Diana 280

[Drew451]

The 280 has recently been discontinued. I rate the little Diana very highly and find it strange that the buying public largely ignored the gun. I think it was more than capable of challenging the HW99 in its class.
If there's any left out there, grab one while you can.

[look no hands]

I had a tuned one and it was lovely to shoot but the stock design just let it down for me.

Pete

[TonyL]

Sadly, I've never owned one. I didn't realise they had been discontinued; very sad news. I did manage to have a go with a few over the years, some tuned and others not. Always liked them and particularly like the way the action feels "low set" into the stock and the fine "field-sporter" rifle feel this bestows. Space, lack of funds and a less than enthusiastic Mrs would be hindering me tracking one down right now but I'd certainly encourage anyone else to do so if they can. NM Products near Sheffield were advertising them at a very attractive price until recently, not sure if that is still the case?

[vestlenning]

Diana as most other "producers of stuff" have been hijacked by the charming "extreme profit or forget it" people. It won't be long before all Diana rifles are rebranded Chinese or whatever the supercapitalists can get their greedy hands on ...

[Geezer]

Diana as most other "producers of stuff" have been hijacked by the charming "extreme profit or forget it" people. It won't be long before all Diana rifles are rebranded Chinese or whatever the supercapitalists can get their greedy hands on ...

Or to put it more generously, they haven’t run their business well.

They’ve completely failed to field a credible PCP offering (they’ve tried, but never successfully) and seen their position in the springer market squeezed out between continued dominance of HW (and in some markets AA) at the high end, and increasingly credible, competitive, and innovative offerings at lower prices than theirs from the Turks and Chinese.

So they’ve had to pare back their EU-made offerings to a minimum, updating where possible (34EMS) and otherwise brand-engineer Chinese stuff as a survival strategy. Who knows if it will work?

The 280 is definitely interesting and I too regret not picking one up (insert usual lament about recent Diana pricing/marketing/distribution “strategy” in the U.K.). I do though recall one member on here having one that needed some fairly significant internal work. After which it became very good. Anyone else remember that?

As well as the 280, there are a number of interesting now-defunct Dianas from the last 10-15 or so years that I’d like to spend some time with. The 300R, 46, and 430, especially the Stutzens. Even the too big for 12ft-lbs 440 and 470.

[jonnyone]

I managed to pick up a boxed 280K a couple of years ago and it is a lovely piece of kit. As Tony rightly said the action does seem low set in stock and the whole gun sleek n slender. Very pointable. One of those guns that it would be an abject crime to over scope.
As per usual, probably for cost reasons, the stock is the same that Diana fitted to the standard 280 despite the K being a scope dedicated gun. It is also helpfully screw cut at the muzzle to facilitate a mod and with the barrel being carbine it still doesn't end up excessively long with one in place. I think the K in particular was a UK market only model.
The stroke on these gun is very short making for a very fast action time. Mine has had little done and is very accurate.
Interestingly the gun is larger than a HW99 which it easily competes with but smaller than a HW95 which I'm not sure it's pitched against but still gives a more than credible run for the money.
Its a tough market out there currently. Airguns are hardly mainstream even though they are to the members of this forum. Unlike cars which practically all families own, airguns are a hobby that a sector of society partake in and it clearly is not that lucrative for any manufacturer right now but I think with Diana the bean counters seem to be running the show presently. Despite this I still wish them luck.
I don't think it is one of their better moves to drop the 280 (did I read right they've dropped the 430L also). It's quite ironic that even our power hungry American cousins have caught on to the virtues of these two models and are buying them. Just at the juncture the models are withdrawn. Ironic.
Dave