Post war Diana model 27 advice sought

[sevorg]

Good afternoon, not been here for a while but have some spare time now and was thinking of tinkering with a couple of project rifles. I was given a rather rough looking 0.22 Diana 27 a year or so back, and was wondering if it is worth investing a little time and effort in as a light weight ratter. It chronos between 6.8 and 7.5 ftlb and I was wondering what one of these should do with a good lubrication service without any modification to internals as an indication of its general health?

To help identify it, it has "Diana Mod 27 made in Gt Britain" across the rear of the cylinder with no visible serial numbers. The rear of the cylinder has a knurled, domed cap that unscrews to reveal the internals. I believe it to be post war possibly mid to late 50s.

[laverdabru]

Used to have one in .22 30 odd years ago, which was an early '50's one with, I think, a very nice alloy trigger. Recently. I bought a similar model 25 in .177. Both easy to work on. Sold my 27 years back to a farming friend, who used it as a short range ratter.

HTH

Bru

Ps - love the cider comment!

[sevorg]

Hi Bru, thanks for the info, I think I'll have to strip it down and see what it's like inside.

[DSidelever]

Strictly speaking its a Milbro 27 & I believe TW Chambers still have some spare parts (plus a useful diagram!) ((www.gunspares.com)).

Does yours have rifling ? I mention that because IMO the smoothbore versions of the Milbro 27 are not worth too much attention (I speak from personal experience from many years ago)..

Dating these rifles isn't as easy as genuine M&G Dianas but the stock type can be an indicator (finger groove fore end etc).

There's also been a lot of Millard Bros (Milbro) info put up on Danny's Vintage Diana Forum (http://www.network54.com/Index/103829) - lots of old catalogues & adverts etc.

[sevorg]

Strictly speaking its a Milbro 27 & I believe TW Chambers still have some spare parts (plus a useful diagram!) ((www.gunspares.com)).

Does yours have rifling ? I mention that because IMO the smoothbore versions of the Milbro 27 are not worth too much attention (I speak from personal experience from many years ago)..

Dating these rifles isn't as easy as genuine M&G Dianas but the stock type can be an indicator (finger groove fore end etc).

There's also been a lot of Millard Bros (Milbro) info put up on Danny's Vintage Diana Forum (http://www.network54.com/Index/103829) - lots of old catalogues & adverts etc.

Thanks for the link to net54, I was just starting to think there must be a Diana forum out there... Mine has a rifled barrel and an alloy trigger (but without the two adjustment screws I've seen on some of the images). I must take some photos and load them through one of the photo hosting sites to get a more reliable date from those in the know. The stock has a finger groove and "No III" engraved, reasonably neatly, into one side suggesting it might have been used by cadets or scouts possibly.

[DSidelever]

You could try Photobucket or Flikr (whatever!) for your images & right here, on this section, would be the very best place to ask. The Trainer angle does add a lot of 'interest'.

(There is a Sticky posting somewhere on the BBS about how to post images).