Old Diana 45 and my Confession!

[BradB]

I have a confession. I own only one air rifle. My wife bought for me a RWS Diana 45 back in 1986. It has played a marginal role in my shooting life up to now, although my wife and kids and I all enjoyed shooting it in the back yard. I  doubt it has much more than 2000 rounds shot through it. With .22 ammo impossible to find, I dug the old 45 out of the closet. I've been having so much fun shooting it that I have forgotten my other guns. While reading about air gun maintenance, I realized I have done very little to the rifle in its 28 years. I shot a few cleaning pellets through it, as the directions that came with the gun said to do. Now it seems we are not to shoot those light weight pellets through the rifle.

Anyway, realizing that it probably has a leather piston seal, today I decided to tear the gun apart to see what I would find. I fully expected to find a dried up gun, if not rusty on the interior. I used my wood working bench with wood vice to make a spring compressor.  I found some very nice pics and directions on the web from a guy named Nick Carter. The job didn't go too badly, although getting the pins back in that hold the trigger group to the action took some head scratching.

The bottom line? Amazingly, the old Diana was perfect internally, at least to this rookie. It was well lubed and there was no rust anywhere.  I didn't accomplish a thing, as far as the gun was concerned. But I did learn a lot and now I have the confidence that the rifle is not wasting away. I was looking at the new rifles, but I like what I see with the old 45. I don't think I will look for a replacement, although I need to find a decent kid gun for my grandkids to shoot. The old Diana is a bit heavy.

[tomykay12]

Nice post. A little pure silicon oil, aka r/c car shock oil on the seal wouldn't hurt. Glad it's in nice shape, tk

[MDriskill]

Yup, one of the advantages of springers is their mechanical simplicity, there just isn't too much to go wrong.

As the owner of quite a few older Dianas, I can also say that the quality of the leather piston seals and mainsprings in those guns is particularly high...they are made for the long run.