What scope is a reasonable piece of glass for this rifle. My other rifles are mainly for hunting so I need to switch gears in my head about what the 75 wants to "see" for paper punching.
As always, any solid suggestions are appreciated. JB
Re: Suggestions for 10M+ target scope for Diana 75
July 31 2005, 5:14 PM
Hi JohnB,
Congratulations for your new old Diana 75, that's such a nice classic match airgun. On a match air rifle and for 10 meter target shooting, I think the best are the original or replacement peep sights, but is this is not practical or desired then a small scope like the Leapers 4x32 Mini A.O.Bug Buster http://www.pyramydair.com/cgi-bin/accessory.pl?accessory_id=502 or better yet the Leupold 3-9x33 EFR http://www.straightshooters.com/leupold/leupold3933.html would be nice and not overwhelmingly large. Other thing is that too much magnification would make it harder to keep the gun steadier for the small AR-5 target.
You might try using a Diana or Anschutz diopter sight, fitted with a Gehmann, Anschutz, or Centra magnifying adjustable iris unit. These are expensive, and have less magnification and a smaller field of view than a scope, but are much lighter and less bulky than a scope and have extremely high-quality, distortion-free optics.
I have a Gehmann 575 iris that is really terrific. Another advantage of course is that you can quickly switch it to any other gun with a match sight.
Just a thought...a pet peeve of mine, I find match rifles are heavy enough without a chunky scope aboard!
I have to agree Mike, I don't wish to add a lot of additional weight and raise the c of g on an already heavy rifle.
Investment wise, without spending a gazillion dollars on more optics, if I pick up a good choice scope for the 75 and decide not to use it, I have plenty of other places to put the scope to use. All but the 75 are set up for hunting so any other type of sight would have to be dedicated to the 75.
On my 52, 54, RX and R1 I've gone to smaller compact scopes like the Beeman SS2 and Jim Macarri scopes to avoid extra weight and height. It has worked out well. I'd like to believe I'm going to punch paper with the 75 but I know myself better and I'll end up using it off my bench rest shooting at small critters across the canyon.
I've had four people suggest trying the Leapers Bug Buster scope. I've never owned a Leapers scope and the pricing makes me question how good can they actually be. Then again, the scopes I purchased from Macarri where much better than I expected for the money. Worse case, if I pick up a Leapers I could always put it on the Talon SS my son Michael just got.
Mike, fixed sights aside, if you were going to scope a Diana 75, what would your first and second choice be from your experience? I've gone to MilDots on my PCP's that have worked out very well. I don't have a clue what most of the guys are using on match type rifles if and when they put a scope on them.
I picked up a 4x32 Bug Buster along with a 4x32 Fixed mini mildot from Airsplat today. $40 for the Bug Buster and $25 for the 4x32 mini mildot. Add $11 for shipping & I'm way up to $76. We're probably going to have to eat a lot of spaghetti to pay for those! LOL
I may get a look at the 16x56 side focus AO this weekend.
on accessory items, not so much rifle and pistol margins.
That's a great price compared to $65.95 at Pyramyd. You get the shopper of the week award Keith. I ordered another Macarri scope for Michael's Talon. I'll try the Leapers on a couple of other rifles. I took the Weaver V16 off the 400 Classic. I might part with the 400 rather than wait for AA, A of A and SS to get their act together. It has been 7 months now. I believe Craig has been trying his best but I'd like to put this to bed before you know who develops self induced amnesia.
Frank H. said the 75 is on its way packed in a hard case as if it were going into a time capsule. Refreshing pleasure dealing with him.
Sad day yesterday. I had to put my rifles away in plastic bags until the ceiling and wall texture guys are finished. The sanding dust is finding its way into everything. Two more days of this and back to "normal". The walls in my office looks naked without an airgun hanging on it! Airguns, functional art! LOL.
Shot my second group of paper targets using the 4X rather than iron sights. At 30+ yards I just can't see what I'm shooting at when it's smaller than a couple of inches. Also, my far sightedness makes the rear sight look like a blur causing some right eye strain. I know, I'm pampering myself. Diopter types?
Other than that I've had a very enjoyable shooting session two mornings in a row with no breeze. The 75 cocks like a Nikon or Leica SLR camera. Randy Bimrose did an outstnding job on this complete refurb.
Next, I need to find what pellet she likes to eat. Any suggestions to help narrow it down.
With an aperture sight, the rear sight is SUPPOSED to be a blur. It's physically impossible to focus on something that close to your eye simultaneously with the front sight and the target.
The whole advantage of this type of sight is that it eliminates one plane of focus. With "notch" type iron sights, you do have to focus on both front and rear sights to some degree, but with an aperture sight you just plop the front sight on the target and the rest is "automatic." Your eye will center the sight picture in that blurry aperture with remarkable precision.
