Here is the review I submitted to Airgun Hobby Magazine some time back. They used in in their 1st Quarter 08 magazine.... I tried a different approach with this review. Rather than to put out a bunch of numbers and such, I tried to make it more 'newbie' friendly. I'm not sure if I succeeded.
S400ERB Side Lever Review By: R. Roberts (Rob in NC)
With the proven success of the Air Arms S4xx series, the airgun world went abuzz with the announcement of a side lever design some months ago. The S4xx series has been a staple PCP airgun constantly touted for its elegance and functionality. With single and multi-shot versions available (S400 and S410, respectively) and a plethora of configurations from Carbines to FAC models, as well as a variety of stock options, it’s no wonder that the S400 Series have been so popular. Air Arms has been making airguns for more than 30 years and cooperate design efforts with shooters, hobbyists, customers and others to create winning designs such as their exciting new side lever model of the S400. The side lever design coincided with a new style walnut stock to dress up the S4xx’s.
While at the Roanoke Airgun Show in Virginia, I came across a particularly well figured walnut S400ERB Side Lever in .22 caliber that I kept going back to time and time again. Jim from Precision Air (www.precisionairgunsandsupplies.com) tempted me each time I passed, but I declined purchasing and left the show empty handed. Upon returning home, I started thinking more and more about the gun. I’d heard of seller’s remorse, but never this! After deciding that my S400Carbine needed a bigger brother, I gave Jim a call and found that the same gun I saw at the show was still available.
Within a week I was opening a well packaged box and staring at my new S400ERB Side Lever. At 34.84 inches overall and weighing 5.5 Lbs, the S400 gives enough mass to be stable as a shooter but still easily carried in the field. The barrel is shrouded with a slightly larger shroud as opposed to earlier models. My new S400ERB shroud measures 20mm while my S400Carbine measures 16mm. The larger shroud does offer better sound reduction over the older design. The knurled endcap which protects the female threads gives an elegant touch to the muzzle end of the gun. I’m not a huge fan of bull barreled guns as I think they look a bit ungainly but the shroud on the S400ERB is large enough to be effective while still maintaining a pleasing look to it. The fill cover cap unscrews to reveal a unique looking fill port. The fill adapter requires a 1/8th BSP adapter and simply slides over top the fill port. A slot in the top appears to be a sort of locking mechanism. I have an older S4xx fill adapter without the slot and it fills both guns just fine. The nanometer gauge on the ERB is easy to read, although my eyes prefer the look of the older style gauge to check at a glance. The laser cut checkering was precise and artful without being gaudy. Bluing was deep and rich as I’ve come to expect from Air Arms. The figure on this particular walnut stocked S400 was stunning; easily one of the nicest I’ve seen. Rosewood end-caps accent the stock perfectly. A nice basket weave buttpad finishes out the gun. Since I got the S400SL for a hunter, I chose to swap the stock with my beech stocked S400Carbine so as to not ding it up in the field.
The side lever mechanism is a vast improvement over the tried and true bolt. One can easily pull the cocking lever back with one finger. Ball bearings in the cocking linkage of the side lever certainly help with the smooth operation. The pellet loading tray is nice and long. Wide enough for the fattest of fingers, loading pellets singly into the S400 is a breeze. I cannot comment on the magazine of the S410 as I don’t own it, but I’ve read nothing but good about them. The one drawback I’ve found to the side lever…and I’m REALLY reaching here… is that occasionally after cocking, your shirt sleeve will get caught on the side lever when reaching for a pellet. Granted, this is easily remedied by a bit of follow through when cocking the gun. This is a small price to pay given the superiority over the old bolt mechanism, for sure.
The trigger makes a slight bit of noise as it freely moves up and down as you move the gun creating a slight clicking noise. This must be a quirk of the S4xx series of guns since my S400C does the same thing. The adjustable trigger was set to a nice pull on both my S4xx’s with the Carbine having a bit lighter of a trigger pull. I’ve not found reason to adjust either trigger just yet.
What struck me most about the S400ERB was the balance. I’d always loved the balance of the Carbine version I already owned. That little carbine quickly became my go-to gun for plinking and light duty pest control. Despite the longer air tube and longer barrel, the ERB balanced quite favorably and even perhaps a bit better than my S400C! Pointability was superb and fast to gain a consistent cheek weld.
I fitted my S400ERB with a Bushnell Banner 6x18x50 scope atop some Accushot mounts that I had spare laying around. I’m really thinking that a Bushnell Legend 5x15x50 or a Nikko Nighteater 4x16x50 would be a bit more fitting, but the Banner will suffice for now. This put a bit of weight back toward the rear of the gun that aided further in offhand balance and the gun now settles in nicely from an unsupported position.
Accuracy from the S400 was amazing under a variety of conditions. Ragged one hole groups from 30 yards were easy enough off the bench. At 50 yards, groups still remained nice and tight. Offhand shots at 1 inch spinner targets at 25 yards yielded a satisfying hit with most shots. Quick plinking shots at a variety of targets proved that the S400 had a balance and feel to it that allowed for easy shooting. My S400 did not seem to be pellet picky at all and digested a variety of pellets with no problem.
With its adjustable power, the S400ERB will adapt to a wide variety of shooting situations. The 314cc tank on the ERB model provides around 35 very consistent shots at the 30fpe level. With the adjustable power, one can go anywhere from the mid 300fps range in .22 to 950fps using pellets in the 14-16gr range. For my purposes, I have been leaving the power adjuster at the half way point, which gives me around 23fpe using JSB Exacts at 16gr. This serves my purpose well as the majority of my shots while hunting are less than 40 yards. I could probably go quite a bit lower and still be fine, but this level gives me plenty of knockdown power while giving a good number of shots.
I’ve not taken shot numbers at each of the power levels, but I have had well over 50 shots at this level on the same fill and it’s still consistent. I’d imagine that at the 400fps range, one should be able to shoot quietly in the basement for days on the same fill.
The new side lever S4xx series is well worth a look even if you already own an earlier model. With the adjustable power, one can go from an extremely quiet plinker to a formidable hunter. It’s a pure joy to shoot and a real looker whether dressed in walnut or beech.
S400ERB Side Lever
Calibers .177 and .22
Power…adjustable to 30fpe
Trigger…two stage adjustable
Overall length… 34.84 inches
Barrel… 15.5 inch LW rifled
Weight…. 5.5lbs
Tank capacity…314cc
Single and multi-shot available
Beech, Walnut, and thumbhole stock options
