I received my new Diana 280 from Hector earlier this week. Hector posted a story about some of the work that went into it on his blog.
As some may remember a few months ago I was looking for something that fell between my HW30 and my Diana 34 for power level. I considered an HW50. But after some exchanges back and forth with Hector and after playing with a different rifle he sent me I decided to sink my budget into the 280.
The rifle has a nice balance and feel in my hands although at 8 1/2 pounds it is just a tad heavier than I would have liked. But I can manage and I am good with that.
Although it is a 280 it is slightly detuned to about 10.5 fpe. Hector did a superb job of cleaning and smoothing the action, tuning the trigger and otherwise setting it up with a ZR mount and Sightron scope. It has a Titan spring with a custom guide and the piston has been buttoned. The cocking action is smooth as silk and quiet. The cocking effort, which was important to me, is very manageable and noticeably less than my D34.
The shot cycle seems to me to be shorter and crisper than either my D34 or surprisingly my HW30. And the rifle doesn't seem to jump as much as either of the other two. And not a hint of twang.
The trigger is an absolute dream to me at letoff. Clean and crisp and light. It has more pretravel than I would like but I am am getting used to it. I will wait and see if I want to do anything about it.
I put about 150 rounds through it this weekend trying various pellets I have on hand. It seems to really like AA Diablo Field 8.44's and JSB 7.33's. I haven't found a wadcutter it is completely happy with yet although JSB Match Diablo S100's do fairly well.
Hector put an experimental version of his harmonic tuner on it that I will have to experiment with at some point. This HT does not use O-rings. It has a bushing with an 8mm hex socket that is screwed in and out to control the positioning of the muzzle weight. I will play with this more after I get more used to the rifle and it gets shot in more.
Overall I am extremely happy with the rifle. The advice and consideration Hector gave me along the way was priceless. Lots of stuff still to do. Will do some chronying once I decide what pellets I will focus on. I fully expect this will be my primary go to rifle for all kinds of shooting.
As some may remember a few months ago I was looking for something that fell between my HW30 and my Diana 34 for power level. I considered an HW50. But after some exchanges back and forth with Hector and after playing with a different rifle he sent me I decided to sink my budget into the 280.
The rifle has a nice balance and feel in my hands although at 8 1/2 pounds it is just a tad heavier than I would have liked. But I can manage and I am good with that.
Although it is a 280 it is slightly detuned to about 10.5 fpe. Hector did a superb job of cleaning and smoothing the action, tuning the trigger and otherwise setting it up with a ZR mount and Sightron scope. It has a Titan spring with a custom guide and the piston has been buttoned. The cocking action is smooth as silk and quiet. The cocking effort, which was important to me, is very manageable and noticeably less than my D34.
The shot cycle seems to me to be shorter and crisper than either my D34 or surprisingly my HW30. And the rifle doesn't seem to jump as much as either of the other two. And not a hint of twang.
The trigger is an absolute dream to me at letoff. Clean and crisp and light. It has more pretravel than I would like but I am am getting used to it. I will wait and see if I want to do anything about it.
I put about 150 rounds through it this weekend trying various pellets I have on hand. It seems to really like AA Diablo Field 8.44's and JSB 7.33's. I haven't found a wadcutter it is completely happy with yet although JSB Match Diablo S100's do fairly well.
Hector put an experimental version of his harmonic tuner on it that I will have to experiment with at some point. This HT does not use O-rings. It has a bushing with an 8mm hex socket that is screwed in and out to control the positioning of the muzzle weight. I will play with this more after I get more used to the rifle and it gets shot in more.
Overall I am extremely happy with the rifle. The advice and consideration Hector gave me along the way was priceless. Lots of stuff still to do. Will do some chronying once I decide what pellets I will focus on. I fully expect this will be my primary go to rifle for all kinds of shooting.