Not a Diana review but for anyone that 's interested.. otherwise "return to index"

Fedex dropped off the 850 this morning from MidSouth Shooters (MSS) with 4 88gr CO2 cylinders. Price $185 + $21.38 + $12.10/ship (w/insurance), total $218.48. About $14 less than what P/A's final pricing w/$14.50 ship and 10% disc. P/A is also closer to me than MSS, so their shipping/handl. is high and their 10% pretty much meaningless since they bump up their prices to make up for it. The 88gr cylinders were also >$2 less for each pair than P/A'!

Anyway, the 850 is pretty well balanced once you insert the ~1 pound or so heavy CO2 cylinder. Fit and finish is not bad although it seems the metal on the receiver seems to scratch easily. It rubbed slightly on the zipper of my sweat jacket and it took some of the blueing off the corner/edge of the receiver. Can't notice it too much though, but I 'm talking it barely touched the zipper.. The plastic stock bothered me a little at first (felt cheap) but I got used to it quickly (used to wood). It feels strong and is durable. The rifle is almost 6.5lbs with the CO2 cylinder so it has a nice weight and feel to it. Not too light, and not too heavy. Feels perfect & balanced. The action is nice and long and the 11mm dovetail rail is also long about 7", almost the entire length of the receiver.

The gun is a little less noisy than my 350 .22 so I 'm happy with that. But it does have the distinct POP of a CO2 gun, a little like shooting a .22 Short rimfire but not quite as loud. I will be getting a break muzzle in the future.

Accuracy seems ok. 0.8" on my 14yd indoor target with open sights but I 'm still learning the gun. I only shot 2 magazines indoors (16 pellets/3 groups). I like the fiber optic front sight. It's clear and you line it up between the 2 dots on the rear sight very quickly. There is of course NO recoil with this gun as all CO2's so that's a plus.
I shot 2 more mags at my 20yd outdoor paper on a log. From what I can tell with the binaculars it's about 1.25" CTC at the most but most pellets were within 1" with some touching but the ~4 'stragglers' out of 16 shot, have to count.. I was shooting CP's mostly, so I only have about 1/4" to go to match the 350 at 20yds once I learn how to shoot it better.

The gun comes with 2 magazines so you can shoot 16 pellets very quickly. Reloading is also very quick and without having to move your sights much off the target. Your hand naturally goes to the bolt without looking or moving your body, and loads the next pellet quickly. So this gun is great for "follow up" shots or if you 're just in a hurry to get a few pellets off before the wife comes home

CP's, Superdomes & Beeman FTS loaded easily into the breech with the bolt action, but the JSB Exact Jumbos needed more effort for the bolt to lock and sometimes it gave you the impression that you have a jam. Once I got used to it and pushed the bolt lever harder it was fine. It's all a matter of getting used to things.

So after I shot 4 magazines (32 pellets) I put the gun through the chrony. First mag/8 pellets were CP's (14.3gr). They shot a little low than I expected in a 70deg room. 572-581fps, just made it to 11FPE but nice spread. Then another 8 Superdomes (14.5gr) 565-573fps, smaller spread. Then 4 Beeman FTS (14.6gr) 567-574fps, better spread! Then 4 JSB Exact 15.9gr, 545-551fps, even better spread. So now I have shot 7 mags or 56 pellets.

I then start with a few CP's all over again. Now I 'm getting 550's to mid-560's. Power is dropping already? I shoot some Superdomes, they 're mid 540's - 550fps. A little more consistent. Some more JSB's and they 're consistent at 540-542fps! A few CP's again through the chrony and consistent results of 550-554! The gun settled after 50 pellets or so at just under 10FPE.

So now I have shot 10 magazines, 80 pellets. 1 more mag with 4 Superdomes & 4 CP's. Result: 547-543 w/SD's. 4 CP's: 551-548 (dropping in that order). 8 JSB's in a row: 535-532!

So power is dropping very slowly now. Seems a couple of fps with every magazine. 12 mags, 96 pellets and we 're into the 9FPE range except for JSB's which are shooting right at 10FPE. This gun doesn't like the way JSB's go into the breech but seems to shoot them fast compared to CP's and other lighter 14.x pellets.

