fluffmaster
23-04-2011, 06:37 AM
Before I write anything about this impressive springer, let me just say that Diana Air King, Model 54 is perhaps the King of Air Guns. It is an Air Gun lover’s dream come true, sheer beauty, very accurate and a collector’s item. The Diana Air King Model 54 comes in three calibers .177/4.5mm, .22”/5.5mm and .25”/6.35mm. The air gun being reviewed has a .22”/5.5mm caliber.
http://s4.postimage.org/285nvxnvo/IMG_2084.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/285nvxnvo/)
Vital Stats
Model : Diana 54 AirKing
Manufacturer: Mayer & Grammelspacher
Country of Origin: Germany
Type: Spring/piston (semi recoilless)
Action: Sidelever
Stock: Beech sporter
Caliber: .22”/5.5mm
Weight: 9.8 lbs / 4.5 kg
Overall Length: 43.5 inch / 1100mm
Barrel Length: 17.3 inch / 440mm
Trigger: 2 stage adjustable
Muzzle Velocity: 230 m/s or 850-900 fps
OTHER FEATURES:
Adjustable Front Sight (Plastic)
Adjustable Metallic Rear Sight (Elevation and Windage)
Checkered Wooden Stock
Ramp for Mounting Scope
Right Hand
Cocking Guard
Rubber Butt Plate
The Air King is a sheer beauty. It is an adult’s rifle, weighing 10 lbs and carrying along on a hunt can tire a person. But all things good have their downside. The checkered finish on the pistol handle and front stock ensures a good grip. This should suit hunters well as the hold can become slippery due to sweating, especially in summers. The metal finish is very good and one can imagine the effort that must have gone in to make a rifle of this standard.the metallurgy is as good as Diana's reputation.
The high quality Rubber Butt Plate provides adequate comfort to the firer’s shoulder and also serves to protect the air gun when placed vertically. Just two screws, one near the trigger guard and the other at the far end of pistol handle (both at the bottom) hold the springer in place. Loosen them and the air gun comes apart. The wood is of good quality as is always the case with Diana.
http://www.gunmart.net/images/content/gun_reviews/42/14.JPG
The screws are placed on the lower side since it is snot a break barrel type air gun:
Just two screws hold the rifle in place:
The Diana Air King 54, has side lever and it is a fixed barrel rifle. The lever requires some effort to load the spring, I am not sure how much in terms of force. A cocking guard prevents the lever from accidental closure when loading the pellet. A gentle press is all it takes to bring the side lever back to its position. The movement of slide lever and cocking guard spell precision. The feeling is great, no bumps, stops or jams. On closing the slide lever automatic safety is applied. As with Diana guns the safety can be easily released with one’s thumb just before firing the gun.
The lever when opened makes an angle roughly 120 degrees, anything less and it won't work:
http://s4.postimage.org/28bwt0v1g/IMG_2105.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/28bwt0v1g/)
the cocking guard and the rear sight:
http://www.gunmart.net/images/content/gun_reviews/42/06.JPG
http://www.gunmart.net/images/content/gun_reviews/42/18.JPG
http://s4.postimage.org/28c8dsahw/IMG_2093.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/28c8dsahw/)
Both the front as well as rear sights are adjustable. A small screw is required to be loosened to adjust the front sight. The ramp can be fitted with a scope, it requires stoppers though or the scope slides and has to be zeroed again.
The Best Part. The best part of Diana Air King is the recoil-less action. There is minimal recoil in the gun. This is achieved by a recoil-less mechanism consisting of a floating mechanism where the metallic part of the rifle (tube included) moves back on a rail while the pellet leaves the barrel. This backward action results is no or minimal recoil while at the same time improves accuracy. (As we shall see later). Although the movement is no more than 1” but even this is enough to compensate for the recoil. So basically the movement prevents spring vibration while the pellet safely exits, thus ensuring greater accuracy. Firing the King is a very nice and unforgettable experience.
