Diana 56th Hunter air gun

I had one, in .177.

• Yes, it is good. You can feel the spring buzz, even though you can't feel the recoil. It would be better with a tune. Mine was PCP-accurate even in the untuned state. Not quote as accurate as a TX200, but it's also 33% more powerful.
• Yes, it is heavy; not a good offhand rifle, but I could make a shot or two before your back starts aching. (bones too, not just muscles!) However, it is an OUTSTANDING field target rifle, maybe the best benchrest springer that money can buy, and would also make a really good hunting rifle, if you shoot mostly from some kind of rest. 
• Cocking effort is not as much as you'd think. It was about the same as my Stoeger X20, a mid-powered springer, which only shot at 15 FPE. The side lever design gives more leverage than a break-barrel of the same length
• It needs some serious scope consideration. The recoilless action moves quickly in the stock, so that, with a traditional scope mount, it had better be a one-piece with four screws to clamp the dovetail and that overlaps the front of the rail. I found the Burris Timberline 4.5-14x32 to be a good choice. It doesn't add much weight, doesn't cost TOO much (about $200) and has enough eye relief that it's good to shoot even though the scope base has to overlap the front of the factory rail. One of the new Diana recoil-compensation mounts might be even better, as the scope doesn't have to take the shocks.
• The fit & finish are good, however if you adjust the butt plate downward, then rest the rifle on that while pulling the lever down to cock the rifle, you'll crack it. Not a big deal, as it's still functional and easy to avoid; just something to be aware of.
• The pistol grip is comfortable and good looking.
• The wood is good-looking

If I were to get one again, I'd get it in .22 and plan on it being about a $1300 gun: (or get .177 and have it tuned down a bit)

• $700 for the gun
• $100 for the Diana recoil-counterbalancing scope mount
• At least $200 for a quality scope. With the counterbalancing scope mount, you wouldn't even have to keep it light.
• $300 for a pro-tune (or $80 if you have a spring compressor and will buy the Vortek kit to tune it yourself, but be aware you'll probably lose power in favor of some smoothness)

I might be tempted to settle for a 48 instead. Those are available used for just a few hundred bucks, and are said to be quite accurate, when tuned. You just lose the sweet stock and recoilless action. The 56 (or 54) will probably be notably more accurate past 30 yards, due to having zero hold-sensitivity.

Here's my son, about 84 lbs. at the time, cocking and shooting mine:

Here's my first impressions of it, 5 years ago:

Smaug you rock !!!

"Renegade_626" I primary was looking at this gun rather that a PCP due to the fact that i live in the suburbs and don't want to pump a PCP full of air to just have to degas after a few shots,

Mark

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You don't have to degas your PCP after shooting, you might be thinking of Co2? In fact, you want some pressure in your PCP to store it. The Diana 56 is a neat gun, but it's definitely a beast weight wise!

"Ziabeam"Smaug you rock !!!

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Yes he does! Always a detailed write up and a willingness to help others.

Jeremy, if your club has 25M USARB matches I encourage you to participate, I would enjoy competing with you. If your Club does not have USARB matches maybe you could encourage them to get on board. I did not think I would be interested in BR, but once I tried I was hooked.

"Renegade_626"John, You don't have to degas a PCP? does it not ruin the comments having air pressure stored in the weapon for a long time? i assume this was the case

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Degassing a PCP between shooting sessions is not necessary. If I'm not mistaken when storing for an extended period you should shoot down or degas to the minimum pressure-that is the point where you would recharge the gun. Some pressure in the gun will keep the seals and valve free of dirt. In addition, most PCPs are pretty simple to work on, making a reseal if necessary pretty easy. There are a few PCPs that operate on lower fill pressure which will make filling with a pump or scuba tank more practical.