Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: Help with Diana Mod 55

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Leeds
    Posts
    692

    Help with Diana Mod 55

    I recently bought a Diana Mod 55 out of curiosity, it was cheap and I have never seen one before so I bought it.

    Condition wise it is poor. I used some oil and wire wool and it has got rid of the surface rust. It does cock and fire, not tried any pellets in it at the moment so no idea how good the seal is.

    Stock is cracked (near the fore end when the under lever sits) and will need extensive repair though a bit of wood filler and a good clean and it will look acceptable, will re varnish it in the future.

    In place of the lever plunger it had this weird homemade plunger that is a piece of cylinder metal that has a slot cut out for the holding pin but nothing else.... so one in it does not move and there is no slot for the lever catch to enter so defeats the whole purpose of it being there and so I need a new plunger.

    The Mod 55 is similar to the Diana/Original Mod 50 in style (I know the mod 55 is milbro and has some different features) but my question is, will the plunger off a mod 50 be ok for my mod 55? Chambers sell them for £30 but I just want to have another opinion before I order it.


    Also i found the serial number (51513 also looks like there is a proof mark in front of it(?)Cant find a date stamp anywhere). Ill upload a photo.

    Thank you

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Leeds
    Posts
    692

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2000
    Location
    Basingstoke, U.K.
    Posts
    6,728
    Hi Jake,

    The date stamp should be stamped into the forend between the trigger guard and cocking slot; month followed by year.

    The German Original 50 was made on different machinery and may not be interchangeable - I no longer have a 50 to compare sadly.

    The 55 was a blatant copy of the 50 but did have some novel features such as a self opening tap and a schnabel type forend with concealed underlever - I like 'em.

    Kind regards,

    John

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Leeds
    Posts
    692
    Thanks for the info. My Mod 55 came in pieces, just put it together. I can faintly see some markings I think, just below the slot for the cocking handle (as you hold the gun up right with muzzle pointing up) but cant make it out. Though the serial number is lowish (51513) I guess it would be an early one. I dont know how many they made though.

    I might just bite the bullet and buy the mod 50 plunger. Even if it is not exactly right I might be able to do something with it to suit. Better than just having the lever flop around

    Thank you

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Leeds
    Posts
    692
    Also it seems the auto opening flap is not working on mine Yet another thing to look into :P

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Knoxville Tennessee USA
    Posts
    391
    I have never handled a Milbro G55 and could be completely wrong, but I don’t believe it shares much in common with the German-built model 50. It is a smaller gun which, I suspect, may have been based on the pre-war Diana model 30, which was a military trainer designed for young shooters, and I believe, the only pre-war Diana underlever with a full-length stock.

    Remember that Milbro’s post-war Diana-branded guns were derived from pre-war German machinery they purchased after the war. I’ve often wondered if the G55 shared some internal parts with the Milbro model 27 (as did many other Milbro models).

    The model 50 was a clean-sheet-of-paper post-war design, with the then-new ball-sear trigger, and which shared parts with the barrel-cocking model 35.

    Again, basing this on my reference books rather than an actual example! I’d love to learn more about the G55.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Rainham, Kent.
    Posts
    1,610
    Quote Originally Posted by Huttles94 View Post
    Thanks for the info. My Mod 55 came in pieces, just put it together. I can faintly see some markings I think, just below the slot for the cocking handle (as you hold the gun up right with muzzle pointing up) but cant make it out. Though the serial number is lowish (51513) I guess it would be an early one. I dont know how many they made though.

    I might just bite the bullet and buy the mod 50 plunger. Even if it is not exactly right I might be able to do something with it to suit. Better than just having the lever flop around

    Thank you
    I can sell you the complete cocking arm. New or used.

    Inc. the following parts, CS192, EC049, EC050, DP012 X 2, UL122, DP011 and UL121.

    If yours is different, I do have a couple of different cocking arm assemblies.

    HTH

    Ben
    master(dot)shriller(at)gmail.com

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Leeds
    Posts
    692
    Quote Originally Posted by master_shriller View Post
    I can sell you the complete cocking arm. New or used.

    Inc. the following parts, CS192, EC049, EC050, DP012 X 2, UL122, DP011 and UL121.

    If yours is different, I do have a couple of different cocking arm assemblies.

    HTH

    Ben
    I did buy the plunger for the mod 50 from Chambers but it is completely different.... after looking around I found on old BSA standard plunger I had spare. But the diameter is too large but the shape seems to be right.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Leeds
    Posts
    692
    I have managed to find the only information in the world on this air rifle! It is in Dennis E Hiller book of air rifles. I have scanned in the parts list on page 166. It is part 55-12 that I need. Anyone know of any other air rifles whos plunger looks like this?

    Also I see that part 55-18 is titled pellet chamber slide, so that must be part of the auto opening loading tap system these rifles have. Unfortunately it seems my poor MOD 55 is missing this part oh well, I can live without that, just the plunger I really need!


  10. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Alkmaar The Netherlands
    Posts
    682
    I had a Milbro55 in for repairs and took it home to make some photos of it, I took some with the Milbro next to my very early Diana 50.
    You can see the difference in size ………….




    ----------------------------
    Frank

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •