Second — because that’s too many words, and Third — because I won’t know for some time whether the rifle really is sealed.
Are you getting tired of me talking about my precharged pneumatic (PCP) airguns that leak? Me too — but so far only the AirForce TalonSS has held air indefinitely. The rest of them have all leaked and I have to do something about it so I can move on with testing. I’ve wanted to test this rifle with the new .22-caliber pellets I brought back from the Pyramyd Air Cup, but first it had to hold air.
I mentioned that the S510 was leaking in the first report about the TalonSS, but you were kind enough to let it go. Thanks. I received the S510 Foster fill fitting from the United Kingdom a couple days ago and today I will install it. This will be a short report. First comes an explanation.
Why?
Why am I replacing the Air Arms fitting with a Foster fitting? Are Foster fittings “better” than Air Arms fittings? Not really. They are just different. But having one means I have to have a special Air Arms fill adaptor on a hose on one of my fill tanks. And when I want to introduce oil into the reservoir of the rifle I don’t find them nearly as easy to use.
This is the fill coupling on the Air Arms S510 PCP rifle.
This brass adaptor is what it takes to fill an Air Arms PCP.
This is a change I’ve wanted to make for many years. It simplifies the hoses and connectors I need to fill my PCPs. Yes, there are still those few airguns that use probes, but even some of them like the Umarex Notos are starting to recognize that they need a Foster quick disconnect fitting on the end the hose attaches to.
What do I do?
So what do I do? I buy a Foster fitting for Air Arms PCPs from Best Fittings in the UK. It’s a very simple exchange of one part for another. Making the switch took me about six minutes.
The replacement fitting from Best fittings is below the Air Arms fitting.
The hardest part of this job was unscrewing the old Air Arms coupling from the rifle because the Air Arms coupling has flats that are only 10 millimeters wide. The Best fitting replacement is a thick nut with flats 16 mm across — a lot more to grab!
After installing the new fitting I filled the rifle’s reservoir to 260 bar. Why 260 when the S510 fill pressure tops at 250? Because while filling the reservoir the pressure tube became warm and pressure will drop after it cools. So 45 minutes later it was cool and I photographed the pressure level.
After the new fitting was installed I filled the rifle.
After the reservoir tube cooled this is what the S510 pressure gauge read.
Finished?
I’m not finished. I will wait a week and see if the pressure level holds. If it does I’m finished. Then I get on with my testing and one more PCP has been fixed.
If I have to reseal the S510 I’ve found a great video that shows how. It’s 57 minutes long so unless you need it I would not watch it, but the guy is VERY CLEAR about what he does!
Summary
This was a short report with a good ending — so far. Let’s see what happens in a week.
Good luck, B.B. on fixing your pcps.
A shout out to Jerry C. I’m looking for .22 wadcutters that tend to have oversized heads. Can you offer any suggestions?
Hello, RG, I will need to find some customer correspondence, but I believe that the FX labelled pellets ran large, with feedback that they were larger than 5.54.
Thanks so much for your insights. I am trying to help out another airgunner looking for larger head sized .22 pellets. I found the chart you shared on this blog regarding .177 pellets. I have suggested he purchase a pellet gauge from you and sort for the largest head size of his currently best pellet, but I will pass along any other suggestions you may have.
BB, you continue to make me glad, very glad indeed that I’m addicted to my springers. With the time and money that it takes to buy and maintain pcps, I could well, purchase another fine springer. Ahhh . . . the joy of shooting. Orv.
Orv,
I really like a nice, juicy burger. I also enjoy filet mignon.
I think of my TX200 & my HW97K as excellent rib eye steaks. That’s tastier than a chewy, dry filet. I appreciate flavor in my meat, and with springers I even have enough left over for a baked potato with lots of butter and sour cream. Yum. Orv.
LOL! Most of my PCPs cost less than a TX200 or a HW97K. That is the reason I do not own either. They are nice cuts though.
Just so you know, I used to take a juicy filet, baked potato and a veggie to work for lunch for less than $6. Not since Uncle Joe and his gang came to power though. I also prefer a strip steak to a rib eye.
I’m afraid you’ve got me there. Air guns and pellets have gone through the roof expensive, along with most everything else. Orv.
Tom,
I may be mistaken but I cannot see the needle of the S510 pressure gauge. Here’s to hoping you will not have to reseal the S510.
Siraniko
Siraniko,
Yes, I know what you are saying about no needle in the S510 gauge. Instead of a needle that’s obvious, they used a gauge with a green and red dial. It sits beneath the white dial and it turns with pressure. Look at the black line between them and think of it as a needle.
BB
B.B.
Would a closed end box or crescent wrench work on those 10mm flats?
Awhile back, I mentioned that the PCP guys at the range mentioned that every 2-3 years PCP’s need to be resealed. You pooh-paah’d that at the time…
I understand that the Thomas Rifle( a great FT PCP gun) suggests resealing every year, and to send it back to him to do it. Also, I understand that Steyr target guns(they seem to collect the most Olympic medals) wants you to send their guns back to Austria for resealing.
-Yogi
Yogi,
How do you think they are going to continue to make money?
How often do you send your sproingers back for new seals? If you take proper care of the seals, they never give out. I have never replaced a PCP seal. If your buddies do, well, that is there business.
Yogi,
Steyr pistols may collect some metals, but their 10 m air rifles don’t. I follow NCAA 10 m rifle pretty closely and never seen a Steyr It’s usually Walther or FWB or the occasional Pardini.
Brent
Brent,
How do Walthers do? I shot one of their pistols a few years ago and was very impressed.