So it looks like the first 50-60 shots are "strong" and down from there but it's a very slow progression to below the 10FPE mark up to 100shots. I don't know what happens after that. My wife called to say she 's on her way and I just put everything away and got back to work I 'll do another test from 100-150 some other time or with the 2nd cylinder. I don't think I can get more than 125-150 useable shots with 1 cylinder. I know .177 gets around 200 maybe more, so 150 for .22 sounds normal. It would be nice to maintain 11FPE for the 1st 100shots but who knows, maybe after the gun breaks in more (I doubt it)? I will also do some chrony testing with a fresh cylinder from shot 1 through 30 or so but I don't expect to see anything faster than 600fps at room temperature. Outdoors in the summer time with 80-85deg., I would expect some low 600's / 12FPE.

Ok now on to the 850 forum to learn all about the mods and order more CO2! It looks like I 'll be going through 1 a day at this rate! It's fun to shoot and a refreshing break from the big bad boy the 350

Dave: Any chrony #'s from you 850 .177 you want to share? # of shots/cylinder, etc.?

Congratulations Harry! I did a few numbers about a week ago. I thought I gave them to the blog. I was shooting out a very cold windy window ( I do not know if that had anything to do with the numbers). But they were around 700fps. I think I had shot one raptor like 748 or something. I will shoot some in the house, now that I have a indoor target trap and let you know. If I were you, I would log on to the 850 blog and see what those guys are shooting in 22.cal. I know the gun does not like cp's. I have been doing a lot of shooting indoors at the 10 meter target and it is very very accurate. Not that 10 meters means much. I can shoot a lot of pellets at that close range. Now I know you like to hunt, so you really need to ask those guys at the 850 site.

Good shooting!

Dave@vabch

Congrats. Harry, 850 looks like a really fun co-2 gun! A site you may want to check out,this guy just started his own blog, owns an 850, & is currantly modding it to hpa. http://airnergy.blogspot.com./. Not sure if you are a "fan" of Tom Gaylord or not, but he gave this guy a pretty good plug on his blog. Keep that 850 tucked in & warm! Good shooting! Tim.

Keep in mind that a CO2 repeater such as this, will cool down after a number of shots in quick succession. Generally, I try and wait a minute or so between shots if I'm trying to get some accurate numbers with CO2. That 8 shot mag allows you to cycle shots really fast and the rapid release of gas cools down the gun more than if you're manually loading a pellet each time.

I'd expect that with a hammer spring mod, you'd get upwards of 650 on an 80 degree day. I've got an old Crosman 114 that get low 700's. The 850 certainly has to be able to get close to that in .22. You'll need to get the B&A adapter and install a 12 oz CO2 bottle the way you're going through gas.

"but I'll be needin' that gun, fer squirrels and such."

temp. will lower your fps in cold weather with CO2, let it warm up between shoots and try again that string, you will be shocked at the difference

and that goes for all CO2 up north in cold weather, that is a proven fact regardless of 4, 8, 12 oz. bottles in CO2

warren

and remember "it's 30% the gun and 70% the shooter"

I have it wrapped up in blankets like a baby and next to the heater. I 'm kidding! We 'll see how it shoots with a fresh CO2 cylinder over the weekend.

I 'll check that site Gaylord recommended but I plan on hanging out at the big 850 forum for a while too.

I showed it to the wife and I somewhow justified the purchase to her.. I also convinced her to shoot it. She shot a magazine out the window at the 20yd target I normally use after I put fresh paper out for her. She put 3 in the bullseye (7/8" inner circle) and the other 5 not far off! She achieved a ~1.1" CTC on open sights! She shot slightly (0.1") better than me! I 'm afraid to see what she 's going to do when I put a scope on it.. I was getting ready to shoot a magazine to regain my now destroyed ego, but my son's school bus had arrived so we stopped. It's a nice target we use for 20yds. Easy to see with different colored circles. She likes the gun, so I told her she can shoot it anytime she wants. She loves the fiber optic sights which glow in the dark I want this gun to be half hers, so it 'll give me an excuse to buy another gun, hopefully a .25cal

Harry, I know where I posted some numbers, on a e-mail. Any way, I think about 100 shots is all that you get in 177 with any quality. At 10 meters I can shoot more and still stay accurate but I would not venuture any yardage after 100 shots.

