Classic Airgun Blog

The Diana Model 20 was produced from about 1922 until 1940. Shooting the Diana 20 is a pleasant experience.  Being a kid-sized gun, the cocking effort is kid-sized, too: only 10 pounds.  The barrel breaks easily and the spring compresses very smoothly with no crunching sounds.  As with most airguns of this era there is no safety or anti-beartrap mechanism.  It is possible to decock the gun by breaking the barrel completely down and, while holding the barrel, pull the trigger and let the mainspring decompress. I did disassemble this gun to clean and properly lube the internals; there was no special work done that could be considered a "tune".  However the shooting cycle is still very smooth and the noise level is low with no spring buzz.  Since the Model 20 is so light it does move a bit when fired. Velocities Testing was done with a fairly wide range of pellets weighing from 4.2 to 8.6 grains.  Velocities ran from the upper 300's to the upper 500's....

The Diana Model 20 is a junior air gun produced before WWII. I picked up this Diana Model 20 a couple of years ago from a popular gun auction site; no one else placed a bid so the prize was mine.  Even though I really did not care for quarter stock guns at the time the little model 20 is different enough to pique my interest. A little history The model number “20” is another designation that Diana has used for multiple airguns; first was the pre-WWI model 20 which was made from around 1907 until 1911, according to the Blue Book of Airguns. The particular model 20 is the second version and was made from 1913 until about 1940. Both model 20’s were nickel-plated, “tinplate” airguns; the most noticeable differences are that the original 20 had square-ended forks and three rivets attaching the stock instead of the rounded forks and two rivets of the second variant. The Blue Book lists the gun as the model “20 Youth” to distinguish it from the much later and completely different “Mode...

A .22-cal, 8-inch barrel Model 112   The Crosman series of bulk fill CO2 pistols and rifles were produced from 1950 to 1955. They are a rugged, straightforward design that will give many years of service when properly maintained. Unfortunately many of these guns have spent years without use or lubrication and will no longer hold pressure. In this case you can either send your gun off to be repaired or do the job yourself. There are a number of people who will do the job for a reasonable price. I have used Rick as Precision Pellet and can recommend him for parts and service; I have not used any one else but a question posted on almost any forum will get you a number of names.  If you choose to do the job yourself you will need a seal kit; these can be purchased from many sources. You will also need to make two custom tools for proper disassembly. If you have done air gun or firearm repairs this job should not be too difficult. One thing to remember is that a number o...

Note: this article was originally posted to my Google Pages location back in 2010.  Now that Google has seen fit to retire Pages, and I was too lazy to convert my content in time, I have finally started this blog site.  A friend of mine is the owner of an excellent condition Haenel 303, made in East Germany in the early 1980's.  I did a review on this rifle as a guest blogger for Pyramyd Air Air   here .  That article goes into detail about the features and performance of the gun and I don't want to repeat all of that here. What I do want to cover is the disassembly process to be able to clean and lube the gun.  The Haenel was not terribly difficult to work on; no special tools were required.  It was the first springer that I have taken apart and it still only took about four hours one Sunday afternoon.  It is also interesting to examine a few of the features of the construction of the 303 with it apart.  I must apologize for the...