So impressed that when I put it down I thought it would make no difference because of my lame shooting ability…
-Y
I ain’t getting tired. Resealing a pcp can be compared to putting a new spring and piston seal in a springer. I don’t know how many springs an seals I have changed in the last 35 years. I have a 24year old Daystate that is still holding air with the original seals.
Does the end cap fit over the foster?
Breeze,
Yes, the end cap does fit over the Foster fitting.
BB
BB,
I have several PCPs here at RRHFWA. None of them leaks. Now, I will admit that FM says the Maximus he adopted from me has leaked down. Will a little oil fix that? I do not know. When I got it, it would not hold air. I applied a little silicone oil, and it held air for the rest of the time it lived with me, at least three years.
The Edge you adopted from me leaked once when it was here. I applied some silicone oil to it. It never again leaked while living with me for many years. Has it leaked down?
FM probably has not given Max enough medicinal oil; suspect that will do the trick and stop the leak. The leak was slow when it developed and did not affect the shooting. Tell you what has affected the shooting – the friggin’ weather around here. Shouldn’t complain because compared to other folks in other parts of Florida and the Carolinas, we’re doing fine and are truly blessed.
Going to forward this blog post to the friend down in Miami who owns one of these Brit beauties – don’t know if he’s “Foster-fitted” his but he’ll find this information useful. Going to visit him in the next couple of months and hope he’ll give ol’ FM the privilege of at least a short dance with this beauty.
FM,
A little oil probably will not hurt.
We have had a tremendous amount of rain, but lately we have had a right stiff breeze coming down the holler. It has been pretty nice the last couple of days, though.
A word to the general populus of the airgun world,
Being man made, all the seals in every airgun, including sproingers, will give out. With proper care they will last longer, but they are still made by man. Something else to keep in mind is manufacturers will likely try to use the cheapest solution possible to increase their profit margin.
Over the years and through the continued efforts of us American airgunners exercising our purchase powers, the airgun industry is slowly adopting the foster fitting as its standard. It took some time, but even John McCaslin has come around.
Many of the airgun manufacturers around the world have learned that their sales increase here in the good ol’ USA if they at least provide an adapter that will work with a Foster fitting. Yes, many still use those annoying fill probes, but as production stocks diminish and the popularity of their airguns in the USA increase, they are slowly converting to Foster type fittings.
There are several things we need to keep in mind over here. One I have already mentioned is production stocks. If you have the fill parts for a few hundred airguns on the shelf already, you are not going to just toss them out and switch to something else if you can help it. That can cost a good bit of time and money on a production line.
Something else to give consideration to is the previous customers. If you have a considerable list of previous clientele that already use the type of fill system you manufacture, you are not likely going to wish to ignore their desires. They are proven to be loyal customers. Are you going to change something so drastic for a maybe?
Another thing to consider along those lines is how fast has the country in which you have your manufacturing facility been changing over to the Foster fitting which seems to be so popular over in the U S of A? If the local yokels ain’t doin’ it, why should you? Yes, our egos over here dictate that we are the center of the universe does not mean that is how others look at us.
More and more, it seems the world is indeed starting to adapt the Foster fitting as THE standard for airguns. Until that happens, we will just have to adapt their stuff to ours.
Just so you know, I have one of those AirForce fill fittings and my “new” BSA needs an adapter for its fill probe.
RR
The US of A doesn’t react well with change, either. Consider or tires and rims. tho we have more or less accepted a few standards for tire sizes the rims for a Chevy still won’t fit on Ford. I guess they both figure the other should be the one to change.
I have no idea about Hondas, Hyundais, or any of the other “rice burners” as I haven’t owned any.
Ed
Ed,
If more Chevy owners bought Ford, they would not have that problem.
Ed,
I have interchangeable rims on my Hyundai Accents and Ford Escort Wagon. Only one has round hole cutouts and the other has triangular holes.
I was a Ford man until Hyundai came out with a 10 yr. warrantee and gas prices went through the roof while I was driving almost a hundred miles a day round trip to the airport. I was getting near 50 mpg, stick shift. I used a lot of Mexican Overdrive (Neutral) going downhill. They know how to save money!
Would have bought another new Accent but they eliminated the 2-door stick shift, so I got the Veloster ‘N’, instead of another Mustang. Still smiling. 🙂 Gas mileage, so, so, with a turbo, but no more driving to work.
I suspect that AirForce lubes the o-rings during the assembly process. While on active duty we always used freshly open o-rings and pre-lubes with system fluid on hydraulics or the diesel engine. The lubricant on air systems (from 20 psi to 4500 psi) we use always high vacuum silicone grease. This is done with a light film not gobs.
An o-ring moves a lot when the system is pressurized and de-pressurized.
Mike
Mike,
When I built the air tanks at AirForce I used a special synthetic o-ring grease on the single o-ring that sealed the valve in the tank.
BB
You know what you get when you press a lot of o-rings together?
O-ring juice.
Hehehehehahahahahahahohohohoho!
What am I laughing about?
B.B.,
Glad to hear you purchased and installed the foster fill from Best Fittings. I did it on all of my Air Arms S410’s and my only S510. One less fill adapter to keep track of and ease of use compared to the wonky, banjo style Air Arms adapter.
B.B.,
I know it is still pretty hot in Texas…but,
You are still potentially messing up your O-Rings!
“Because while filling the reservoir the pressure tube became warm and pressure will drop after it cools. So 45 minutes later it was cool and I photographed the pressure level.”
In my opinion you (and most other PCP owners) need to slow down your rate of fill especially in the last one third of the fill. If the reservoir tube is warm to the touch the fill port is hotter by some amount.
HEAT kills O-Rings.
shootski