Upon mounting a longer scope on my model 54, I noticed the scope seemed to be aimed off to the right of the barrel. Sure enough, it was. The culprit is the rail mount on the gun. After checking, the rail is also crooked on my model 48 and my model 52.
So, I'm guessing this is just poor machine work by Diana. No surprise. But the question is, how to fix it?
I'd like to remove the rail and try to re-bore the mounting holes. I'd prefer not to drill and tap new holes in the rifle action itself.
But first, I need to get the old rails off. For the life of me I cannot get the screws loose. Anybody have any suggestions on how to get these buggers loose?
but it would be neccesary to dismantle the action first, then get the rail off which could be a problem, reattatch the rail, and then reassemble the rifle. I just view the adjustable mount as the easy way out!LOL!
Hi Tom,
I think that I would be inclined to rectify the fault rather than "fix" it with adjustable sights,BUT I would be 101% certain that the rail was badly fixed from the factory BEFORE I attempt to remove and alter any holes that fix it to the cylinder.
To be honest,I find it hard to understand how such badly misaligned scope rails could have made it past QC at Diana.I am assuming that you had it from new here.Have you checked the barrel is not bent for instance? How does the gun group with its open sights?
I have a 54 and I did not have any issues with the scope rail at all.
I was experimenting with alternative methods of mounting scopes on the 54 and this necessitated the removal of the original rail.It is not easy to undo the crosshead screws and I had to drill them out very carefully without damaging the threads and more importantly,to preserve the factory alignment.
Now if you deceide to go down this road,remember that to rectify any misalignment,it will be necessary to drill and tap 3 new holes as well as drill another couple of holes that serve to locate the lugs on the rail.I do not know what your level of technical competence is,but make sure you have the necessary tools/skill to do it,because it is not easy.
HTH
I forgot to mention,
you sure that the scope mounts are the right dimension for the rails on these guns?Is the scope bent?It is really odd that all three 48, 52 and 54 have wonky rails.If the scopes are visibly askew,check the mounts first,then the scope to see if its bent,then look at the rail.Then finally get a gunsmith to have a LOOK at it before you get your drills out.HTH.
The screws on the scope rails are not removable. They are very short and during manufacture, they are peened over on the inside of the cylinder after insertion. In removing them, you will either wreck the head of the screw or strip out the threads in the cylinder wall.
Granted, Diana does not observe a lot of accuracy in installing rails, presumably because they feel the deviation can be compensated for by the scope itself or by the adjusting screws.