Dave @vabch

Good old CO2 Gotta love it! 12 gr. 88.gr. or bulk fill, Dont matter, Cold is bad! Temp. or rapid fire. But how can you resist w/ smooth repeat action of RWS 850??? Hard to do! Line up mags. & rapid shoot all in ,say a 1077, remove 12 gr. cart., scrape off the ice,& make a snow cone on a summer day!!LOL.You guys are great. Tim.

I 've always known that! Funny thing is I even read it on the 850 forum a couple of weeks ago that you have to wait in between shots through the chrony! I 'm an airhead. I was so excited when Fedex arrived that I wasn't thinking at all. As soon as you guys mentioned it, it all came back to me.

I have owned Crosman CO2 pistols since I was 14 (still have a couple in working order). I even knew it then. My uncle had told me when after I got my first airgun (he 's a gun freak too and was a big time hunter - I 'm talking polar bear, grizzly, etc.) I remember whenever I 'd see a starling or some animal I wanted to shoot at after I had shot at a target (or can), I 'd freeze and wait for about a minute or more for the gun too warm up before I would shoot it so I could get that extra 20fps How easily we forget. My brain is not as sharp as it used to be
But let me tell you, during the winter outside, I could see that pellet (specially BB's) fly out of the barrel all the way to the soda can every time! It was probably traveling 300fps in 30deg. weather, heheh.

I have a stock 850 in .22 as well. My #'s are almost the same as yours. Of 30 different types of pellets, mine prefers RWS Meisterkugelns. I can get about 160 good shots from an AS CO2, then another 20 or so that are good enough for 10 yard shooting. I bought extra mags for a total of 10. I load them all and when I've gone through each one twice I know I'm ready to change the CO2. Nice basement plinker and it stays pretty consistant with 30 to 40 seconds rest between shots.

Meticulous(?got a name?)! I 'll be happy with 160 shots. Do you know if between 100-160, the velocity stays in the ~500's?

Wow, 10 magazines? now that's a sure way of knowing when it's time for fresh CO2! I have scotch taped a piece of paper on the side of the receiver and I just put I's to signify each mag. and a line accross them for every 5 There 's gotta be a better way to do this.. I also dry fire the gun in like 2 out of 4 mags because I lose count and think I have 1 more pellet left I guess it's ok dry firing a CO2 because there are no pistons slamming into anything. Does this do anything to any seals? I doubt it. I 've dry fired my CO2 pistols a lot and it didn't seem to hurt anything. I just have to get into the habit of counting from 1 to 8

Harry

I chronied the first 100 or so shots but haven't done it since. I base my 160 shots on it's ability to hit a 1" target at 20 yards. At 50 yards, I've only been able to achieve "pop can" accuracy. I was a little disappointed at that but when you consider how affordable it is, I'm not complaining. I used to keep count of mags the same way you do but kept forgetting to mark it down. I bought the extra mags on sale at Xmas and filling 10 of them twice has worked the best for me so far. I have found that you can see a "sliver" of the lead skirt in the mag at the 11 o'clock position (as the shooter sees it) and that is your last shot. I also shoot at targets that I printed up in rows of 4 so that helps too. I also discovered that 2 pellets shot at once are not accurate but will still go over 300fps LOL! When it's time to change the CO2, how do you deplete whats remaining in the bulb? I tried dry firing but found it too tedious. Now, I just unscrew it slowly until I hear a small "hiss" and then lay the rifle down and go about my business for a minute or two while it empties. Myself and few friends have noticed brass and aluminum slivers near the valve so we've taken to steel brushing the CO2 threads. Close examination of the Crosman bulbs revealed some pretty rough threading! I'm paranoid about cross threading and I only tighten as much as can be achieved with finger pressure between my thumb and fore/middle fingers. Since brushing, I haven't seen anymore slivers...

Cheers,

Vasil

Vasil, thanks for the great advice! I am sure, Avery, Harry, myself will have more questions for you in the future.

Thanks

Good Shoot!
Dave@vabch

Vasil. Good info.