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Diana Skyhawk Review

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Great review!

I've had the Artemis P15 for a while now, and out of all of my [more expensive] PCPs, it was The Most Fun. 
I shoot before and after work every single day - 10m indoor range at my place, and I'll say this.. 
Mine absolutely loves Crosman Premier 14.3 grain HPs for short range. Pellet on pellet action all day.. 
For longer distances / windy conditions, JSB 18s and H&N 21s work Great. [I have Hades - just haven't tested]

The weakest link - The factory magazines. Yuck. I ordered 2 extras when I got mine. And it was a good thing.. 
Only 2 - Sometimes 3 of the 4 work properly.

ddark / Darko makes some really nice upgraded magazines for these rifles, and they're Highly Recommended!
[people can search for him or his mags online, or, search for and contact him on here] 

One thing to keep in mind though, and this is an important one..

With the SPA / Artemis P15s, they can be a real gamble.. Apparenty this is very well known.. 
Their barrels are Not all created equal. Some [like mine] can be just amazing..
On the other hand, others can be real turds. Not uniform, rough / tight spots, burs, crown issues, etc. 

Slapping a different stock on these rifles does nothing about the overall performance, 
and from what several people have told me [who have gotten the Diana version] They weren't so lucky.. 
Their SkyHawks had to either be returned, or, they had to spend even more time/money upgrading the barrels.. 

I can 'almost' understand that IF going with the original - for the price.. 
But in all reality, I just can't justify Diana putting these out there all dressed-up w/ the fancy stocks 
and not actually addressing the known quality control issues. It may be claimed they do, but others disagree.. 
[I'm staying out of that argument. haha] 

In the end, it all boils down to someone's preference, pocket-depth, and luck.. Still Highly Recommended either way! 

🙂👍 

Sam -
 
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Great review, thank you. Real shame about the luck of the draw thing mentioned by @DirtyDovi , specially as I recall Diana rep had said that they were going to be personally involved the the QC of the production. I think he said they were going to have people in China and the product inspected in Germany after production? Not too sure on that, but I feel that's what he said. Would have to go back and find the video, think it was one of @AEAC .
 
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The rep. did say that on the AEAC. I know the rep. fairly well after talking with him during the past two Pyramyd Air Cup matches and EBR this past fall. Great guy, might need to see if we can get a little more detail on what he meant and how detailed the inspections are. I will say, that all in all the rifle fills a nice niche in the market and can easily be improved upon if you have some skills and time. In a way, this is what a lot of airgunners like about the sport. I always appreciate others insight on these rifles as I can only provide but one experience, mine.

Hope you were able to subscribe, Daisy 599 is next on the list to review!!!!!
 
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I've wanted to try a bullpup. And I had a PA gift certificate that I wanted to use. After considering a few different bullpups, I bought a Diana Skyhawk. Though I would have bought a SPA P15 if Pyramyd Air had carried them. I've had the Skyhawk for a couple of months. I got the laminated stock version, which cost a little more than the walnut version. It's heavier than the walnut, but I've had good experiences with laminated stocks. At 8 lbs scoped, it's still a light weight gun for FT use. The Minelli stock is very, very nice though the LOP was a little long for me so I replaced the adjustable buttpad with thinner pad. The magazines are not all that smooth. The designer probably modeled the magazine to feed on center without considering that the tolerance stack is packed to one side by the tension spring. So the pellet tries to enter the bore slightly off center. Even though it does not feed all the smoothly, it does not seem to affect accuracy. I'll try to move the stop about .1-.2mm to shift the hole a couple degrees. Maybe cement some ABS inside and remachine or file to get it working right. For now, I'm single loading which is very easy on a bullpup. A single shot tray is provided. The barrel shot OK but had a couple of tight spots so I doubt it would ever have been a stellar shooter. I installed a LW choked polygon barrel that I had bought ahead of time for this very purpose. That made a big difference in accuracy. The Skyhawk has a fairly low mass hammer (20 grams) and the shot cycle is excellent. After misplacing a the fill probe a couple of times, I ordered a spare and will modify it so it stays attached to the gun.

I have shot a couple of FT GP matches with it. I'm still getting used to it, but I like it a lot.

The trigger is not really a two stage. The "first stage" that you feel is a spring that takes up play. Unlike a true two stage, if you adjust the "second stage" to be too short, it could be in an unsafe condition. In order to adjust the "second stage" that far in, you will need to leave off the locknut, or use a longer setscrew. I adjusted mine in until it released and then backed it out a small amount. That makes for a fairly light trigger.

Functionally, not any different than a SPA P15, but if you appreciate a nice stock, you'll prefer the Diana version.
 
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I installed a LW choked polygon barrel that I had bought ahead of time for this very purpose.
Click to expand...

Hello @Scotchmo, nice write up on the Skyhawk. I'm curious about the LW choked polygon barrel you purchased for this gun. I am interested in doing this, but I'm not sure where to order or source this barrel. Any direction you can provide would be helpful. 

Much Thanks!
 
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