22-Jul-2026
If UK airgunning has a heavyweight title fight, this is it. The Air Arms S510 and the Weihrauch HW100 have sat at the top of the sub-12 ft-lb sporting PCP market for years, each with a devoted following convinced the other lot are mistaken. Both are superb; neither is cheap; and choosing between them is one of the happiest dilemmas in the sport. This comparison works through where they genuinely differ, and where the argument is really about taste.
Two philosophies, one standard
The S510 is built in Hailsham, East Sussex, the flagship sporter of Britain's premier airgun maker. The HW100 comes from Mellrichstadt, Germany, from a company that has been making airguns since 1899. Both are sidelever, regulated-or-not, magazine-fed PCPs wearing Lothar Walther-quality barrels (Weihrauch makes its own, to famously high standards), both are offered in walnut, laminate and synthetic furniture, and both are made by factories that still service everything they have ever sold. The engineering cultures differ; the Air Arms feels like a fine sporting gun, the Weihrauch like a precision instrument, but the standard of execution is equally serious.
Action and handling
Both rifles use smooth, positive sidelevers feeding fourteen-shot (HW100) or ten-shot (S510) magazines, and both index with a precision that makes cheaper rivals feel gritty. Handling is where owners start to disagree. The S510 balances like a game rifle, lively between the hands, quick onto aim, with a stock that suits snap shooting in the hedgerow. The HW100 feels more deliberate: slightly more muzzle-forward in most configurations, superbly stable on aim, a rifle that rewards settled, considered shots. Neither is right; they are different tools shaped by different instincts, and ten minutes handling both will tell you which suits yours.
Triggers
The HW100 carries a version of Weihrauch's celebrated trigger tradition, and it is excellent, crisp, adjustable and consistent. The S510's two-stage adjustable unit is also excellent, and in blind tests most shooters would struggle to separate them on feel alone. If forced to split hairs: the Weihrauch's break is a fraction more glassy out of the box, while the Air Arms adjusts over a slightly friendlier range. This category is a draw at a very high level, which is itself remarkable given how often triggers decide comparisons at lower price points.
Accuracy and consistency
On paper targets, honesty requires an anticlimax: both rifles shoot better than almost anyone who buys them. Sub-half-inch groups at 30 yards are routine for either with matched pellets, and regulated versions of both produce single-figure velocity spreads. Barrel-to-barrel variation and pellet preference matter more than badge. The S510 tends to favour Air Arms Diabolo Field (unsurprisingly, as the factory tests with them); HW100s are famously happy with JSB-made pellets in most weights. Buy either, spend an afternoon finding its favourite pellet, and the accuracy question disappears.
Shot count, filling and practicalities
Both fill to high pressure (250 bar for current S510s, 200 bar for the HW100) and both deliver generous counts, broadly 100 or more consistent shots in .22 from full-size versions, fewer in .177, with regulated models making the most of their air. The HW100's fourteen-shot magazine holds a practical edge for busy pest control; the S510's magazine is simpler to load in cold hands. Both are quiet with their shrouds and quieter still with moderators. In truth, neither rifle will ever leave you wanting on a normal session.
Price and resale
New prices for comparable configurations sit close together, broadly £1,000 to £1,200 depending on furniture and regulation, with laminate and adjustable versions above that. Both hold value exceptionally well, and both are among the easiest rifles in Britain to sell used. The S510 arguably enjoys the stronger home-market sentiment; the HW100's reputation is more international. Financially, there is nothing to choose: you are buying into the two safest blue-chip names in the market.
So which one?
Choose the S510 if you value game-gun balance and quick handling, prefer British manufacture with the factory an hour or two away rather than a country away, or simply love walnut done the Air Arms way. Choose the HW100 if you prefer its deliberate, rock-steady character, want the larger magazine, or have been converted by that Weihrauch build quality. And take comfort in this: across thousands of owners, regret rates for either rifle are as close to zero as the airgun market gets. This is a contest with two winners; the only loser is your bank balance.
You can find both rifles on Rightgun, browse Air Arms and Weihrauch listings from dealers and private sellers across the UK.
Read next:
Subsonic vs supersonic ammunition: What every UK shooter should know
Air Arms Ultimate Sporter review: The S510 turned up to eleven
Air Arms X200 Vanguard: The first buddy bottle Air Arms and a new direction for Hailsham
The Air Arms story: How a small Sussex factory became Britain's premier airgun maker
