It's been a while since I got a new gun for hunting. I have been looking for a Diana 48 .20 for so long I just gave up. But the other day when I saw someone mention Manventure Outpost and good prices I went to check it out. There she was, the Diana 48 .22 for only $298! That 's $100 less than (ripoff) P/A and >$30 less than Straightshooters! I added it to my cart and it said shipping only $18! That got me really thinking and a few minutes later I had pushed the button Too bad they don't carry the 52 model. I would have ordered it a flash, but they had 52's .177 for only about $350-36- with a scope! Well I wanted a 52 .22 and they didn't have it. I think they might be discontinuing the 52 or may have already done so. That would be a big mistake I think. I miss feeling the checkering in my hand which the 48 lacks but I really like holding this rifle. It comes up and acquires your target very fast, and for some reason I was not shaking like other guns. I seemed to hold the sights right on the target with ease. The 48 is front heavy like most springers, but I think most of the weight is towards the center of the forearm where the stock is thick. I don't know but it balances really well when shooting off hand and I seem to be able to stay on target much easier than the 350's or the 36. I have shot a friend's 48 before and a B30, and that was what sold me. I thought the 48 would be great for field hunting and off-hand shooting if I can stay on target like that - very stable off-hand. Anway, my camera's batteries crapped out today and the flash didn't work on the 1st pic I took and then it died. It has a decent darker wood stock on it which I like and some semi-decent wood grains/lines on the stock which I like, but not many. The condition was 100% although the box looked like it was beat up in shipping. I find the 48 harder to cock than the 350 by at least 5lbs of force, maybe 10(!) but I 'm told I 'll get used to it, and it's because I am using different muscles to cock a side-lever than my 3 Break-Barrels, which is true. I put about 150 pellets through it. 100 were through the Chrony with 8 different pellets, and about 50 were target shots at my 12.5-13yd indoor "range". I also took three (3) 5-shot groups off-hand at 10m measured. I only target-shot the Preds, (my 1st gun that likes Predators!!), the CP's and SD's. These 3 pellets gave the best fps and fpe #'s in my Chrony testing. Whether I shot off hand or from my bench rest with open sights, I got small ragged hole groups covered with a dime, and my eyes are pretty poor. I had to use the binoculars to look at the target after each shot So this is definitely one accurate gun. It's true what the say about a fixed barrel Springer. It should be much better once I put glass on it, but I intend to put at least 500-600 pellets through it before dressing it with a decent scope. It does have some twang and a good amount of vibrations during the shot cycle. If they don't diminish after 600 shots, I will have it tuned with a Maccari or Vortek kit.I was disappointed it did not shoot well with the CPHP's, JSB 14.3 Express and JSB Jumbo 15.8. By that I mean I got much lower velocities and FPE than I had hoped, compared to the Predators, CP's and SD's which produced 19-20fpe. Surprisingly the Kodiaks gave me 21fpe(!) and only a 3fps spread but I won't be using them because they are too heavy for the 48's spring. Beeman FTS were pretty decent in the 780's as well, and gave good FPE #'s, BUT.. every 3d pellet I got 760fps and I didn't like that.. Not too consistent. Probably the spring settling in, but I did not get 20fps spread with the CP's or SD's, although the Predators gave me a 16fps overall spread, and 6fps standard deviation which isn't that great either, but it was more consistent than Beeman FTS. So it looks like the CP's and SD's had the best and most consistent #'s on the Chrony, and proved to be accurate in my 13yd indoor range, but only some 25-30yd shooting will tell how good they really shoot. I am also hoping the Predators will shoot well and I 'm looking forward to using them on a furry or night critter once I put some glass on the 48. I will have pics of the 48 soon. Hopefully with a dead critter next to it It was good to get excited about a gun again. I haven't felt that new gun feeling in almost a year I hope it's still there tomorrow, because I plan on completely breaking it in this weekend with another 400-500 shots and this time do some 20yd open sights target shooting which is as far as I can see a 1-1.5" big bullseye That is if I don't get too tired cocking it first I also hope that the big fat front sight doesn't get in the way
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