My new Diana 350 laser rifle :-)

[fenring]

This was an impulse buy today.

The stumpy little scope has a 30mm tube and comes with a 3/8" built in mount and also a Weaver style adaptor (that will also place the scope a good 3/4" higher than it needs to be...

It is quite compact as you can see, and is a 3.5-10X40AO with mildot reticle.  The reticle can be illuminated red and green over a number of brightness settings and there is also AO that goes right down below 10 metres.  The scope is spring airgun rated according to the bloke I got it off - won't take long on the 350 Magnum to find out if that's true or not as these rifles are renowned scope killers.  Hopefully the mount won't shift, if it looks like it might I have an arrestor stud to fit behind the mount.  



Yes, this is a big air rifle.



Illuminated reticle at full whack.  This is very bright and would only be used in full daylight I reckon (and why would you?)





Bigness.  :D  This will zing through a full tin of baked beans at 20m with a hollow point pellet and bulge the arse of the tin on the way through.    It shoots realistic weight .22 pellets of 14gr as fast as most good .177's shoot. (around 820 - 850fps)  



That's not all however.

That right there is a laser projector, the POI adjusted by the hidden Allen screws.



The dot was visible on trees in broad daylight at about 25m with the scope on 10X.

Out of interest, once I had the rifle sighted in with some .22 Super H Points I shot a group from the hip at about ten metres using just the laser to aim.



Not bad and for ratting these would all have been kill shots if they'd hid the vitals.

I thought the laser might have shifted POI under the Diana's lively front and rear recoil impulse, but no.

So I'm happy with this purchase, and today while I was tinkering I fitted some sling mounts to the 350 as I plan to carry it afield to shoot some coneys.  

 

[LoneRider]

you forgot to add "how much and where from"
looks pretty awesome mate.

[fenring]

Came from these blokes, and the show special price was $169. No doubt it's Chinese but the quality seems pretty good.

http://www.huntershome.com.au/riflescopes/

[LoneRider]

definately looks the goods young fella.
would make pigeon duty easy peasy.

[fenring]

Yeah mate, with Superpoints or similar it would zip right through a pidgy.

[JD]

The Diana looks like a very nice rig. Quite classy actually.

I've steered well clear of the Diana's of late, particularly all the plastic stock things I've seen but your actually looks like a nice piece of kit. I really hadn't given them much time at all due to the fantastic price of the HW's these days. It would be nice to shoot one and see how it goes.

Enjoy.

[fenring]

Ta mate. The only cheapy things on the 350 are the plastic endcap, safety, trigger guard and trigger blade bit it doesn't feel flimsy and all works well. Sadly we don't get the Superior version of the 350 here, this one was a special import. It's very accurate but not the easiest to shoot - then again it's a hunting rifle not a plinker and a long plinking session will wear the average person out pretty quick. Not just the cocking effort which isn't too bad but the concentration and effort you put into holding it just right each shot. My FWB127 by comparison just floats effortlessly and spits its pellets on target like it's got a mind of its own.

The HW's are of course very nice and the standard by which all other springers are judged. IMO Diana are next in line and for those who are power hungry (there are many....) Diana lead the field as far as power and build quality goes.

Plastic stocks - I looked at a Benjamin gas ram the other day, had the plastic thumbhole stock and it was well laid out and felt quite solid. Not the creaky, flexy arrangement you find on Gamo's and others.