I wanted to share some pics of a recently acquired gun with fellow aficionados of Diana match rifles.

I did add the pics to a thread in the Yellow forum too before discovering this sister forum. Looking at some of the other beauties posted here, I thought the pics would fit right in!

It's a 1986 T01 (the date stamp could be a badly done '88?) and it's the original factory stock, which I've just refinished in oil and wax.

magnificent wood, were most stocks that figured? Thanks for showing this. Dave

I've not seen one as good myself.

that's one of the nicest pieces of wood I've ever seen on an air-rifle

tvenomhunter

That is not just pretty, its a quality peice of lumber! Must have been a mix up in the manufacture! Never seen a nicer peice on a massproduced airgun!

That wood is gorgeous...bears a passing resemblance to that one-in-a-million Walther 55 that Vlad likes to drag out!

It really is exceptional, you don't see many 75's with timber approaching that.

Oh my God! That is the single most gorgeous Diana I've seen. And Mike, I think this is even a better chunk of wood then that darn LG55T .

wood on an airgun, just beautiful. Makes you wonderful if it was just sold to some lucky stiff over the counter or was a a special of some sort....GB

Sorry, half a pint of saliva is over my keyboard...

Congratulations on this very special Diana.
Regards

That's a keeper for sure.

How does it shoot??

<>< Think Straight Shoot Straight

especially from people whose own guns I have admired over the years when browsing on the various US airgun forums.

I know nothing of this Diana's earlier life except that it was apparently shot competitively (there were sticker 'shadows' all over the RHS of the butt - it was very hard to remove all traces) and that it had some sort of (name?)plate screwed into the LHS of the forend forward of the trigger.

There were shallow dents and depressions all over the edges of the forend and butt, showing that the stock was poorly treated even though the metalwork was for the most part pristine. The grain was also very flat when I bought it but steaming, sanding, oiling and waxing provided depth and transformed it into the beauty you see today.

It's shooting very nicely also. I had one of our great British gunsmiths change the seals. The original ones were intact but age had given them the consistency of a hard cheese with no strength or elasticity. The gunsmith reckoned they would have started crumbling within a hundred shots or so.

never seen a Diana that good...