460 Mag and D48 discontinued - stunningly bad news

[Toxylon]

https://www.diana-airguns.com/media/1f/44/04/1745398906/DIANA_Katalog_2025_25KW11_komp.pdf?ts=1745398906

The 2025 Diana catalogue is here.

No 460 Mag or D48 in there. Two of the best, most accurate, most versatile, most dependable stable models gone.

The fixed barrel Dianas are down to the new type D54.

A sad, sad day.

[splitbeing]

What?!?!

I don't understand.  Diana, you turned the world upside down for me,  my two favorite springers are disregarded and dismissed.  Thank god I have backups of each for parts if needed.

Sad, horrible, confusing news.

[Blowpipe Sam]

The times they are a changing.  Customers apparently weren’t buying the big high dollar springers in sufficient volume to keep them profitable.  I bet they are buying PCP’s instead.

[Toxylon]

Thinking about this, I can't think that it was a good decision from Diana. The very niche that Diana springers inhabited was a range of alternatives to the age-old, basic, ever-present breakbarrels which every other manufacturer* does, as well. If you wanted a high-accuracy, high-power, high-quality, parts available, fixed barrel gun, you went with a D48-56, or the 460 Mag.

It is clear that Diana heads for the future with a single, peculiar fixed-barrel flagship model, plus a range of breakbarrels, ranging from small, low-power models to true magnums. But a big hunk of airgunners who want alternatives to breakbarrels, but not the heaviest, the most complex, and almost the most expensive spring piston gun available are left in the dust.

Ditching models would make sense if the 460 Mag and the D48 were troublesome designs, but no: they are among the most accurate, most dependable long range spring guns around. Peak springers, if you ask me.

Yeah, PCP's eat the market share, but if that's the gist, you don't go re-introducing a bunch of breakbarrel models for 2025. Now Diana seems wont to compete without advantage with HW, Cometa etc., who make a fine range of breakbarrels, and already have dedicated user bases.

*yeah, yeah, Air Arms doesn't

[splitbeing]

What do you make of the 54 being continued while the 48 is discontinued?  Only the highest price, PCP competing (ie recoiless) sidelever remains?

I agree with your assessment.  I cannot understand the discontinuation of the 48 in particular but also the 460.  There are other, not as big underlevers out there, but there are no other good quality side levers to my knowledge that are (or now had been?) mass produced and available.

I am confused and disappointed with the loss of the 48 and 460.  First the 34 is replaced by the EMS system without any of the interchangeable parts or tools available, and now the 34 is back but the 48 is gone?  Will the 48 return?

[eeler1]

Sad.

[Motorhead]

Sales slump .... producing stops = Economics 101 lesson 

[HectorMedina]

I am not getting my panties in a knot.

The information I have says the future still holds some more 48's and 460's.
What FOR SURE is being discontinued is the 54.

Don't read into the lapses / appearances in the catalog as being an indication of the future. Catalogs are now electronic, and so they can change at a moments notice.

Keep well and shoot straight!



HM

[splitbeing]

Phew.  Thank you, Hector!

[HectorMedina]

What REALLY gets my panties in the proverbial knot is the discontinuance of the 54.

Ah, well, the last of the Mohicans may be on their way.

;-)

Keep well and shoot straight!





HM

[splitbeing]

Bizarre.  So the 54 is in the catalog but is actually being discontinued. What a shame. I've never shot one, but I sure have read a lot of posts by folks who have!

[Toxylon]

Actions speak louder than words, the proof is in the pudding etc., but if the upside-downism of catalog missing guns that aren't discontinued but the catalog present guns that are being discontinued is real:

The D54 would be a tremendous loss all on its own. Singular is the word for the design and creation.

[HectorMedina]

Actions speak louder than words, the proof is in the pudding etc., but if the upside-downism of catalog missing guns that aren't discontinued but the catalog present guns that are being discontinued is real:

The D54 would be a tremendous loss all on its own. Singular is the word for the design and creation.

Truer words have seldom been spoken.

BUT, in the modern world of BAD decisions, I am sure this one does not reach the heights of some others.

 

The 54 IS, as you very well pointed out, a SINGULAR beast. Not without its complications, but a very capable platform nonetheless.
For ME, the problem is the lack of vision for the springer world.
Instead of trying to move forward the technology, it is becoming amazingly cheaper, more profitable, and simpler, to change the propulsion method.
PCP's are vastly cheaper to make, more expensive (for what they are) at the sales counter because they are easier to shoot, and therefore more profitable.
AND the "entry barrier" that was there just a year ago, has been eroded considerably, with compressors now available for a Ben Franklin and an Abe Lincoln (that means US$105)
Just a quick number exercise thinking of the Red Laminate D54 for $830 as "the budget":

The cheapest PCP in the DIANA line (the Stormrider).- $216
Custom L-W barrel                                                      180
Altaros Regulator                                                        130
QuickFill/gauge air tube cap                                          50
CCA FFH                                                                      50
Compressor                                                               105

TOTAL                                                                     $ 576

So, you buy the whole kit and still have change in your pocket.
AND, this little gun is capable of ¾" groups (C-C) at 72 yards shoots 50 good shots with the fill of a 100 cc's tube and tops up in less than 5 minutes from the compressor.
Want to make it completely portable?
Add a battery bank for $120 and you STILL have money in your pocket.

The fact that a $576 rig can shoot right alongside $1,500 rigs is a testimony of how simple the technology needs to be to work great.

So:

In the corporate world an analysis of marginal contributions to EBITDA is unforgiving. And springer shooters are still not comfortable spending $600 to $800 in a quality springer.

AA thought it was time and the TX-200 US (Ultimate Springer) model languishes in the shelves, has stopped being produced, and is even widely offered as raffle prizes or placement prizes when sponsoring a shoot.

AND, the geopolitical situation in Europe / Far East is not precisely conducive to the development of refined airguns, LOL!
We, on this side of the Atlantic and the Europeans on their side have our work cut out for us for the next 4 years. AND, let us hope that the situation in the far south-east Asia seas does not degrade quicker and for the worse.

I am still working and developing ideas on the "Next Generation" of the 54, but whether those will come to fruition, is still a long shot to bet.

One thing is for sure: In four years $800 will not be the same as today. For better or worse.

Keep well and shoot straight!





HM