Diana 56 TH Target Hunter PART 2

Mark Camoccio concludes his look at Diana’s unique semi-recoilless special

- Mark Camoccio

Last month, I began to highlight just what lies at the heart of Diana’s rather special 56TH, model, and now it’s time to get more hands on, starting with the adjustable butt. Just slacken the bolt at the rear, and set it so that eye/ scope alignment and the position of the gun in the shoulder, all happen as naturally as possible. Get this set, before even firing a shot and then progress to setting the zero.

SHOOTING THE 56TH

As mentioned, this model is no lightweight, and at 11lbs plus scope, it will make itself felt after a while if your general fitness levels fall short. Of course, sheer mass in any spring-powered airgun always helps to kill recoil, but this Diana has far more up its sleeve than weight ratios. To cock the action, the rubber-tipped side-lever on the right-hand side of the action first needs to be drawn back, and given its length, the leverage afforded is impressive. As the lever reaches the end of its arc, the entire action is pulled forward within the stock mounting by about 10mm as the trigger is set and sliding breech exposed. At this point, I should point out a negative with the design, in that, for anyone like me, who has been properly schooled in safety, keeping a firm hand on the barrel or lever of an airgun that has been cocked, whilst chambering the pellet, comes as second nature. With the 56TH, this goes out of the window, and you are forced to let go of the lever, in order to chamber a pellet into the barrel.