The front sight is made of good quality plastic and is adjustable as well:
http://www.gunmart.net/images/content/gun_reviews/42/05.JPG
http://www.guns.com.pl/photos/diana54_013.jpg
http://www.guns.com.pl/photos/diana54_021.jpg
http://s4.postimage.org/28cib0dgk/IMG_2100.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/28cib0dgk/)
The safety along with slide rail. The metallic parts move till the pistol handle:
http://s4.postimage.org/28ctvrsx0/Safety_and_rails.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/28ctvrsx0/)
PRECAUTIONS
The slide lever requires some force to pull back to full position, it will make an angle of 120 degrees when fully opened. That is the point where cocking guard becomes effective. If the lever is not pulled back to its required position, the cocking guard will not function, will appear to be jammed. This is a dangerous position because at this point the rifle is not cocked. If at this time the lever is accidentally released you might injure your fingers/hand. After spending a little time with the rifle I was able to make out the cause. When the gun is fired the whole mechanism moves back by 3/4 to 1". It does not go back to its original position. So when you try to cock the rifle, it requires more force since it has to move the metal parts also. The way to avoid is to hold the rifle with the barrel pointing downwards (after firing it) and let the gravity work. The gun parts will automatically slide back to original position. Now the next cocking effort will not require much effort and won't even jam.
I found nothing wrong with the Air King 54. If there could be a sling attached to it, this would make it easy to carry in stead of tiring the hunter. I have seen hooks on some Diana models and I am sure with some good modification, these can be attached to it as well.
ACCURACY
Are you kidding me? Just see the results. my rifle was fitted with a Bushnell Scope (Chinese). I shot about 20 plus pellets and couldn't figure what was wrong. It would shoot groups and then would at once go haywire. The Chinese scopes loose zeroing after every few shots. So I removed the scope and shot at 20 and 25 M with Iron sights. I won't say anything about the results, just see the targets screen-shots. This rifle will not miss its mark.
Results at 20 M
http://s1.postimage.org/ytaoig04/20_M.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/ytaoig04/)
Results at 25 M
http://s1.postimage.org/ytsvf9fo/25_M.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/ytsvf9fo/)
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Like I said before it is a collector’s item. Its major pros are solid body, no recoil, reliability and excellent workmanship. I can find no drawback or downsides. The price in Pakistan is around Rs. 60,000 which is quite steep for and air gun, but then the King is a leading model and a purchase which no one will regret. It is an air gun which promises to give years of service to its owner.
P.S. The target used was a standard 25 pistol target. I wasn't sure which target to use with this Air Gun. I intend trying out this monster on more distance/range but 25 M was the maximum I could afford with conventional sights .
http://s4.postimage.org/285nvxnvo/IMG_2084.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/285nvxnvo/)
Vital Stats
Model : Diana 54 AirKing
Manufacturer: Mayer & Grammelspacher
Country of Origin: Germany
Type: Spring/piston (semi recoilless)
Action: Sidelever
Stock: Beech sporter
Caliber: .22”/5.5mm
Weight: 9.8 lbs / 4.5 kg
Overall Length: 43.5 inch / 1100mm
Barrel Length: 17.3 inch / 440mm
Trigger: 2 stage adjustable
Muzzle Velocity: 230 m/s or 850-900 fps
OTHER FEATURES:
Adjustable Front Sight (Plastic)
Adjustable Metallic Rear Sight (Elevation and Windage)
Checkered Wooden Stock
Ramp for Mounting Scope
Right Hand
Cocking Guard
Rubber Butt Plate
The Air King is a sheer beauty. It is an adult’s rifle, weighing 10 lbs and carrying along on a hunt can tire a person. But all things good have their downside. The checkered finish on the pistol handle and front stock ensures a good grip. This should suit hunters well as the hold can become slippery due to sweating, especially in summers. The metal finish is very good and one can imagine the effort that must have gone in to make a rifle of this standard.the metallurgy is as good as Diana's reputation.
The high quality Rubber Butt Plate provides adequate comfort to the firer’s shoulder and also serves to protect the air gun when placed vertically. Just two screws, one near the trigger guard and the other at the far end of pistol handle (both at the bottom) hold the springer in place. Loosen them and the air gun comes apart. The wood is of good quality as is always the case with Diana.
http://www.gunmart.net/images/content/gun_reviews/42/14.JPG
The screws are placed on the lower side since it is snot a break barrel type air gun:
Just two screws hold the rifle in place:
The Diana Air King 54, has side lever and it is a fixed barrel rifle. The lever requires some effort to load the spring, I am not sure how much in terms of force. A cocking guard prevents the lever from accidental closure when loading the pellet. A gentle press is all it takes to bring the side lever back to its position. The movement of slide lever and cocking guard spell precision. The feeling is great, no bumps, stops or jams. On closing the slide lever automatic safety is applied. As with Diana guns the safety can be easily released with one’s thumb just before firing the gun.
