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Diana Mauser K98

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I have the pcp version.Because of the small air tube it fills easy with a hand pump. I've since got other pcp's I now have a Young Heng and a guppy tank for refilling all of them. The small air tube is a plus for hand filling but a minus for shot counts. Mine is a 22,its good for 20+- shots.For the short sight radius it shoots as good as I can hold it. It's my favorite for off hand practice. My only complaint with this rifle is the only mag I have came with the rifle,I never can find extras.
 
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Well I had a long review of mine (K98 springer; purchased 9/2020) almost written up and then one 'static spark' and computer locked up and all was lost. Since I don't have the desire at this time to do it all over again, here is the 'condensed version':

While I really like the K98's appearance, I cannot recommend one based on the experience with mine. The second time I took it out (first time was sight-in and chrono), the gun had a significant failure after the first shot (less than 100 pellets fired total since new):

The cocking stroke was suddenly way "off" and then I could not cock the gun. When I got home, I discovered the "hinge pin" (the part the cocking arm is attached to to push the compression tube back during cocking) had fractured in half (see photo). In addition, the wood-stock had split (4-5" in length) at one side of the underarm slot, and there was another gouge on the top (appears the anti-bear-trap safety release lever had impacted it). Obviously, this gives me a very disappointed type rating (and a "cannot recommend", for either the K98, and the 460 "Magnum" which appears to share the same 'action'). 

The piece that fractured appears to be way too thin/small to handle the force applied to it during cocking of such a powerful springer. In addition, the piece seems to be made of what we used to call "pot metal" (possibly a sintered or MIM piece). I'm not sure how many other owners have had such a failure, but to have it happen in essentially a brand-new gun does not give me any confidence that it will hold up after repair. "Buyer(s) Beware!!"

Broken K98-2.1613864716.JPG

 
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In another post, I wrote up my thoughts on the K98 (springer version). In short, I really liked everything except 2 things:

1) the cocking arm latch seems poor: it doesn't take much of a bump for the arm to release and drop down. Sometimes, the arm releases at the vibration of the shot.

2) Much more of an issue is the fact my K98 broke in less than 100 shots. The "hinge pin" (connects cocking arm to compression tube) fractured; the result being inability to cock the gun, and a 4+" long split in the wood stock. The part appears totally inadequate (and, possibly made of cheap 'sintered' or MIM metal) to handle the high forces applied to it cocking such a powerful springer (mine chrono'd around 1050 fps in 0.177 with 8 gr. pellets).

OK, maybe 3 things I did not like, #3 being what appears to be trigger guard and fore-end band made of plastic.

REAL nice looking gun though (but it's real tough for me to get past that failure at 100 rounds....). Photo is of the broken hinge pin:

Broken K98-1.1614018665.JPG





 
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I bought a 98 used that was listed on egun.de. Got it cheap because there is no market for a used LG like this and most I have seen used have been like new. People buy them because of the connection to Mauser and they look cool. Once they have them the owners quickly tire and quit shooting them. After a few years of collecting dust they come up on the used market at high prices but they never sell.

Mine is like new and came in the original box. I quickly put a scope on it and it shoots extremely well. Haven't had a chance to shoot it beyond 10m yet but I fully recommend this gun if the buyer realizes he is getting a rifle that is quite long and weighs almost 10lb. It does not have the sex appeal of a target rifle and just looks like an old military gun. I would not use it for competition but I certainly believe it is quite capable for hunting. Here in Germany hunting is not allowed with LG's...

SS
 
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Well, I messed up here-putting the same info (about my K98 breakage) on this post twice....

Anyway, I am not sure if I got what we call in the USA a "Lemon" (a bad one) or not. There has to be quite a few similar 460 Magnums around, and the K98 'action' seems to be more or less a model 48/52 changed form sidelever to underlever cocking (a parts diagram for the 48 shows what appears to be the same "hinge pin" part that connects the cocking arm to the sliding compression tube), and I know there are a LOT of 48/52s around and I cannot imagine they are all breaking that piece.

Did, by chance Diana recently change the material of that hinge pin (say, from machined to cast or MIM or something with less strength) or is mine a "1 in 100,000" defective one? I guess I'll send it in for warranty repair and see what happens (still not happy about having to pay $40+ to ship the gun in though...).

Not sure at this time what to do about that underlever dropping down so easily (something not an issue with a 48/52 or possibly event he 460 which seems to have a different lever latching arrangement). One problem at a time I guess.
 
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PCPs are fantastic but pumping them up with 1 of those bicycle pumps and you will have to wait 30 min for your heart rate to slow down enuff to shoot,lol. But a Yong Heng compressor for $300 and your in the game. You would have to spend alittle time with a PCP to realize ( to dawn on you ) how phenomenally accurate and hard hitting they are. As far as calibers go, I choose the 22cal simply because it's hard for me to grab and load those tiny 17cal pellets. I'm 61 going on 71. Also, just because it says it's a Diana,well Diana partnered with a Chinese air-rifle company,distributer,,, called Snow Peak. They make affordable air-rifles, descent quality from what little I know of the partnership. Hey ,Welcome AGN
 
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