I am afraid I have been absent from the BBS for sometime - only because I have had too many other distractions, including old cars. However, I found time to visit today and noticed this thread about the 280 being discontinued, which surprised me. I bought a 280 from this site, some three or four years ago, for about £150 from recollection. I am glad I did. No one else seemed interested. I have not used it as much as I would like but have found it a superb rifle, with an excellent cocking and firing cycle and very user friendly. It sits easily in the shoulder, is very light and also accurate, even with the open sights, which I like to use as this is more of a challenge. The TO6 is an excellent trigger. Granted, the plastic foresight is anomalous but this has been a feature on other Diana rifles too. Most people use telescopic sights these days, anyway. With Superdomes, it is performing at a tad over 11ft/lb. It baffles me that more of these were not sold and mine does not require tuning.

I fear Diana has been squeezed by HW, which leads the pack by a margin but that does not necessarily mean they are always the best. They might be rather better at marketing and have better agents and distribution channels. That said, Diana is one of the big names in air rifles and they should not be dismissed.

I rather suspect that now the 280 has been discontinued, it will become a collector's item and especially as so few were made compared, for example, to the HW99.

Rgds to all
A