hey guys,
i picked up this little girl at a local gun show here in lakeland florida this past sunday. it is a model 27 made in great britain. serial number 2786. i don't believe it has an original trigger, but whomever made this blade did a good job on it. it is .22 cal and shoots jsb exact 16g at @ 400 fps. the blueing on it is exceptional, only showing a couple of surface rust areas. can anyone offer any more info on this little girl?







thanks,
Calvin

make the Diana 27? In the 70's? It looks a lot like the very first pellet gun I shot in '78 which was a Diana but I don't know which model. My neighbor used to tell my dad, that if he had any pest problems he could always borrow his "Diana". I didn't know what that was for like a year. First I thought it was a nick name for something but then I saw him shooting it in his back yard and he showed me how to use it and let me take a few shots. The reason I believe it's the same gun is because of the wood finish and the words "drilled for scope".

Calvin, that rifle was made by Millard Brothers ("Milbro") in Lanarkshire, Scotland. The guns were made on original German pre-war machinery which was purchased and sent there by Allied occupation forces after WW2, so basically it was a copy of the pre-war German-made model 27.

The Scottish guns went into production in the early 50's I think. Milbro used the model 27 architecture as the basis of many later modified models, before going out of business in the early 80's.

Post-war German Diana guns were re-designed and made on new machinery. German Dianas sold in Britain carried the "Original" trade name because Milbro owned the right to use "Diana."

"Diana 27" is one of the longest-running name plates in airgun history. If you will scroll down a bit you will find a couple of posts that show several variants and describe their history and details:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/184474/thread/1186231614/last-1186231614/One+for+Doug--Diana+27%27s

http://www.network54.com/Forum/184474/thread/1186231676/last-1186621091/More+model+27+details