Review of the Diana 52 air rifle
There is a saying among air gun owners; “If you want to shoot, buy a rifle; if you want to shoot accurately, buy DIANA.” Who is this Diana, from whom you can also shoot accurately?
The principle of operation is a spring-piston rifle (PP), where the energy of the bullet is supplied by air compressed by the spring at the moment of the shot. The most common and easiest to use type of air rifle.
Type - Spring-piston rifle with a rifle cocking lever that folds down in a horizontal plane - loading is carried out by manually sending a bullet into the barrel. Convenient when cocking the lever from a prone position, for example, while hunting. The big advantage of this system is that the barrel is completely motionless, its play is eliminated, which means that technically the accuracy of fire is higher.
The weight of the Diana 52 rifle indicates that this is not a toy, 3.97 kg, however, it does not tire the shooter even on foot hunting or a country walk.
The power can reach 30J, depending on the spring and other conditions of the shot.
Springs, depending on the conditions of sale, may vary in power, because truly, it is no longer a secret to anyone that rifles (not only Diana) can be weakened in order to meet legal requirements. So, there are three types: Spring “Magnum”, Weakened version “F” and standard spring version “FAC”. According to Russian legislation, the permissible power limit is 7.5 joules, which means the spring can be weakened, but “magnum” springs can be sold separately in the store . What to do in this case is up to you.
The force required to cock a rifle is 18 kg. This allows teenagers and women to easily load it, although a man of average build will be most comfortable handling this rifle.
Total length 1100mm. allows you to transport it in a case when assembled. You can transport the assembled rifle in the trunk of your car.
The stock and forend, traditionally for rifles, are one unit. Made from durable beech wood, the surface of which is impregnated with a special composition, giving it a unique shade. The internal groove for metal is made smoothly and accurately, thereby preventing the receiver from dangling in the stock. There is a notch on the forend and pistol grip. Convenient aiming is guaranteed by the cheek rest on the butt of the rifle. The rifle rests softly on the shoulder, thanks to the rubber shock-absorbing butt pad.
Bullets – the most suitable ammunition for shooting is lead, with a caliber of 4.5 (+\- hundredths) mm. The rifle shoots Diabolo Jumbo Exact Heavy bullets very well. We strongly do not recommend that you shoot BB-type metal balls from the DIANA 52 as they can damage the rifling of the barrel.
The bullet speed guaranteed by the manufacturer is 320 m/s. Depends on the type and weight of the specific bullet. The accuracy of the rifle allows it to hit targets the size of a matchbox at a distance of 50 meters, when using an optical sight.
The barrel is steel, rifled, has 8 rectangular rifling, its outer diameter is 14.85mm. The rifling pitch is 486. The barrel steel is German - practically indestructible. Its length is 440mm. The muzzle chamfer is made with high quality and evenly transitions into rifling.
The barrel is so secured in the breech that removing it is considered impractical, and attempting to apply excessive force will result in damage to the rifle. Besides, why take it off? There is no worthy replacement for this barrel among other manufacturers.
The receiver is steel, in front of the breech has a wide window, almost half the diameter, which serves for loading bullets. Behind the charging window on the receiver there is an open sight with micrometric adjustment in two planes. The front sight is open, fixed to the barrel. In the rear part of the receiver there is a dovetail groove on which a strong optical sight is mounted, for example, the Bushnell 3-9×40 AOGD sight has been successfully used by many shooters. It allows you to fire a hundred shots from a rifle without losing settings. On the right side of the receiver there is a cutout in which the rifle's cocking rod slides, hingedly connected to the cocking lever itself.
The ergonomics and balance of the rifle are designed so that when the front sight is aligned with the rear sight slot, the rifle comes into balance and does not wander while aiming. Thus, when you take aim at the target, you will be sure that the rifle has taken the most stable position.
