Original/Diana LP6G rescue dog pistol

[Geezer]

Thanks to the BBS, I am now the owner of 95% of a fairly rough Original LP6G. For thirty quid. And advertised very honestly as such.

It has some surface corrosion. The alloy frame has been badly marred apparently by someone gripping it in a monkey wrench while they used another monkey wrench to try to get the cylinder end cap off. Missing are both pinion wheels, one pinion wheel cover, and the small screws that retain both the pinion wheel covers and the endcap (which now unscrews by hand, possibly the result of vibration from banging around in the back of a Royal Mail delivery van). The seals must be gone, though I haven't had it apart yet. And a tooth appears to be snapped off the gears on the rear piston. Yay!

But I am very happy. My worst-case scenario is:

- I get to play with and learn more about the Giss system at low cost before trying to reseal my Original 66;
- I get a very good condition Original 6G semi-match front sight to put on my Original LP5G. Chambers sell the 6G front sight for £27 plus postage. So I've basically got 92% of an LP6G for free compared to buying one front sight assembly.

Pinion wheels are about £25 each. Seals are available but not cheap (£30ish). Pinion wheel covers seem unobtainable, rear pistons I have not even tried to find yet, and I imagine are like rocking horse poo.

As I had expected, the cost of missing or replacement parts and cosmetic damage would mean I would have a bit more money in this if I did it up than I could pay for a good working example (£100-150?). But it could be a nice rainy weekend winter project. And it would be a great shame not at least to try to get such a piece of classic German presicion engineering up and running again. It's like a rescue dog.

So, any advice? Anyone have the unobtainable bits? Links to good strip-downs?

[Rickenbacker]

Have the sights off it and sell the rest for £28.

After you've done your experiments on it ref' the Giss system.

What I mean is, it sounds uneconomical to repair.

Here's a great thread r.e. repairing the Giss guns: http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread....piston-systems

I've not heard the Diana pistols referred to with the 'LP' prefix before. My searches for Diana airgun info have been i.e. 'Model 6' or 'Mod 6'.

HTH - Phil

[Benelli B76]

Thanks to the BBS, I am now the owner of 95% of a fairly rough Original LP6G. For thirty quid. And advertised very honestly as such.

It has some surface corrosion. The alloy frame has been badly marred apparently by someone gripping it in a monkey wrench while they used another monkey wrench to try to get the cylinder end cap off. Missing are both pinion wheels, one pinion wheel cover, and the small screws that retain both the pinion wheel covers and the endcap (which now unscrews by hand, possibly the result of vibration from banging around in the back of a Royal Mail delivery van). The seals must be gone, though I haven't had it apart yet. And a tooth appears to be snapped off the gears on the rear piston. Yay!

But I am very happy. My worst-case scenario is:

- I get to play with and learn more about the Giss system at low cost before trying to reseal my Original 66;
- I get a very good condition Original 6G semi-match front sight to put on my Original LP5G. Chambers sell the 6G front sight for £27 plus postage. So I've basically got 92% of an LP6G for free compared to buying one front sight assembly.

Pinion wheels are about £25 each. Seals are available but not cheap (£30ish). Pinion wheel covers seem unobtainable, rear pistons I have not even tried to find yet, and I imagine are like rocking horse poo.

As I had expected, the cost of missing or replacement parts and cosmetic damage would mean I would have a bit more money in this if I did it up than I could pay for a good working example (£100-150?). But it could be a nice rainy weekend winter project. And it would be a great shame not at least to try to get such a piece of classic German presicion engineering up and running again. It's like a rescue dog.

So, any advice? Anyone have the unobtainable bits? Links to good strip-downs?

I personally would not bother rebuilding it, there are a lot of these about in the different variants. If you want to carry on and fix it, do not worry if one tooth is missing on the back piston rack, I have seen them working ok like this. The complete side of the piston will keep it in time when released. The back end cap should be easy to unscrew at any stage. I often unscrew them to inspect the back piston head to see if seals have been replaced.

Baz

[Geezer]

Have the sights off it and sell the rest for £28.

After you've done your experiments on it ref' the Giss system.

What I mean is, it sounds uneconomical to repair.

Here's a great thread r.e. repairing the Giss guns: http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread....piston-systems

I've not heard the Diana pistols referred to with the 'LP' prefix before. My searches for Diana airgun info have been i.e. 'Model 6' or 'Mod 6'.

HTH - Phil

Thank you, Phil. Very helpful indeed.

I think:

- they were sold on the continent as LPs (and the rifles as LGs) and that's M&G's official name for them. That's also the terminology John Walter uses;

- in the English-speaking world they were Originals and Models;

- and they were also sometimes sold as Gecados. Also Models.

But my 5G claims to be an RWS (and lacks the F in pentagon "little hut").....!

Somewhere there is probably someone with an encyclopedic knowledge of M&G who could write a book or a website that would explain all this. But he's probably German and doesn't read this forum.

I do like these older Dianas. They are well made, quirky, and have a bit of the underdog about them, usually seen now and in the past as not quite as good as FWB or HW.

[larrylamppost]

i'm glad you're happy with it.