Original 65 info

[peddy]

Thanks for the info on differences etc. If I acquire the gun in may I will update the thread with some pictures

[harry mac]

Baz, you need to provide something for scale in that first photo.

[VALE BOY]

Hi Al, I think UKNeil striped and rebuilt Vale Boy's 66 and it was all published in Airgunner.

That’s right Mick but it was actually a Model 75 Sidelever although I imagine it’s a fairly similar to the 66 etc.
Apparently it was such an extensive job the strip-down and rebuild was published over 3 magazines of Airgunner circa December 2014-15.... and thanks again to UK Neil for doing such a great job!😎

[Garvin]

it was actually a Model 75 Sidelever although I imagine itÂ’s a fairly similar to the 66 etc.

I think the 75's key internals were identical to the break barrel mod 66 - the design and execution of the GISS rack 'n piston anti-recoil system were so perfect that Diana didn't spend resources on tinkering with it, AFAIK.

But the time they took to get the sidelever cocking arrangement right meant the company missed the boat somewhat in the recoilless match rifle market. By taking so long to produce a fixed-barrel spring sidelever, Diana left the field open to Feinwerkbau and Anschutz for a decade and a half. After making its mod 100 SSP, Diana abandoned the match air rifle market having failed to make its presence felt, and focused on the recoiling airgun consumer market.

IIRC the Diana mod 75 hit the shelves in 1975 at around the same time as the Walther LGR was launched, ushering in the SSP era that saw the demise of springs as the power source of match air rifles within a decade or so.

Although the Anschutz LG380 (based on the FWB's sliding sledge system but ingeniously concealed in a shroud) came after the LGR and was a last hurrah for match springers (Jim Edmondson wrote: "In 1984 Anschutz won the Olympic 10 meter woman's gold medal with their LG380 --- the last springer to do so --- while the LGR won the men's gold."

[NeilnrLincoln]

When its reassembled the dummy piston will sit underflush to the end of the action. This depth should be checked against the build manual (i think its something like 0.6mm plus or minus a bit but I'm probably wrong). This needs to be within tolerance otherwise the stepped spacer wont be doing its job properly.

The end cap has a locking screw which threads into the action. If the new seals are different in height to the original ones the locking screw holes in the action and end cap will not line up. Then the locking screw wont go back in the correct place. The shim between the end cap and the stepped spacer is adjusted to get this lined up

I've recently bought a Model 60 which has previously been serviced/resealed. The cylinder end cap is missing the lock screw & the hole for the screw is at the top of the action where I believe it should be at the bottom.
Does this mean the seals have been changed & the cap not shimmed up correctly? What should I do about this, remove the end cap & change/modify the shim until the hole in the cap lines up with the threaded hole in the cylinder or is there anything else to do or check?
Thanks.