The peculiar story of a "twice abandoned" D52

A gun can tell a story . . . 

IF you "listen"​.

Sometimes the stories are fun, and good, and even glorious.

Sometimes they are sad.

This one is one of the latter, but I hope it will have a good ending.

So, let's get started:

Back in May of 1993 a gun was made at the old "DIANAWERKE" factory in Rastatt:

The action was one with the "shared model designation" ones. It could be mounted in a simpler stock, or it could be mounted in an elegant, slender and checkered stock of slightly longer length of pull and montecarlo cheek riser.
One of the first "nods" from the industry to the increase usage of riflescopes in airguns.
Also, a continuation of a trend that was caused by a legal change in the German laws that restricted anything above 7.5 Joules (5.5 ft-lbs)  to the realm of the "firearms licensed holder" decades ago.

We're talking of the 48/52 models:

The world back then still valued highly the use, and profficiency of use, of the Iron Sights.
Out to 30 meters/yards, the Iron sights are more than adequate. Proper use of the right hold for the target in question (whether paper, or feather/fur), will give usable accuracy and precision.
With practice and dedication, it is not that hard to be VERY accurate out to 50 meters as the, now defunct, "Olympic Free Pistol" discipline showed.
With a clear knowledge of the different "tastes" on both sides of the Atlantic, DIANA decided to offer a user selectable rear notch.
Using a spring loaded plunger to hold the rear sight plate in place, the user can select between two shapes (Square and U)  and two sizes (small and large). 
​In practice, you simply push on the holding plunger from the front, and rotate the leaf till the desired notch is in place.

A steel ball under the graduated elevation bridge gives detectable "clicks" and prevents accidental shifting of the sight's position.

There is no spring in this sight because the whole body is made of steel and the forward "fold" acts like a flat spring.
Do note that the sight is adjustable for elevation and drift.

The front sight is also adjustable. To allow for the wide variance in pellet weights and power levels, the front sight can move forward and backwards along a dovetail ramp:

The front "korn" (grain) is metal and could be filed by the user to different configurations.

Overall, the DIANA 52 provides the shooter with a good platform. Powerful enough for American tastes and some hunting (up to Groundhogs/RockChuck, O'Posssa, Badger, and other animals of similar size), and refined enough for European tastes that dwell a lot more on target shooting at rural / weekend properties:

With a compact scope, it is quite a capable rifle, though modern trends towards large objective lenses and high mounts will make for the need for an additional cheek riser.

So, given all the advantages and the 20-22 ft-lbs power level, unkown up to the release of the 48-52 family, why was the gun abandoned the first time, and when did it happen?

Well a bit of forensics showed that the last time this gun was shot must have been, at least, 35-40 years ago.
How can we know that? Why can we be so sure?

Well, look at this picture:

On the left, the pellet that was recovered from the chamber of the rifle.

In the middle a "push through" pellet and on the right a pellet that was shot into a "soft catch" tube.

The "Flying Ashcan" pellet was discontinued by Crosman around the year 1990, the Premier having been introduced in 1992 and the pellet recovered was not even engraved in the rifling, meaning that somewhere along the cocking/loading/closing cycle, the gun was badly operated and broken.
It is a fairly common occurence that people think of airguns as toys. SO, they cannot be that complicated to operate, ¿right?
Well, no, wrong. If you do not read the manual and do not release the protection DIANA placed so that in the worst case scenario of something failing while you were loading the pellet you would still have both your thumbs, and tried to close the action, the cocking linkage bends.
Yes, you may straighten it, but next time you try to cock, it will break.
That cocking linkage is helping you pull back more than 300# of force. So, yes, once bent, it will break.

This is what caused the first "rejection" the pellet abandoned in the chamber, the gun relegated to a closet for almost 40 years till someone found it and sold it for cheap.

And this is how it arrived to our workshop, with no cocking lever linkage between the cocking lever and the compression chamber.

A fairly simple repair, it was quoted as Labour + cost of parts, and the then owner agreed.
Once done, we had a problem.
The total cost should have been something like $100. Except for the fact that, due to the change in import regulations, a $35 purchase from Germany became a $164 total bill.
And it is NOT about the Tariffs. People insist on this, but this is not what is killing the micro and small businesses that were starting to rely on the importation of PARTS AND COMPONENTS to "MAKE in America", finished goods.
Tariffs amounted only to about $10, the rest of the $129 were fees and more fees from the logistics company.

And THIS is what caused the SECOND rejection.

Instead of crying over spilt milk, I offered to buy the gun "non-functional / for parts", and restore it.

I turned a CCA/Composite guide for the OEM spring, added a tophat, and proceeded to tune it a little.

It proved quite a capable gun:

Easily capable of "minute of squirrel head" out to 30 yards.

It has the scuffs and marks of any gun that is this old. Some of them clearly from simple handling.
​
It wil be shipped in an edge-reinforced cardboard box with contour cut foam spacers:

I do hope this fine example of German Gunmaking craft will find a good home.

Keep well and shoot straight!





HM