Diana sidelevers vs underlevers what do Diana fans prefer these days and why

[Barryg]

How is the 470 TH out of the box? Seriously considering treating myself to one of these later in the year once I've sold my 50's and 52.
I'm hoping its solid/heavy enough to make a solid HFT base without much work needed....

Here is a close up look video of a 470 but you will have to play with a flash player


http://raneair.webs.com/apps/videos/...-22-dian-470th

[jonnyone]

Here is a close up look video of a 470 but you will have to play with a flash player


http://raneair.webs.com/apps/videos/...-22-dian-470th

He must be a chunky American as my gun looks bigger on me

Dave

[Drew451]

I handled a 430 Stutzen today. It had the fish-scale chequering. It looked absolutely superb and felt extremely sturdy.

[derekj]

As much as I like the later Diana's it has to be said that the quality of these rifles isn't on the same level as Air Arms. The under levers are sent out very dry and stiff. You must budget at least £100 for a strip down, clean polish and overhaul or do it yourself if you have a spring compressor. The Diana under levers are particularly model 440 very stiff to cock. The under lever itself is too small in diameter in my view, and is secured by two flimsy ball bearings which is a shame. The under lever should be secured by a spring loaded push button.

The T06 trigger however is very good and precise, again I think I've read that the it benefits from a strip and polish. The matt black finish on these rifles isn't to every bodies taste also. They do have the all important compression tube interceptor lock which Weihrauch still do not build into their under lever rifles, so at least Diana are showing they are a responsible manufacturer.

I would if I were you, try and get hold of a model 470 and see what you think then first before committing to a shipped in rifle from Germany. They are almost there though Diana, they just need more attention given to the innards and sort out the under lever lock up etc.

[valboskie]

I have a diana 52 that has a 22mm skirtless piston fitted
Also the barrel was swapped for an anschutz rapid barrel in .177
Its a joy to shoot and something different to my other rifles .

[jonnyone]

I have a diana 52 that has a 22mm skirtless piston fitted
Also the barrel was swapped for an anschutz rapid barrel in .177
Its a joy to shoot and something different to my other rifles .

A bit of a rare beast that mate
Dave

[Drew451]

I have a diana 52 that has a 22mm skirtless piston fitted
Also the barrel was swapped for an anschutz rapid barrel in .177
Its a joy to shoot and something different to my other rifles .

Sounds awesome. Bigtoe Special?

[Squirrelking]

If its who I think it is, yes. Unless two people have managed a barrel swap!

[valboskie]

Sounds awesome. Bigtoe Special?

Yes it was tony who did the work on the rifle.
And my tx200 mk2 and diana 54 airking the 3 of them are 22mm skirtless piston

[Drew451]

As much as I like the later Diana's it has to be said that the quality of these rifles isn't on the same level as Air Arms. The under levers are sent out very dry and stiff. You must budget at least £100 for a strip down, clean polish and overhaul or do it yourself if you have a spring compressor. The Diana under levers are particularly model 440 very stiff to cock. The under lever itself is too small in diameter in my view, and is secured by two flimsy ball bearings which is a shame. The under lever should be secured by a spring loaded push button.

The T06 trigger however is very good and precise, again I think I've read that the it benefits from a strip and polish. The matt black finish on these rifles isn't to every bodies taste also. They do have the all important compression tube interceptor lock which Weihrauch still do not build into their under lever rifles, so at least Diana are showing they are a responsible manufacturer.

I would if I were you, try and get hold of a model 470 and see what you think then first before committing to a shipped in rifle from Germany. They are almost there though Diana, they just need more attention given to the innards and sort out the under lever lock up etc.

I agree that new Diana's are often annoyingly dry. Not all of them. I'm not totally with you on the underlever catch as I had an HW97 catch break in under 1500 shots. The Stutzen underlever was secured firmly and took a good pull to release. The lever itself is indeed short and some may struggle with the lack of torque.
The gun seemed very well made and finished. It was too expensive for me however.

[Barryg]

As much as I like the later Diana's it has to be said that the quality of these rifles isn't on the same level as Air Arms. The under levers are sent out very dry and stiff. You must budget at least £100 for a strip down, clean polish and overhaul or do it yourself if you have a spring compressor. The Diana under levers are particularly model 440 very stiff to cock. The under lever itself is too small in diameter in my view, and is secured by two flimsy ball bearings which is a shame. The under lever should be secured by a spring loaded push button.

The T06 trigger however is very good and precise, again I think I've read that the it benefits from a strip and polish. The matt black finish on these rifles isn't to every bodies taste also. They do have the all important compression tube interceptor lock which Weihrauch still do not build into their under lever rifles, so at least Diana are showing they are a responsible manufacturer.

I would if I were you, try and get hold of a model 470 and see what you think then first before committing to a shipped in rifle from Germany. They are almost there though Diana, they just need more attention given to the innards and sort out the under lever lock up etc.

You are right Diana's out of the box IMO want a spit and polish tune, but you need to look closer at the underlevers the lock up is a weak point but no big deal to fix, but now look a the robustness of the lever its self, it may be the only underlever that when cocked has no looseness and play, its solid and has two spring dome washers have a look

http://imgur.com/vlFqomN

The reason for the heavy for some cocking effort is the position of the pivot pin that gives short fast cocking, to get easy cocking the pin would be here
http://imgur.com/PfVlerb

but then the 115 mm stroke would mean that the cocking stroke would be very long like the 52 so its a trade off