Diana Model 48

Anyone wanting to deny any amount of power this firearm has then take a look at what a through the ear shot can do to a 100# plus hog. No squeals and sealed the deal immediately. Nothing but top precision in a firearm. Head shot made from moving vehicle did the job for feral hog reduction in Englewood Florida. Thanks to Mr. Kenny Anderson for introducing us to a top quality made gun. Ordering more!

Pros
BAD TO THE BONE AND THROUGH IT ALSO!

Cons
Side Lever Bent because of mishandling. Should be made little better.

Pros
i have owned this find rifle for 40 plus years. its still dead on.

Cons
it is heavy, but i am not trekking this for miles. wish it was quieter for shoot rats.

It arrived 2 days ago. I ran a patch through the bore, sighted with a cheap POS scope I had laying around. I sighted it the next morning. I have shot it 4 times since then. ALL ONE SHOT TO THE HEAD AT 11 yards! I had unfortunately sold my model 48 a decade or so ago when things were tight. I have since bought 3 others, they varied from bad to REALLY BAD. I will never make the mistake of selling it ever!

Pros
Accurate, Powerful, well made and did I mention ACCURATE!

Cons
I'm old it's a bit heavy, BUT DID I MENTION ITS ACCURATE!

I am not an expert by any means on air rifles. What I can say is I’ve had the model 48 for about 15 yrs +- it shoots as hard and straight today as it did when I got it. I’m now 70 so it’s harder to hold and load now vs when I got it. But that’s me and not a defect in the gun. Can’t tell you how many groundhogs I’ve dispatched at 30-50 yard range, aimed high and took couple out 60-70 yds. At 30 yds this gun will shoot through a 3/4” pressure treated board. It is a lot of $ but if you want a top notch air rifle and not interested in shooting fast and have the ability to hold it and pull the lever this rifle is the ticket.

Pros
Top notch air rifle

Cons
It is heavy and does take some strength to pull the lever back but if you change any of that then it wouldn’t be the excellent rife that it is.

If you need a powerful spring piston air rifle, this could be it.

Pros
Wonderful build quality, shoots great with vortex spring kit at 750 fps plus. Highly recommended, purchased mine in 2006 in 22 cal.

Cons
Nothing

Pros
Maybe James (see review below) did get a defective rifle. Mine in 22 caliber will hit a dime at 30 yards all day. I moved an RWS 2x7x40 scope over from another Diana air rifle (still going strong from 1985), and the Model 48 holds its zero without any problems. If you can see it, you can hit it. Fit and finish are impeccable, and this rifle is powerful! Noticeably more punch and penetration than my older Diana springer, which shoots .177 at approximately 1,000 fps. Even though I'm left-handed, loading the Model 48 is not a problem, and the action is glassy smooth. Trigger is superb as well, resulting in better accuracy.

Cons
None

I can't keep the thing sighted in . On sand bags at 30 yards 5 shots can be covered with a nickel . Take it out a week later same good group but 2-3 inches off. Tried 3 different mounts & scope combos ,same thing happens. I have had this gun for over 1 1/2 years and it just will not shoot to the same P.O.A twice in a row. Also mounted a bipod on it .That made it shoot 8" low . So I took it off. I have a 30 year old Beeman and a $79 Gamo that won't shoot as tight but at least they keep sighted in. I haven't touch their scoops for a few years but when I take them off the wall I can still hit a rabbit at 40 yards with them . It's only 50/50 with this Diana 48. For me it was a waste of money. Maybe I got the only bad one out there.

Pros
Nice looking gun . Trigger is very good.

Get a good scope for it . It just too accurate to only use open sights.

Pros
Great gun . I'm hitting tin cans at 100 yards with it . 30 yard 5 shot groups off a rest can be covered with a nickel.

Cons
The comb on the stock should be a little higher if you are going to use a scope.

Pros
Accurate. Quality of materials. Quality of manufacture and engineering.

Cons
Maybe a ghost-ring sight and a pic rail option, but those are options. I would not change anything.

Everyone who reviews this rifle seems to love it. For good reason! Easy to cycle with the beefy side lever, beautifully machined, nicely balanced, and deadly accurate. But it is a springer. Umm, well duh. It is up at the highest end of the spring rifle world where the elegant and smooth shooting guns designed for field target and hunting live. And it definitely belongs there. I got the .22 chambered version first and was immediately impressed with the power and smoothness of the rifle. The trigger is excellent and the over-all fit and finish of the gun is top shelf. Does it make a variety of interesting noises when fired? Absolutely. It is still a spring gun and you can't have all that power in a mechanical spring powered system without making some noise. Is it annoying? Well, if mechanical noises and pings annoy you when shooting what is a 100% mechanically powered rifle the answer would have to be yes and clearly springers are not for you. Stick to the PCP's and co2 guns. But if you love the simple elegance of a cleanly machined rifle and the simplicity of a spring system this rifle will definitely make you smile. But this is supposed to be about the .177. After shooting the .22 I had very high expectations for the .177. It did not disappoint. In fact with the very first shot I kept thinking just plain "WOW". I haven't fired it over my chrony yet but it seems to be shooting at very high velocity. It was hitting my 25 yard stop with serious authority. The fact that it seems to really prefer the heavier and longer pellets also suggest that I am going to see some very impressive velocity when i finally get a chance to clock it. But there is no question in my mind that this would be an excellent small game rifle as well as a very good field target gun. As you might expect, given the amount of steel and wood that is put into this rifle, it is not a light weight. And I can't give a fair assessment of what it would be like for smaller shooters to manage this as a field rifle because I am 6' and 195, so I do not find it too heavy to shoot off-hand (although I would not want to have to hold on target for too long; it does have some beef). In fact, not surprisingly that weight helps to mitigate the recoil and stabilize the gun. A couple observations that I would not list as cons but buyers should be aware of. First, because of the way the steel shroud is cut around the breech opening, left handed shooters will have more difficulty chambering pellets than "righties". This is unfortunate but is simply a function of design. I also have a Weihrauch HW97K and it is as easy for my son to load as a lefty as it is for me because the entire top of the breech shroud is open. While he also likes the Diana he definitely prefers the Weihrauch with the ease of loading being one of the factors. The other item is to note that if this is your first RWS Diana do not ignore the advice about the droop compensating scope mount. I did with my .22 since it made no sense to me that a fixed barrel rifle would have barrel droop but it seems that for some reason this droop is built into the Diana. I had to shim the regular rings more than I was comfortable with. Got the compensating mount and with the Hawke Airmax scope I used the height was perfect and zeroed at 25 yards I have about 80%+ of the up elevation adjustment remaining on the scope. It is also a very strong mount so no doubt about it staying where you put it.

Pros
See the review. Simply an all around excellent rifle. Not quite as elegant as my Weihrauch HW97K, but every bit as smooth and accurate a shooter. And more fun in the field because I'm not as concerned about nicking the stock (my HW97 has the blue laminate stock; almost afraid to take it out of the case cuz its so darn pretty).

Cons
The only concern I might have would be the weight for smaller shooters as a field rifle. Also, IT IS A SPRINGER. If you think that buying a high-end springer is going ot mean that it will shoot and handle like a PCP, you will be disappointed. You still have to learn the techniques and develop the skills required by spring guns if you are going to stack pellets. But the satisfaction of shooting this kind of rifle well will totally negate that "con".