Venom piranha , Diana 38

[kevin.ronnie]

Do any members have any info or pictures of a rifle that venom made based on the Diana model 38 called the Piranha , any help would be very much appreciated .

Rgds kev

[Geezer]

Wasn't that a Cindy's Shooting Shop special?

[jonnyone]

Wasn't that a Cindy's Shooting Shop special?

I seem to recall it was too. Think venom tinkered with the '45 in the early years but not sure about the later crop of Dianas. I would need to checky old AGWs in the attic to be sure though.
I managed to buy the very last '38 from Ruag back in '08. Even they were surprised to find it in their stock
If I find out anything I will post back here unless someone finds out before me?
Dave

[richywilk]

Airgunner mag did an article on that some years a go l have the mag somewhere it's on my wanted list it was an original 38 tuned by the venom team with a stunning walnut stock for cindys shooting shop

[Mach 1.5]

£249 when new in 86...I wonder how many were sold? Mach 1.5

[kevin.ronnie]

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e2...psw7n4jeag.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e2...psd9dr9stc.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e2...psidgusjc2.jpg

This is my Diana 38 it has no stickers on it that says what it is , to me it is screaming venom from the smoothness of its cycle to the barrel weight/moderator , I've asked for info or pictures of the venom piranha as I have nothing to compare it with, I would really like members to comment on what they think the gun is

Rgds kev

[jonnyone]

£249 when new in 86...I wonder how many were sold? Mach 1.5

That's a lot of coin in '86? But I guess that dependant upon the grade of walnut and internal mods then it could be a lot of gun too?

Dave

[jonnyone]

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e2...psw7n4jeag.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e2...psd9dr9stc.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e2...psidgusjc2.jpg

This is my Diana 38 it has no stickers on it that says what it is , to me it is screaming venom from the smoothness of its cycle to the barrel weight/moderator , I've asked for info or pictures of the venom piranha as I have nothing to compare it with, I would really like members to comment on what they think the gun is

Rgds kev

Got me stumped on that one Kev (unless I cant find some of my old AGWs) but as said above if Cindy's were converting and upgrading some Diana's back in the day then it could be one of them? I wonder what type of stock they were putting on those guns back then? If it matches yours to a T then that may be the answer?

Looks a smashing rifle mate. The thing that strikes me is that back in the day for commercial reasons many of the tuning houses were tinkering and tuning and pimping the "safe bets" like HW77s/80s etc. Nothing wrong in that. After all it's no good all the reaserch and testing to perfect the fine tune of a rifle just to sell a dozen or so units. Especially if you also have to pay set up costs of a custom stock manufacturer to knock out some stocks too. If you knew from the outset you were only going to sell a very small number you either would not bother or else advertise them as a limited edition collectors piece etc etc. Clearly the price would need to reflect this?

I suppose it took a brave (or shrewd) company to tune and pimp the "not so popular" rifles of the day e.g the Diana range. The flip side of this is that (in my opinion anyhow) these not so popular tuned rifles make for cracking collector pieces these days? Take the other thread on here for the Marauder 335? There really cant be that many around? Or the Venom Bavaria- even more scarce. So if this one is a Piranha whether that having been sold by Venom or others it makes for a very collectable piece. As said above- it really looks the part.

In a similar vein I have a BSF 80 with a lovely walnut sporter stock on it in mint condition that shoots sweet as a nut. I know the stock is not standard and it certainly shoots like its been breathed on by someone who knows what they are doing- but there is no badge or paperwork or word of mouth info to say it has. I also have a nice HW85K bought off here a few years ago that was sold under the "skorpio" banner. Stunning tiger tail walnut stock and shoots lovely. I say again. These "not quite so popular" models when tuned and attached to a fine stock make cracking collectors pieces.

It does beg the question is there room (or demand) for a market in tuning work/custom stocks being offered on some of these scarcer models to make them into the modern day equivalents of what you have there ???

Where and when did you get your paws on this one Kev?

Dave

[TonyL]

Lovely.

[richywilk]

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e2...psw7n4jeag.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e2...psd9dr9stc.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e2...psidgusjc2.jpg

This is my Diana 38 it has no stickers on it that says what it is , to me it is screaming venom from the smoothness of its cycle to the barrel weight/moderator , I've asked for info or pictures of the venom piranha as I have nothing to compare it with, I would really like members to comment on what they think the gun is

Rgds kev

Hi Kevin,
From your pics I would say it is a piranha,,,hope you got my email.?

[RustyBuzz]

Hey Kev,

Venom pattern chequering, Custom Stock would only produce this tri-point pattern for them, Bavaria pattern semi tyro cheekpiece - Venom made for and distributed by Cindy.

Regards

Richard

[kevin.ronnie]

Thanks for the help solving what the rifle is , richly was kind enough to send me some pictures of a venom piranha advertisement from yesteryear and it appears to match up ,

Rgds kev

[kevin.ronnie]

Hello Dave (johnnyone) , to tell you the truth it was the other add on the page about the 335 marauder that got me thinking as about 7 or 8 years ago I was lucky enough to have got my hands on both marauder 335 and what turns it to be a piranha in the same week in two different locations , I must admit I was quite shocked at the price the marauder sold for , I didn't realise they were worth so much or maybe I still stuck in the 80's

Rgds kev