How old is this Rifle.

[seekay]

Thanks to Tim for telling me about a Diana MK1 for sale & brand new in a box with pellets-darts-target holder & indoor plastic pellets too. I had one of these as a lad when my brother & I went out shooting together I would think 40 years ago mid to late 60's, I was wondering how old these rifles actually are as they were well used when we had them. If anyone knows when these arrived in the market place & when they were replaced with a newer model I would very much like to know.

[Gareth W-B]

Blimey, as dunn220 says on his post about the Milbro Diana Series #70 model #74 elsewhere on this page, today really does seem like its Diana day . Ha ha ... The Model 1 Diana you mention was first produced in Germany in the early 1920s, and was produced there right up until 1945 when with Germany's occupation, German manufacturing under the name Diana stopped. Production commenced in Germany again in 1952 (and continued until the mid 1960s), but this time these rifles were badged 'Original Diana Model 1' because the Millard Brothers of Motherwell, Scotland, had by then bought the rights to the name Diana, and were producing their own version of the Model 1 under the manufacturing name Milbro Diana which they called 'the Scout'. Other manufacturers, too produced their own version of the Model 1 and it is calculated that from the very first (early 1920s) through to the very last (mid 1960s) two and a half million such rifles were produced (hope this helps ). ATB: Gareth W-B.

[seekay]

Thanks for that Gareth W-B mine has only Diana Mod.1 Made in Gt Britain stamped on it & has no serial number of any kind,the pellets are Milbro Caledonian & also the metal target holder has targets in it with Milbro printed on them so I would assume it is a later rifle, the box it is in says Minor shooting outfit complete home shooting gallery on it. On the box inside is a stuck on square of paper with M.B.L. G101.

[Gareth W-B]

Thanks for that Gareth W-B mine has only Diana Mod.1 Made in Gt Britain stamped on it & has no serial number of any kind,the pellets are Milbro Caledonian & also the metal target holder has targets in it with Milbro printed on them so I would assume it is a later rifle, the box it is in says Minor shooting outfit complete home shooting gallery on it. On the box inside is a stuck on square of paper with M.B.L. G101.

You definitely have yourself a Milbro Diana Model 1 kit from (probably) the early 1950s then, as the Milbro Scout is more aligned with the 1960s onwards I believe. The M.B.L. you detail stands for Millard Brothers Lanarkshire (the Scottish county where Motherwell is). New in 1950, the whole kit as described would have cost you 27s 9d, which equates to £1.39 in decimal currency. Lovely little bit of collectable British air gunning history you've got there my friend, cherish it and see how many variants of it you can find both pre-war and post-war and WELCOME to the world of collecting (we've got ya now ). ATB (again): Gareth W-B.

[seekay]

Thanks again Gareth W-B, very interesting information. I am taking it to the club on Saturday to give it a go along with my recently aquired GAT, don't expect it to be the same as my Pro-Target or GML but it will be nice to have a go with a gun I was shooting 40 years ago, As a lad back then the gun was great to use, how times have moved on when you compare it to the modern ones we have now.