Diana 48

[Iowa airguner]

Guy at work has a Diana 48. It’s in perfect condition. New in the box. Comes with two tins of pellets he says one of the tins is missing one pellet. He says he never shot it and the guy he got it from shot it once. No scope is included.
He is asking $350.00  I am thinking it would make a good field target rifle for Hunter Division. Probably put a vortex kit in it and a decent glass.
Since they are not available anymore that I can find I think 350 is a good price.
Any thoughts?

[Denby95]

350 sounds like a good price if its in the condition you state

[HectorMedina]

Guy at work has a Diana 48. It’s in perfect condition. New in the box. Comes with two tins of pellets he says one of the tins is missing one pellet. He says he never shot it and the guy he got it from shot it once. No scope is included.
He is asking $350.00  I am thinking it would make a good field target rifle for Hunter Division. Probably put a vortex kit in it and a decent glass.
Since they are not available anymore that I can find I think 350 is a good price.
Any thoughts?

Who says they are not available anymore?

https://www.pyramydair.com/product/diana-model-48-sidelever-action-spring-piston-air-rifle?m=403

Having said that, $350 is a more than fair price for a T06 model. I would pass on a T05 and would take it on a T01

For FT you really want an 0.177" cal. and you do not mention what caliber is the one on sale. You CAN shoot FT with a 0.22" but some targets (3/8" at 15 yards) will be tougher than you think.

All of them will need some work to really be legal and competitive at AAFTA Hunter FT (the D48 in 0.22" can EASILY make 21-22 ft-lbs, and so it would not be AAFTA legal). But they are GREAT machines to start from.
Do get an "airgun rated" scope and good mounts (Burris Signature ZEE Rings). Regulate the barre to shoot to POA at 16 yards with an optically centered scope.

Good luck and keep us posted!






HM

[Madd Hatter]

I think maybe he is thinking about the model 52 which has been discontinued for awhile.

[Iowa airguner]

 I am sorry I forgot to mention it’s in .177. I would only use .177 for Field Target.

I have a pretty nice scope and a good mount already

I have a tx200 set up for WFTF. I am thinking of using this for HFT.

Pyramid air says notify my when it’s available. I looked around and could not find anyone with one in stock. Particularly.177. I did not look for a .22 but most of the videos are .22.


I think a vortex kit and seals will be easy enough.

[Iowa airguner]

I picked up my new to me Diana model 48. It’s is still in the original box with the original foam and documentation. I thought it was much older but it is a 2014  48T106 there is some minor evidence of a scope having been mounted. Not damage just sliver clamp marks on the dove tail.
The last two owners said it only has one shot fires through it.
There are two pellet tins and one pellet missing.
So for starters I’ll inspect it clean it lightly and chrony it got about 100 shots and then start to play.

  Hector I don’t know if you would remember me. I used to shoot with the DIFTA group in Damascus Maryland. I left there in 2015.

[Iowa airguner]

Just a bench shot . Couple very small scuffs on the bottom of the stock. But otherwise really nice condition.

[Iowa airguner]

Now my Diana has been fired twice.
I wanted to show my wife my new rifle and I put a board out in the yard to shoot at.
I ran a cleaning rod down the barrel without a patch just to make sure nothing was living in there.
I put in a nice JSB pellet and BANG!!!
Scared the wife and shocked me. Haha I guess there was a little oil in there since it has not been fired in 10 years. It let out a big detonation. I suspect it will be fine but she would have none of that. Fortunately it’s the second of July and a bang will go un noticed.
I missed the board.

[Iowa airguner]

Finally got out to shoot my new Diana 48. O boy this is something.
I have an old door as a big target for getting Airguns on paper.
I pulled a nice scope and rail off a 22 springer and just bolted it on and locked it down.
Then I made a mark of the door and at 20 yards I missed by two feet. I spun the side wheel some and missed by a foot. Another random spin and it was less than 10mm left and a little high. I turned the knobs just a couple clicks and it was right there.
So I put this sight target in my target stand. I don’t want to hit the mark I want to get a group without blowing out the bullseye.
So this is officially the first group of five from my new in the box ten year old Diana 48. It is definitely a power house. No detonation this time and actually pretty quiet.

But if this is the beginning. I am very excited to break it in and tune it. I’ll start to chronograph it soon.

The shot cycle is smooth but not as smooth as my tuned TX 200 but this is probably 300 fps faster. I really like the side lever for HFT.
And for the trigger. It’s perfect don’t need to do anything. But shoot it.

[Iowa airguner]

Now that I have the scope mounted I want to remove the fixed sight. Is there an air stripper or muzzle break that will fit the Diana 48? I have seen one from air Venturi that looks like it might work.

[Mark 611]

JMO, and just so you know, when you remove the front site housing from the end of the barrel, you'll find that the blued part that looks like the barrel is actually a sleeve that goes over the barrel! and can be pulled off by hand, and IIRC the actual barrel Diameter is a 15mm barrel!

[Iowa airguner]

Thank you for that information. I measured the sleeve at 18mm and was confused . Then I wanted to see if the front sight was easy to remove. If not forget it.  It slides right off after loosening the grub screw.
That revealed the 15mm barrel.
Thanks 🙏

[Madd Hatter]

JMO, and just so you know, when you remove the front site housing from the end of the barrel, you'll find that the blued part that looks like the barrel is actually a sleeve that goes over the barrel! and can be pulled off by hand, and IIRC the actual barrel Diameter is a 15mm barrel!

As Mark said, when you remove the sight there's a sleeve that slides over the real barrel. The blueing on the barrel isn't very good. If you try to install one of those muzzle breaks in place of the front sight the lengths probably won't match up and you'll have to either cut the tube to match or just remove it completely. I cut mine and wish I hadn't.

[Roadworthy]

The current Diana 54 comes with a front sight but has a muzzle weight installed.  You may be able to order the muzzle weight as a separate item.  It's used for fine tuning the gun.  It should fit your 48 as well.

[Iowa airguner]

I can see now how it all works. The air Venturi muzzle break is not really an air stripper just a nice clean tube. I think I need to cut the sleeve . I would not want the pellet going through a long tube. I think maybe 1/2 inch of tube extending past the crown, more as a crown protector.

Pretty scary cutting the tube. There are two marks in the bluing. I can cut them off or turn it around to hide them.

[Iowa airguner]

I cut the tube. I put the muzzle break out just enough to make a crown protector . It looks great and the barrel shroud has that spring tube inside that acts like a shim. The grub screws go into the gap and don’t bend the shim at all. And everything is nice a tight. I’m sure it changed the harmonics. It’s about 1/2 longer than my TX200.

[Madd Hatter]

That turned out good.👍

[Iowa airguner]

That turned out good.👍

Thanks
I’ll get a better picture when it stops raining.

[LAalex]

What muzzle brake did you use?

[Iowa airguner]

It’s the AirVenturi one that Pyramid air sells.
Called a crow mag short.

I really like the look. I put two small button head screws in the mounting holes for the rear sight. I will see if I can make some sort of plate to cover the bumps for the sight.