The rifle's automation interacts in the following way: during COCKING of the rifle, the lever, acting through a rod on the movable cylinder of the compressor, pulls it along with the piston back until the piston rests on the hook that holds it. The lever returns to its original position, and with it the compressor cup also moves to the front extreme position. At the end of the valve compressor there is a sealing ring adjacent to the breech end of the barrel and serving as a seal. The spring is cocked, the bullet is pre-placed in the breech of the barrel - the rifle is almost ready to fire. Almost, because there is a fuse. By turning off the safety on the buttplate of the receiver, the shooter can fire a shot. The DIANA 52 rifle is equipped with a system that prevents the piston from breaking when the compressor is open, thereby eliminating the possibility of serious injury to the fingers.
The piston is steel, turned, and has a central hook. There is practically no need for additional weighting.
Cuff – designed to fire more than 4000 shots without significant loss of power. It is important that the service life of the cuff can be negatively affected by carbon deposits from the so-called “diesel effect”, when oil particles from excessive compressor lubrication mix with air and detonate during sharp compression by the piston. Therefore, we advise you not to get carried away with lubricating the inside of the compressor with unsuitable oils.
The seal has an even longer service life and will not need replacement even longer.
The glass cylinder of the compressor is made of steel and hardened. Its resource is unlimited.
The spring guide is plastic, but not weak at all. The German manufacturer does not use plastic parts to make them cheaper at the expense of quality; technology simply allows the use of this lightweight and durable material, even in critical structural components.
The trigger mechanism (trigger mechanism) on the DIANA 52 is removable; after you have pulled out two pins from the receiver, the back with the trigger is removed as a separate unit. Combines metal and plastic elements. The lever with the cocking rod can be separated without any problems. The barrel, as mentioned above, there is no need to remove. In general, disassembling and assembling is not difficult, but you should not do it unless necessary. And if you decide to thoroughly disassemble the rifle for cleaning, please study the diagram.
In conclusion, the Diana 52 is one of the best spring piston rifles money can buy.
Let's start with the performance characteristics and design features, i.e. without holding a rifle in your hands, what you need to know about it before buying.Line by line explanations of table 1. No explanation required. 2. It is well known that the length of the barrel in the PPP does not have a direct relationship with the accuracy and power of the rifle, so we do not take this aspect into account. 3. The more compact the overall length of the rifle, the more pleasant it is for the user - I hope there will be no disputes here. 4. The weight of the rifles is the same, although many (non-users) <heard somewhere> that the Diana-52 is heavier - like nonsense. The rifles have the same weight. 5. This bullet speed is stated by the manufacturer - perhaps it is so, but personally I have not shot such bullets from these rifles and I do not recommend this to anyone. 6. The actual speeds of heavy bullets are guaranteed to be sufficient for shooting at targets and for hunting at distances of 50 meters (or even more), however, the Diana-52 has a much higher speed with this bullet and therefore has a greater chance of hitting animals at maximum distances. This also has a positive effect on the flatness of the bullet’s flight path and, accordingly, smaller adjustments when changing the firing distance. 7. The flight speed of light bullets shows that the manufacturer for Diana-52 does not overestimate the indicated initial speeds and the rifle is easily capable of giving the passport 320m/s (on the new KP7.9 spring they fly 325m/s): Is the Weihrauch-97K capable of giving 290m/s? With? We conditionally believe it is capable, but I have not seen any confirmation. 8. I consider the presence of open sights on the Diana-52 to be a big plus, because There are quite a lot of people who like to shoot with open sights. This is also confirmed by the fact that there are quite a lot of people who want to purchase Weihrauch-77(K) precisely for this reason. Weihrauch-97K doesn’t earn a minus here, but you can’t put a plus either. 9. Here Diana-52 received a plus for a very important reason - the rifle can be disassembled without removing the optical sight, i.e. without changing its settings. It is impossible to disassemble the Weihrauch-97K without removing the sight, because The crown is installed on the detachable part of the cylinder. 