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THE TDR
Following the release of the S410 carbine in 2000, Air Arms already offered hunters a compact, accurate & reliable multi-shot rifle but wanted to take this further and offer the choice of an even more compact and lighter rifle that could easily be taken down & stored discretely when not in use.
Nick Jenkinson had been assisting Air Arms in the development of rifles for a number of years & already had a head start on the new project. Back in the early 90’s Nick had crafted a walnut butt section to fit a PPI pistol – the PP1 was essentially a cut down 100 series rifle action.
At the time the possibility of converting Nick’s creation to provide 12 foot pound was not considered as without the butt section the resultant pistol would be illegal.
However. Air Arms had now designed a system whereby the power was disabled when the butt stock was removed. With this new system & Nick’s rear stock designs it was not long before prototypes were produced & field testing carried out.
At 2004’s IWA Shooting Show in Nuremburg Air Arms unveiled there soon to be released & still un-named take down version of the S410 carbine.
In the Summer of the same year the S410 TDR (Take Down Rifle) was with retailers.
Billed as having “Everything you need & nothing you don’t” the assembled TDR was a couple of inches shorter than the S410 carbine at 37in, thanks to the shorter barrel – this was initially 348mm although the late prototype in the 2004 “Megatest” appears to be a little shorter. The cylinder was also shorter than that of the S410 carbine at 200mm.
The biggest advantage of the TDR was that when taken down it fitted neatly into a small Napier made case with a carry handle & ruck sack style straps.
Airgun World - January 2005 - Prototype Review
The short fore-end stock featured a stippled, ambidextrous grip, a small accessory rail & hole so the pressure gauge can be viewed. At the rear there was a standalone ambidextrous cheekpiece with a recess underneath that could house 2 magazines secured by spring clips.
The cheekpiece was attached to a tube through which a threaded bar passed. At the rear there was an adjustable butt pad and a knurled thumb-wheel. The thumb-wheel was used to turn the threaded bar and attach the stock to the action by engaging 3 teeth to corresponding notches at the rear of the action. This action allowed 3 locating pins to activate the hammer spring, thus providing power to the action. The method detailed in the 2004 Megatest is slightly different to that used on production models.
When the rear stock is removed the pressure is automatically taken off the hammer spring, disabling the rifle.
The TDR was the first Air Arms rifle to benefit from several new features that were soon introduced on the other 400/410 series rifles:
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A new slip-on silencer with a curve at the rear
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A safety button in the trigger blade
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An extra sear added to the trigger unit making it easier to adjust and crisper
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New push fir filling valve
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Laser etching to cylinder, barrel, action & trigger blade
The early TDR was only offered in .22 calibre, with beech or walnut stocks.
There were no significant changes to the TDR until 2009.
Early 2009 saw the launch of the .177 calibre. To help to provide a good shot count the longer 300mm cylinder as used on the standard S410 carbine was introduced for both calibre options.
Late 2010 saw the “F” suffix added in reference to the stylish fluting that could now be found on the action, filler cap, loading bolt, barrel support, muzzle brake & boss where the barrel enters the action.
Feedback to Air Arms showed demand for a side lever version of the TDR as well as the option to leave the silencer on between use & a more robust carry case.
In September 2017 production of the S410 TDR ceased with the launch of the S510 TDR side lever version
The action was basically the same as used on the standard S510 rifles but adapted for the take down format. With the 250mm cylinder used the shot count is significantly less than that of the standard S510. A specially modified Q-Tec silencer was used.
The new gun case for the S510 TDR is of rigid synthetic construction with egg box style foam in the upper part of the interior. The bottom of the interior has flat foam & there is plenty of space for owners to create extra cut-outs.
With dimensions of 36in x 15in x 5in the S510 TDR’s case is significantly larger that that of the S410 TDR & does not benefit from the ruck-sack style carrying option offered with the S410 version.
Initially only offered in a walnut stock, a black “tactical” stock was later introduced.
Early 2019 saw the introduction of the regulated version of the S510TDR.
More information about the current S510 TDR can be found on the Air Arms website – click HERE.