The lever when opened makes an angle roughly 120 degrees, anything less and it won't work:
http://s4.postimage.org/28bwt0v1g/IMG_2105.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/28bwt0v1g/)
the cocking guard and the rear sight:
http://www.gunmart.net/images/content/gun_reviews/42/06.JPG
http://www.gunmart.net/images/content/gun_reviews/42/18.JPG
http://s4.postimage.org/28c8dsahw/IMG_2093.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/28c8dsahw/)
Both the front as well as rear sights are adjustable. A small screw is required to be loosened to adjust the front sight. The ramp can be fitted with a scope, it requires stoppers though or the scope slides and has to be zeroed again.
The Best Part. The best part of Diana Air King is the recoil-less action. There is minimal recoil in the gun. This is achieved by a recoil-less mechanism consisting of a floating mechanism where the metallic part of the rifle (tube included) moves back on a rail while the pellet leaves the barrel. This backward action results is no or minimal recoil while at the same time improves accuracy. (As we shall see later). Although the movement is no more than 1” but even this is enough to compensate for the recoil. So basically the movement prevents spring vibration while the pellet safely exits, thus ensuring greater accuracy. Firing the King is a very nice and unforgettable experience.
The front sight is made of good quality plastic and is adjustable as well:
http://www.gunmart.net/images/content/gun_reviews/42/05.JPG
http://www.guns.com.pl/photos/diana54_013.jpg
http://www.guns.com.pl/photos/diana54_021.jpg
http://s4.postimage.org/28cib0dgk/IMG_2100.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/28cib0dgk/)
The safety along with slide rail. The metallic parts move till the pistol handle:
http://s4.postimage.org/28ctvrsx0/Safety_and_rails.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/28ctvrsx0/)
PRECAUTIONS
The slide lever requires some force to pull back to full position, it will make an angle of 120 degrees when fully opened. That is the point where cocking guard becomes effective. If the lever is not pulled back to its required position, the cocking guard will not function, will appear to be jammed. This is a dangerous position because at this point the rifle is not cocked. If at this time the lever is accidentally released you might injure your fingers/hand. After spending a little time with the rifle I was able to make out the cause. When the gun is fired the whole mechanism moves back by 3/4 to 1". It does not go back to its original position. So when you try to cock the rifle, it requires more force since it has to move the metal parts also. The way to avoid is to hold the rifle with the barrel pointing downwards (after firing it) and let the gravity work. The gun parts will automatically slide back to original position. Now the next cocking effort will not require much effort and won't even jam.
I found nothing wrong with the Air King 54. If there could be a sling attached to it, this would make it easy to carry in stead of tiring the hunter. I have seen hooks on some Diana models and I am sure with some good modification, these can be attached to it as well.
ACCURACY
Are you kidding me? Just see the results. my rifle was fitted with a Bushnell Scope (Chinese). I shot about 20 plus pellets and couldn't figure what was wrong. It would shoot groups and then would at once go haywire. The Chinese scopes loose zeroing after every few shots. So I removed the scope and shot at 20 and 25 M with Iron sights. I won't say anything about the results, just see the targets screen-shots. This rifle will not miss its mark.
Results at 20 M
http://s1.postimage.org/ytaoig04/20_M.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/ytaoig04/)
Results at 25 M
http://s1.postimage.org/ytsvf9fo/25_M.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/ytsvf9fo/)
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Like I said before it is a collector’s item. Its major pros are solid body, no recoil, reliability and excellent workmanship. I can find no drawback or downsides. The price in Pakistan is around Rs. 60,000 which is quite steep for and air gun, but then the King is a leading model and a purchase which no one will regret. It is an air gun which promises to give years of service to its owner.
P.S. The target used was a standard 25 pistol target. I wasn't sure which target to use with this Air Gun. I intend trying out this monster on more distance/range but 25 M was the maximum I could afford with conventional sights .