What is your favourite Diana airgun old or new ?

[StellaArtois Sr]

I too own that exact selection. The 56TH is in .177 and came off here a few years back. I scoped and zeroed it but nothing else so I cannot really comment on it other than it was very accurate, but weighed a ton. I picked up an unusual 54 last year in that it's in .25 calibre and of all these models this is the one that gets used most. Mainly as I have a small squirrel permission and it's devastating on them. The 470TH imported from SWS and I've done nothing with other than pull the transfer port restrictor and gain instant 4ish ft llbs. The 440TH also came off here very kindly couriered by the gent Rickenbacker on this forum from one of the bashes. Again I've scoped it and have taken a couple of squirrels with it. It's in .177 and is a fine hunting gun. Seemingly much lighter than the 470 and handles very well. Hard to cock in the smaller calibre I'm guessing but very accurate and a capable gun to go head to head with a 97k. If your cocking arm biceps hold out!
Dave

That may explain why my 470 is only putting out 9lbs. I am sure I have heard about that before and you have jogged my memory. Thanks. The other thing I had noticed is that my 440 in .22 is so hard to cock, and it was only when I put it sided by side to the 470 I then realised how much smaller the 440 is compared to the 470.
Ade

[Barryg]

I too own that exact selection. The 56TH is in .177 and came off here a few years back. I scoped and zeroed it but nothing else so I cannot really comment on it other than it was very accurate, but weighed a ton. I picked up an unusual 54 last year in that it's in .25 calibre and of all these models this is the one that gets used most. Mainly as I have a small squirrel permission and it's devastating on them. The 470TH imported from SWS and I've done nothing with other than pull the transfer port restrictor and gain instant 4ish ft llbs. The 440TH also came off here very kindly couriered by the gent Rickenbacker on this forum from one of the bashes. Again I've scoped it and have taken a couple of squirrels with it. It's in .177 and is a fine hunting gun. Seemingly much lighter than the 470 and handles very well. Hard to cock in the smaller calibre I'm guessing but very accurate and a capable gun to go head to head with a 97k. If your cocking arm biceps hold out!
Dave

Hi Dave I see that your 470 is still factory so if you decide to go for a bit of a tune I will suggest a few simple tips as when I got my 460 (same action as the 470) about 10 years ago when the model was new, there was a lot of discussion on the DWC we discovered a few faults, the first one was it had a very weak breech closing spring I solved this by fitting a HW detent spring cut to the right size and also it was worth drilling out the old restrictor washer to act as the right size seal spacer, once this is done its hard to find a better breech seal setup very consistent fps.

The next problem was that Diana was using the model 300r cocking lever on the 460, this lever just was not up to the power that they was looking for in the US so Diana updated the lever for the 460 when the 470 came out.

So for you just check the breech closing spring and open your restrictor washer to use as a spacer, also make sure that you de-burr the cocking slots and the usual spit and polish lube tune and you should have a one finger cocking super smooth accurate consistent fps gun

[jonnyone]

Hi Dave I see that your 470 is still factory so if you decide to go for a bit of a tune I will suggest a few simple tips as when I got my 460 (same action as the 470) about 10 years ago when the model was new, there was a lot of discussion on the DWC we discovered a few faults, the first one was it had a very weak breech closing spring I solved this by fitting a HW detent spring cut to the right size and also it was worth drilling out the old restrictor washer to act as the right size seal spacer, once this is done its hard to find a better breech seal setup very consistent fps.

The next problem was that Diana was using the model 300r cocking lever on the 460, this lever just was not up to the power that they was looking for in the US so Diana updated the lever for the 460 when the 470 came out.

So for you just check the breech closing spring and open your restrictor washer to use as a spacer, also make sure that you de-burr the cocking slots and the usual spit and polish lube tune and you should have a one finger cocking super smooth accurate consistent fps gun

Cheers Barry. I also own a 460 Mag imported from SWS which is now about 2 years old but again I've done nowt with it. Clearly it's German spec and again had the port restrictor. I know absolutely nothing of the breech lock up on the 460 line of guns but I had worked out the 470 is a 460 underneath but with a thumbhole stock. As Stella above mentions they (the TH series) of guns are very sleek and modern looking rifles. Quite stylish, though I'm no fan of the finish they put on them however durable they are likely to be against the elements. I'm a traditionalist that way and much prefer the nice bluing that I know Diana are capable of. I do think they missed a trick on this line of guns by not bluing them. I digress. Coming back to the breech lock up- would the fact that both the 460/470 guns that I have are only two or so years old and are the T06 variant mean that Diana would have solved the weak closing spring issues?
Thankfully I know where I've put the restrictor washers for both guns and can easily locate them to drill and refit if needed. However as you are aware these are very thin shim steel material (I didn't think to measure when I removed them) but I'm surprised to learn that they could make such a difference? But I bow to the knowledge on the American forum. To be fair some there know Diana's inside out!
Similarly I would hope that the cocking lever has been beefed up on these modern guns. Having said that there's no especial need here in the UK as we don't put the same stresses on the action they would across the pond on theirs.
As Stella mentioned above the cocking on the 440 series is very heavy and these levers would certainly need to be strong to withstand the stress of repeated cocking.
I really need to do more with the 460 Mag and the 470TH. The 460 I had in mind as a hunting outfit. The 470 more as a range gun with its weight. It has the highest cheekpiece of any stock I've tried and is very suited to scope use.
Dave

[Barryg]

Cheers Barry. I also own a 460 Mag imported from SWS which is now about 2 years old but again I've done nowt with it. Clearly it's German spec and again had the port restrictor. I know absolutely nothing of the breech lock up on the 460 line of guns but I had worked out the 470 is a 460 underneath but with a thumbhole stock. As Stella above mentions they (the TH series) of guns are very sleek and modern looking rifles. Quite stylish, though I'm no fan of the finish they put on them however durable they are likely to be against the elements. I'm a traditionalist that way and much prefer the nice bluing that I know Diana are capable of. I do think they missed a trick on this line of guns by not bluing them. I digress. Coming back to the breech lock up- would the fact that both the 460/470 guns that I have are only two or so years old and are the T06 variant mean that Diana would have solved the weak closing spring issues?
Thankfully I know where I've put the restrictor washers for both guns and can easily locate them to drill and refit if needed. However as you are aware these are very thin shim steel material (I didn't think to measure when I removed them) but I'm surprised to learn that they could make such a difference? But I bow to the knowledge on the American forum. To be fair some there know Diana's inside out!
Similarly I would hope that the cocking lever has been beefed up on these modern guns. Having said that there's no especial need here in the UK as we don't put the same stresses on the action they would across the pond on theirs.
As Stella mentioned above the cocking on the 440 series is very heavy and these levers would certainly need to be strong to withstand the stress of repeated cocking.
I really need to do more with the 460 Mag and the 470TH. The 460 I had in mind as a hunting outfit. The 470 more as a range gun with its weight. It has the highest cheekpiece of any stock I've tried and is very suited to scope use.
Dave

Hi Dave, you have the T06 so it will have the new type lever although some have a recess for two spring disk washers at the fulcrum so there is no play, I can't think of any other underlever that has no play in the lever.

You don't have to fit a spacer behind the seal its just one of the things that they do in the US in magnum mode but I fit one anyway here are a few old pics