This is a very different HAM Review! In it, Doug Wall takes us through 50 years with Diana air rifles. He compares his Diana 27S from 1974 with a brand-new classic air rifle, the Diana 34 EMS of 2024.
Take it away Doug…
50 Years With Diana Air Rifles – How I Started
Why 50 years? That was my first Diana. It was 1974, I was in my mid-twenties, and after already having been an airgun shooter for a decade, I wanted something better.
The “European” type spring piston airguns had been around the US for a few years, but the market was dominated by Crosman, Benjamin, and Daisy.
Since that was way before the internet, the process for finding, and buying things was a lot harder and longer. First of all, you had to find the companies selling things (Air Rifle Headquarters and Beeman were the big ones) which was usually from an ad in a magazine.
Next, you had to request a catalog, either by phone or mail. The catalog would arrive in a week or two, and then you could pick out what you wanted to order, fill out an order form, and mail it in along with a check. After about three weeks or so, your order would show up.
50 Years With Diana Air Rifles – The Diana Model 27S
Over the years, Dianas have been labeled with several brand names. Some of these were; “Original” in Germany, “Diana Original” in England, Beeman, Hy-Score and Winchester in the USA and “GECADO” (Geco).
My choice was a Diana (labeled Geco) 27S. This was an upgraded version of the original Diana 27. Diana first started making the Model 27 in 1910.
This gun had a wooden butt stock, but no forearm. After World War II, they added a full length stock. The Model 27S added an updated stock design, rubber butt pad, and articulated cocking arm.
As I understand it, these changes were made to make the guns more competitive to the HW models. I’ve often thought that the Model 27S to be the Diana equivalent to the HW30.
Right from the start, this gun was a joy to shoot! It was easy to cock, quiet, and very accurate. It had plenty of power for squirrels and pest birds.
I originally mounted a 4×20 scope on it. While this was an improvement over the 4×15 riflescope that I had on my Crosman, it was, by today’s standards, a pretty inadequate optic.
My Model 27S has worn a few different scopes over the 50 years. It currently sports a CenterPoint 3-9×40 AO scope, which seems about right for this rifle.
Over the years, this gun has had very few problems. At one point, many years ago, I did upgrade from a leather seal to a synthetic seal, and put in a new OEM (or equivalent) spring at the same time. The typical regimen of lubricants has been renewed a couple of times.
That’s all!
50 Years With Diana Air Rifles – Shooting The Model 27S
But let’s get to the real nitty gritty – what’s it like to shoot! This gun is fairly lightweight. My gun, with a muzzle weight and the CenterPoint scope, weighs in at 7 Lbs 13 Oz.
Cocking effort is quite low at about 17 Lbs. This is a gun that you can shoot all day without getting a tired arm!
The sear is one of the famous Diana ball bearing sears. The trigger on mine is a two-stage unit, with a very crisp second stage at about 2 Lb. 9 Oz..
The Diana 27S has an anti-beartrap mechanism. This also acts somewhat as a safety for me. If the barrel is broken open at all, the gun won’t fire.
This mechanism also presents a minor problem, in that the only way to un-cock the gun is to fire it. That just means that you have to have a place to fire off a waste shot.
Below. One interesting feature about the Model 27S is the very short cut-out in the underside of the stock’s forearm. This is due to Diana’s articulated cocking mechanism.
Just for comparison purposes, I decided to run this gun through our standard Hard Air Magazine testing protocol. I just wanted to see how a 50 year old gun would stack up against the modern guns.
Needless to say, this gun is no powerhouse. The power ranges from about 6.6 Ft/Lbs (529 FPS) with a heavy 10.65 Grain pellet, to about 8.0 Ft/Lbs (811 FPS) with a light 5.5 Grain pellet.
| Pellet | Average Muzzle Velocity | Average Muzzle Energy | Accuracy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Predator GTO 5.0 Grain | 811 FPS | 8.04 Ft/Lbs | Excellent. |
| H&N Field Target Trophy Green 5.56 Grain | 756 FPS | 7.05 Ft/Lbs | Excellent. |
| RWS Hobby 7.0 Grain | 678 FPS | 7.15 Ft/Lbs | Excellent |
| Crosman Premier HP 7.9 Grain | 623 FPS | 6.80 Ft/Lbs | Excellent. |
| JSB Exact Diabalo 8.44 Grain | 648 FPS | 6.88 Ft/Lbs | Excellent. |
| H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain | 609 FPS | 7.12 Ft/Lbs | Excellent. Best Tested. |
| H&N Baracuda Match 10.65 Grain | 529 FPS | 6.61 Ft/Lbs | Excellent. |
50 Years With Diana Air Rifles – Model 27S Accuracy
It has been a while since I really did any target shooting with this gun, and I had somewhat forgotten what kind of fantastic accuracy I could get with this gun!
In this set of tests, the best group that I got was about 0.22 In. x 0.12 In CTC. (10 shots, 10 Yards with H&N Field Target Trophies). As you can see from the test targets, couple of other types of pellets also approached this level of accuracy.
As you can see, even the worst group (10 shots, H&N Barracuda Match) was a very creditable 0.47 In. x 0.23 In. CTC. This is better than the best groups that I’ve gotten with some modern guns!
Editor’s note. After 50 years, both Doug and his Diana can still really shoot :-)
As part of this project, I will also be making a quick evaluation of the current Diana 34EMS in .22 cal. This is a different gun from the .177 caliber model that was reviewed in HAM in Jan., 2021.
We’ll look at that next time…
Thanks Doug! We’ll all be looking forward to the second part of your experience of 50 years with Diana air rifles.
The post 50 Years With Diana Air Rifles – Part One appeared first on Hard Air Magazine.