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My first Air Rifle

Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 6:50 pm
by Tank
I am very pleased that today I have taken possession of what was my very first "real" air rifle. A Diana Model 15. Pressed Tinplate and a stock only a youth could love but a terrific thing. Someone has repaired bits of it with what best can be described as Meccano but give me a couple of weeks with the thing and we will see how it goes.

Re: My first Air Rifle

Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 9:18 pm
by bellringer
Now that's a strange co-incidence, that was also my first air gun [that I actually remember] and as I remember, sold to help fund a BSA Meteor within a few weeks of them first going on sale mid 50's; I managed to get another Mod 15 a couple of years ago, and it is still fun to shoot, don't you think. Just re-living my childhood really, but Oh so enjoyable !. Sadly I have no recollection of my true first air gun; apparently it was about 5ft long, and had a 'funny - sparky' thing on the side and a brass ball like a toilet cistern float underneath it. As told to me on many occasions by my now sadly departed dear mom, apparently it was given to me when I was about 4 years old. Oh to be its owner now. :drool: bellringer

Re: My first Air Rifle

Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 9:17 am
by Certus
Hi,

The Diana Mod 15 was also my first introduction to the world of air guns. My dad worked for British European Airways and was stationed in Germany in the early fifties. He brought back a tinplate Mod 15 for both my brother and myself as a Christmas present one year. Pellets were rationed for safety reasons, but we soon learned that buds from an evergreen bush that grew in the garden made a passable substitute.

Regards

Brian

Memory lane

Posted: Tue May 27, 2014 1:32 pm
by Adam77K
Add me to the "Diana 15 introduced me to airguns" club!

It was my father's and I used to "borrow" it from the wardrobe and lacking any proper pellets I used to shoot plasticine pellets. Difficult to size them right and you had to lube them or they stuck in the bore! At one point I discovered that some of the plastic percussion caps you could get for toy pistols were a good fit. Filled with plasticine or clay they made a decent slug!

My Dad sold it to the local gunshop for £6 back in the 80s.

A few years back I got a replacement which sounds like it comes from the same stable. Definitely some meccano involved in the cocking lever pivots. It can't get a pellet out of the barrel. I bought a replacement spring and piston seal from Chambers but I've not got around to servicing it yet.

Re: My first Air Rifle

Posted: Tue May 27, 2014 8:48 pm
by micken
Hmmm, so I'm going to have to find a Relum Tornado in .177 to relive my first experiences. Need to source a Webley Premier to go with that to do the job properly.

Cheers,

Mick

Re: My first Air Rifle

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 3:35 pm
by Adam77K
How did you get on with this one?

I'm curious as to what a healthy example puts out, velocity wise.