Tricking out the S 200

By David Day

If you already have an Air Arms S 200, you know what a great shooter this little gun can be.   Without a doubt, the S 200 is one of the best values in pre-charged pneumatic air-rifles out there today.  

After tweaking, my S200 shoots JSB 4.52 Exacts at an average muzzle velocity of 890 feet per second, with 5 shot accuracy of about ½” at 45 yards.  An air rifle this good, just begs to be brought up to it’s full potential.

Like any airgun, price and quality are always somewhat of a compromise, and this is true of the AA S200.   So, the first thing on my list of items to replace with the AA S200 was the plastic trigger.   After a bit of searching on the internet, I found that Brownell’s stocked a trigger  shoe that could be used as a replacement for the stock trigger. The checkered, gold plated shoe is manufactured by Browning and it was simply a matter of removing the stock trigger shoe and sliding the replacement shoe into place.  Be forewarned though – the stock must be removed from the S 200 to allow the replacement trigger shoe to be installed.   

Because I wanted to continue to have access to the trigger’s first-stage and weight of pull adjustments, I decided to shorten the length of the replacement trigger shoe by about ¼”.  This process was quickly performed with a Dremel moto-tool.  After reassembling the gunstock and playing around with trigger adjustment settings, I managed to obtain a quite acceptable trigger pull from the S 200 trigger.  Given that the trigger is not a “true” 2 stage adjustable unit, I am quite happy with the result of this tinkering.

The second thing that bothered me a bit about the AA S 200 was that the stock is a little too short, and the gun a little too light to hold steady in the off-hand position for any length of time.    Fortunately, just as I was thinking about this issue, stockmaker, Dave GoldFarb, posted a picture of a target replacement stock he was making for the S 200 on the internet.   So, off went an e-mail to Dave for the specs, and shortly thereafter, and order.

The stock that Dave G made for me ended up serving a number of purposes with the gun.   First, it really turned the S 200 into a classy little unit.   His stock was made from a wooden laminate with walnut fore-end and pistol grip caps that featured a golden-shaded spacer, adjustable butt plate, cheek piece, brass screw cups, and pistol-type grip.  The stock was richly finished and quite elegant for what was originally a  “value” gun.

Next, the stock’s color and accenting screamed for a replacement of the little cast aluminum cocking bolt supplied with the S 200.  For this, again, Dave Goldfarb crafted me a somewhat larger brass replacement bolt.  It was easily installed just by unscrewing the original one and attaching the brass unit.  I really like this unit because it is a bit bigger and longer than the original bolt which makes cocking a little more intuitive.

At this point, all was well and good, the new stock gave the gun the additional weight I was looking for, and the adjustments provided allowed me to fit the gun to my physical dimensions.  The issues with the trigger and the small stock bolt also worked out to great satisfaction.  Now the only remaining issue was the small diameter barrel that was supplied with the gun.

As  building a barrel shroud or weight was not an option for me at this time, I decided upon an end-piece for the gun that serves several purposes – the Vortec accuracy tamer.  This unit is designed to act as a barrel-harmonics modulator to achieve maximum accuracy from any given pellet/gun combination.   Having previously tested and proven to myself that these units really do work, I decided that this unit could do dual purpose on my S 200 – provide up front visual bulk, as well as squeeze the most out of the gun in the accuracy dept.

The Vortec accuracy tamer installation is a straight-up process.  Just attach the appropriate spacer to fit the barrel diameter, slip on the tamer, and tighten it down.  By following the directions, and carefully adjusting the tamer, “optimal” accuracy can be determined in about 50 or so shots.  A side benefit to the accuracy tamer in addition to producing a good overall profile for the S 200 and improving accuracy is that it further reduced the report of the gun when discharged.

Finally, the gun was topped off with two piece BKL adjustable mounts and a Swift 6X18 adjustable objective scope with target reticle.  The cost for the entire setup was a little less than $900 after all was said and done – not to bad for a one of a kind.  

But for that kind of money, it begs the question of the gun’s ability to put pellet after pellet into the same spot.  After taking the time to “tune” the Vortec accuracy tamer, I shot a 10 shot rested group at 45 yards, the results of which can be seen below.   Additionally, after doing the Ballistics workup with the Charter Oak Pelleteers Ballistic Solutions software, I proceeded to check things out from a standing position.  After some minor adjustments to the stock, I managed to shoot a 34/40 which is one point less than my all time silhouette score.

Where to get supplies

Air Arm S 200 – www.silverstreaksports.com

Swift 6X18 scope – www.silverstreaksports.com

BKL adjustable mounts – www.straightshooters.com

Trigger shoe – www.brownells.com       stock # 149-000-833 (Browning)

Vortec accuracy tamer – www.airgunexpress.com

DaveG stock – dgoldwv@hotmail.com

Brass bolt handle – dgoldwv@hotmail.com

Ballistic Solutions software – www.silverstreaksports.com

• Note on the Vortek Accuracy Tamer – Since writing this article, the company that made the Vortek unit has apparently stopped manufacturing the unit.   This means that finding the unit, at present, is a hit or miss affair on numerous “Used” gun supply lists that circulate in print and on the internet.  However, it has been confirmed that several individuals are presently tooling up to build a similar unit that may become available in the open market in the near future.