10. The presence of a single-chamber moderator on the Weihrauch-97K has a positive effect on the volume of the shot and the rifle earns a point. The absence of a moderator for Diana-52 cannot be considered a disadvantage: it simply does not exist, so Diana-52 simply does not earn anything here. 11. Both rifles are equipped with automatic safeties, but the Diana-52 allows you to both remove and put the safety back on without unnecessary manipulation. The Weihrauch-97K only allows you to remove the safety and put it back on without re-cocking the lever. 12. The automatic fuse on the Weihrauch-97K blocks the sear, which is considered more reliable. In the Diana-52, the automatic safety blocks the trigger, which is considered less reliable, because there is a theoretical probability of the piston breaking off the combat cocking. However, I am not aware of such cases. 13. Diana-52 is equipped with a piston break safety device, which significantly increases safety when loading the rifle. The Weihrauch-97K does not have one, and the instructions strongly recommend holding the cocking lever with your hand when loading. 14. Comments are unnecessary here - I’ll say on my own that I personally don’t care what platoon, but for a left-handed person, of course, an under-barrel platoon will be more convenient. 15. Diana-52 can only be de-cocked technically, i.e. if you do this, you will need a third hand to pull the trigger while the other two hold the forend and cocking lever. Weihrauch-97K allows, through simple operations that do not cause much difficulty, to remove the rifle from combat cocking and it honestly earns one point. 16. On the Weihrauch-97K, the cocking lever is locked in the extreme position. On the Diana-52, the cocking lever is held in the closed position by the force of the curved cocking rod. This force, when properly adjusted, is more than sufficient to accomplish its task, but the locking system of the Weihrauch-97K is more preferable. 17. I consider this charging method to be the best, because constant control over the placement of the bullet (that’s why I also like “fractures”). Those. I don’t like bolts with a rammer.
Diana bracket with 25.4 mm rings (ECT)
Product description
Diana air rifles have quite a powerful recoil compared to other rifles. For such guns it is necessary to use powerful brackets. The Diana bracket is made of steel by research and production (Tula). The bracket fits rifles that have either a solid or split 11mm dovetail base. Fastening is carried out using two tightening screws, one of which has a vertical stopper. The stopper goes through the screw, so when installing on a dovetail, you must first unscrew the screw and then press a special lever to lift the stopper. From the optical axis of the sight to the dovetail strap, the bracket has a height of 43 mm. This height allows you to install sights up to 70 mm lens diameter. But the main purpose of such a height is the ability to view an open sight. Under the rings, the lower base is made in the form of an oval, which allows you to freely view the mechanical sight. The tightening of the tightening screws is carried out using a wrench, which is a hex key for the ring screws.
Main dimensions of the bracket, mm:
Width of the rings - 17 mm Distance from the edge of the bracket to the rings - 10 mm Distance between the rings - 48 mm Height from the optical axis to the dovetail bar - 43 mm Height from the optical axis to the base of the bar - 47.5 Height of the cutout on the right side - 23 mm Height cutout on the left side - 8 mm Height from the bar to the top of the cutout - 25 mm Total height of the bracket 60 mm
Distance from the edge to the center of the stopper - 80 and 15 mm Dovetail width - 11 mm Overall width of the bracket - 21 mm Length of landing posts - 22 mm Distance between posts - 40 mm
Installing the bracket: - Unscrew the mounting screws and remove the upper covers. — Place the optical sight into the bracket, aligning the vertical axis (reticle) of the sight, and secure it using the upper brackets and mounting screws. — Release the clamp and lift it using a spring, to do this, first unscrew the nut and remove the coupling screw. The anti-rotation tightening screws are made with an eccentric head and, when installed in the bracket, must be aligned along the installation groove on the base of the bracket. — Insert the bracket guides into the dovetail on the weapon and move until the bracket lock aligns with the locking hole in the rail. — Replace the clamping screw and use the nuts to secure the bracket to the weapon. The coupling nuts are located on the left side of the weapon! — Tighten the nuts. Rock the sight to make sure it is securely fastened. Using a wrench, tighten the coupling nuts until they stop. — Bring the optical sight to normal combat in accordance with the instructions in its passport.
