Diana 280

[GarthThomas]

Does anyone have experience with this rifle, they are available in Canada.

[GarthThomas]

I had tried to search on this forum but for some reason it didn't give results, when I googled I found a post on this forum which answered most questions.

[RedFeather]

Supposedly Airguns of Arizona had some.  They are between a 24 and 34 in terms of power.  Search on the latest Diana catalog.

[GarthThomas]

I was looking to see if there was a vortek kit for them but I imagine one would have to alter a 34s kit to work.

[GarthThomas]

I'm coming to the wire and may be ordering one of these this weekend, most likely .177. It will be my first German rifle and hopefully it will live up to expectations, one of my big concerns is that it will be so purdy that I won't use it enough. At least I won't feel like a spy anymore when I cruise this part of the forum.

[GarthThomas]

It's coming, should be here Jan. 3rd. I will post a pic.

[robert w]

just "A" picture? we expect several. we need to view it like its in our hands and we own it too. but im interested to hear all the good scoop on it . id like to shoot it beside my d 24 . be fun n interesting

[airnutz]

I've heard the gun is a real sweety.  Kind of the sleeper category.

Here's some info;

http://www.gunmart.net/gun_review/diana_280
http://www.airguntech.com/?p=214
http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread.php?669086-Diana-Model-280-first-impressions

In Germany it's not too popular, as we can't tune legally here.  That's where the skunk lies. 

I've read in England, the folks like the gun a lot, it's tunable.  You can get more power out of it with littl effort.  I'd have to do more searching in the English press.

I do like the way it looks.  Not a big gun, but has good power.  It's heritage is renowned.

[GarthThomas]

 :'(Just got off tracking, it won't arrive till the 7th

[cvasquez]

Garth where did you order the 280 from ? I might be interested in the 22cal version. How much was it ?

[GarthThomas]

In Canada there are two places to order these rifles but one comes only in.177 with the T05 trigger and its the full power model, the other has both calibers and the T06 trigger but it only comes in the non PAL version under 500fps.
http://www.airgunforum.ca/store/product_info.php?products_id=134&osCsid=76130ec5f51bcc06d4ba530cc32c3f82
https://www.airgunsource.com/store/index.php?product=216-8026&c=53
I'm not sure if they ship to the U.S.
P.S. I guess Airgun Source won't ship out of Canada, If you wanted the Canadian powered rifle I'm pretty sure the Airgunforum store does, then if you wanted to increase to full power you would need to find a piston and spring which at this time is hard to do.
T.W. Chambers may be getting some. Must be for T06 trigger.

[cvasquez]

I see. Ok, thanks Garth especially for that insight!! I knew I shouldn have sold my Winchester 427 !!

[GarthThomas]

Well it came, I wish I had more experience with other rifles but I only own a couple QB57s and an XSB50 so I have little to compare this Diana 280 to Lets say the metal finish is better than the 57s but a little shy of the B50, the stock on the 280 is better than both the others. My chrony is out of order for a few weeks so all I can say is it feels very solid when shooting, no extra noises pretty well a solid thunk. If it wasn't so darned cold I would do some shooting out side but I had to settle for 10yds in the garage and with a 4x Beeman $25.00 special to look through I would have to say its as accurate as my XSB50 which is an easy one holer at that distance. The scope was so blurry I couldn't tell how I was shooting until I walked right up to the target but I was very happy with the result.


The lone hole on the right is a misfire, I'm still getting used to the T06 trigger which I haven't tried to adjust yet, it feels pretty good as is, the little squares are 1/4" and there are 6 pellets in the big hole.
The stippling is easy to hang on to and it balances easily

I've already taken it apart and cleaned out the grease etc, it was clean as far as metal debris, there was a little excess grease on the piston but is been replaced with Krytox 205, very little to deburr, and the seal was in good shape I polished the spring ends and I'm gathering dimensions to order a PG2 kit as required by Tom at Vortek. Its all very exciting and I can hardly wait to try longer distances.

[AB173]

It certainly is a good looking rifle.I bet it's fun to shoot too.

[robert w]

ahhhhh my keyboard is wt with drool niccceee . now I have a sharp addiction pain as I solomly swore no more guns for a while opps wife made me say that

[palonej]

What a pretty lady Garth!! Enjoy!

[cvasquez]

Dont forget to give us a Chrony report too !!

[GarthThomas]

oops

[GarthThomas]

I dug out what .177 pellets I had and set up in the basement at 12yds, these are ten shot groups. I think this rifle likes German pellets, maybe I will pick up some super domes this weekend.

[GarthThomas]

I have decided that the JSB Exacts are the best pellet so far, even though my latest target doesn't  look like it, I was still warming up.
For some reason I get the best velocity with that pellet as well and compared to the RWS a lot better in fact I get a terrible spring vibration with the Super Points and the Daisys but the Crosmans and the JSBs both give a satisfying thunk I think I'll try Cphps and Crosman domes next.