I recently bought a pre-war Diana model 58 that's a bit of a mystery and am trying to find out anything I can on it. It's a WW2 U.S. GI bring-back from a German train car stash of civilian firearms found in France and was brought back along with a fancy, custom, center fire double rifle. I've already inquired on a couple other forums and gotten some good info, but I know not all airgunners read every forum and there still maybe some vintage Diana guys/gals with more info here or on other forums.
The rifle itself has the 2nd version 10.5 " compression tube with no externally visible factory markings (including the DRP patent marks) other than Diana-Luft-Gewehr on top of the barrel, and has the rear pull trigger cocking knob. It also has the 1st version cocking lever and tap assembly, which I believe is the configuration of the earliest 2nd version rifles. It also cocks and fires fine with plenty of power.
What makes this one different than others I've found or been shown online is the double set triggers, the .75" front sight dovetail (sight is misssing) and the series of small stamped #2's on different parts including the stock and compression tube that appear to be ID numbers used to keep the specific parts together on this rifle. They aren't the serial # which appears to be 48 and is also stamped on multiple parts, and some 2's are stamped with the 48 on some parts. There is also a 22 and a couple 41's on a a few parts but they are also stamped with a 2 or 48 so it seems they were intended specifically for this rifle also.
So far it's looking fairly certain it's a factory one-off, but not sure whether it would be a custom order, or an experimental model for testing, although I'm leaning towords a custom build based on other responses and the quality of the build. Anyway any info helps. John
The rifle itself has the 2nd version 10.5 " compression tube with no externally visible factory markings (including the DRP patent marks) other than Diana-Luft-Gewehr on top of the barrel, and has the rear pull trigger cocking knob. It also has the 1st version cocking lever and tap assembly, which I believe is the configuration of the earliest 2nd version rifles. It also cocks and fires fine with plenty of power.
What makes this one different than others I've found or been shown online is the double set triggers, the .75" front sight dovetail (sight is misssing) and the series of small stamped #2's on different parts including the stock and compression tube that appear to be ID numbers used to keep the specific parts together on this rifle. They aren't the serial # which appears to be 48 and is also stamped on multiple parts, and some 2's are stamped with the 48 on some parts. There is also a 22 and a couple 41's on a a few parts but they are also stamped with a 2 or 48 so it seems they were intended specifically for this rifle also.
So far it's looking fairly certain it's a factory one-off, but not sure whether it would be a custom order, or an experimental model for testing, although I'm leaning towords a custom build based on other responses and the quality of the build. Anyway any info helps. John