the sight appears to be well made. it has some heft to it. the finish is nice.
the micrometer adjustments are somewhat coarse feeling. this may indicate a need for some lubrication. a drop of machine oil may solve the problem.
there are a number of screws on the sight. two of these screws lock the micrometer adjustment. they need to be loosened before you turn the micrometer knobs. my concern is that these screws will vibrate loose once you back them out enough to free up the micrometer adjustemnts. once loosened you don't need to tightne them up again so i will place a tiny drop of 3m weatherstrip cement or superglue to lock them down. there is another screw on the side of the sight. this has a cam that adjusts the tension on the dovetail that guides the
upper sight carrier. this is another item that oance adjusted should be locked in poistion to avoid vibration making it back out.
the sight attaches with an 11mm dovetail. it fits the sight rail of the diana rifles quite well. two small allen screws and one sslotte screwa re adjusted
together to level the sight on the rifle. the two allen screws are very small and they do not provide much tention. this may create a situation where the
sight could slide off under recoil although it did not move when i put 50 pells through the rifle. i will place some 3m weatherstripping cement on the
interface of the dovetail and the sight. i used to use the 3m on my motocross bike screws and they never vibrated loose (and those things vibrate). i also used to use it to glue my tubular bicycle tires on the wheels of my track bike. very tough stuff.
this sight combined with the globe front sight with insert made for the 52 gives a very nice sight picture. aiming is very precise. all you need do is concentrate on the front post because a rear peep centers the human eye.
if you get this sight read the directions well BEFORE turning any knobs. the lock screws must be backed out or you can damage the threads.
for adjustments the sight has a scale for both windage and elevation.
when i installed the sight i wanted it to be at the very back of the rail so i remove the small screw that is back there. i am not using it as a stop although i suppose you could. what i think i will do is drill a hole in the base of he williams where this screw sits and use it as a stop pin. the sight is much lighter than a scope or a diopter set up and i doubt if it will shear it off.
this set up looks right on the gun. when i put it together i immediately saw my old M14 service rifle. it has that same solid utilitarian look and feel. just prettier.
sighting in this sight was a breeze. i left my old iron sight on. the original broken one that i had repaired with JB weld. it was sighted in. when i attached the williams i merely adjusted the aperature so it lined up with the sight picture on the original iron sight. i then removed the old iron sight.
shots were vertually dead on. the sight is cranked up quite high since i am shooting at only 5+ meters in my office rifle range. there is lots of adjustment left for bringing the sight down when i sight it in at 25 meters or so. sounds conterintuitive but thats how it works at extremely close range.
i highly recommend this sight and the proper front globe and post for the 52 if you want to use iron sights for casual shooting and hunting. i think this sight will work well on other diana rifles with the standard 11mm rail.
You are correct Larry. I used the small screw as a stop with the Beeman sight on my 350. The sight is light enough that it does not pose the risk of shaering of the screw. To ease your mind a little I never had any of the mount or set screws loosen under usage with the 350.
Nice review.
to bring you up to date, the two screws on the back of the sight provide tension on small springs that contact little ball bearings that interfaces with the click detents. too much tension and it is very hard to turn the knobs.
i found the right tension and locktighted the little screws so they don't vibrate out. i also locktighted the side screw that fixes the cam for the elevation slide. the sight is now working smoothly. the receiver screw is keeping it from sliding back and i have had to locktight that screw as well.
what i may do is cut a slot in the sight base where this screw contacts it so i
can slide the sight further back for a more relaxed head position.
I keep those little screws tightened down. It helps to lock the aperture assembly from wobbling. If the screws are loose you can wiggle the aperture with your finger...with the screws tightened it locks it down. plus once you have it sighted in, you don't really need to adjust the knobs. If I do switch pellets and the poi is different, I just loosen the locking screw again. Great sights and they work very well on these dianas.
regards, Scott