I'll mount the fixed sight again and rethink the position (distance) from my eye.
I've never worked with this type of set up before so I'm very much inclined to be doing one or several things wrong. LOL.
The shooting I did yesterday and this morning using the Beeman SS2 4X yielded excellent results. It has been a while since a rifle's function was this impressive. At 6'2" the rifle almost seems as if it were designed for my hold. Shooting off the bench bag it is obvious how accurate it is as long as I relax, control breathing, push everything else out of my head and lightly touch off the trigger on target. It groups very well.
Mike or anyone who has had experience, approximately how close should the rear sight be to me eye for best results?
Hope you guys had a peaceful weekend. It's Sunday evening already.
The rear sight disk should be as close to the eye as possible, as the distance to the eye increases, visual acuity suffers. The closer the disk is placed to the eye, the larger the hole appears to be, making it possible to be more accurate in centering the front sight inside it. A distance of 3/4 - 2 inches between the eye and rear sight disk is recommended.
I had it positioned too far forward, I'll try it further back.
I noted on my target "off hand". I was placing the bottom of the fore grip rail on my palm and my left elbow on a small stable table. I'll have to relearn some things for target shooting. All I have been doing is hunting the past several years and anything goes in that situation trying to get a good shot on the hills and canyon grades. Like most guys, I don't have a problem shooting off a stable bench rest.
I've tried a few different pellets. The rifle seems to like RWS Hobby 7.0 gr. more than Meisterkugeln 8.2 gr. and JSB Exacts. Could be me because as the day moved on, so did the distractions. I'll have to try this test again early one morning this week.
I have Frank H. up in OR. to blame for all this fun and technique adjustments. LOL.
It varies but most people like the sight disk about 2 inches or so from their eye for offhand shooting.
The disks that come with such a sight usually have a really tiny opening in them. I HIGHLY recommend one of the adjustable-iris units made by Gehmann, Centra, or Anschutz. This allows you to adjust the opening size as needed for the ambient light of the moment. The older you are, the more they are indispensable! Most serious match shooters use these.
Hobbys often shoot great in match guns, in my experience.
I'll have to keep my eyes open for a used adjustable rear Diopter. Looking at new ones (Champions Choice) I see they go for approximately $350+. I'll contact Jim Edmonson and see what he has in a good used one.
I shot the 75 a little yesterday after work. Very relaxing. Physics 101 kicked in also yesterday. The light slow moving .177 pellet (Hobby 7 gr.) was very effected by even a slight breeze. Obvious in conversation but it becomes a hard core reality when trying to maintain a paper target group at 10 to 30 yards.
Early morning is my best time to shoot this rifle. As the day moves on we get a breeze from the Pacific Ocean moving east into the canyons. Feels great cooling things off a little but not conducive for paper target shooting.
I'm starting to wonder what a FWB300 or 300S series is like in comparison to the Diana 75. Also the Diana 100.
Have a peaceful and productive day in spite of everyone else on the planet.
I'm not sure what you looked at, sounds like a complete rear sight at that price? The adjustable-aperture units I was referring to are only around $60 new, and have a universal thread that fits any German match rear sight.
There are MANY models available, you can add colored filters, polarizers, magnifying lenses, or any combination. But all you really need is the adjustable iris.
Search on Ebay under "gehmann" or "anschutz" if Jim has nothing in hand, sometimes used ones do turn up there or on target-shooting web sites, etc., such as Pilkington.
Check out the Gehmann and Anschutz ahg catalogs on this page:
I'm inclined to say it depends on where you live. If you live in Europe I would suggest the Leupold VX-II 3-9x33mm Rimfire EFR because the dollar is quite cheap at the moment and this is a great opportunity to buy one of these fine scopes at a more attractive price.
Leupolds are very strong and should never pose any problems should you ever want to install them on another, magnum, airgun.
The downside of a Leupold is that if you miss, you can no longer blame it on the scope.
I looked around again and I see the different diopter eye pieces that can be changed out without changing the whole rear sight assembly. OK that makes sense and far less money. I was hesitating investing in a whole new diopter assembly at the price of a decent scope.
I did get in a couple of the Leapers Compact (Bug Buster) scopes on Monday. Put one on my son's Talon SS with high mounts. Not bad at all for the money, even at twice the price it's a decent little piece of glass. Compared it to my Beeman (Hakko) SS2 4X and for the money it works well for that application without spending a lot of money for a squirrel puncher.
Gentlemen, thank you for all the solid input. Possibly sometime in the future you'll have a question about professional sound or recording equipment for your Church or studio and I can reciprocate for all the helpful information you've freely shared on here.
I also specialize in a couple of very unique magic tricks such as making good quality Italian and Chinese food disappear. If you ever need some pointers, or if you're in my neck of the woods, don't hesitate to ask or join me. My treat. LOL. JB - San Diego
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