Before we begin this Diana Oktoberfestgewehr review, I want to cover the “elephant in the room” with this airgun. What ammo can it actually shoot?
The reason for this somewhat-curious question is that there has been much debate on the Internet – and maybe elsewhere – about exactly what types of BBs can be shot using this gun. To be honest, I was confused, too!
It all comes down to the caliber….
You see, the manufacturer’s website describes it as being 4.4 mm caliber. Here’s a screen shot as proof.
Traditionally, 4.4 mm BBs have been available in Germany and usually in lead. Such BBs are not available in the USA. But wait…
The gun itself is marked with 4.5 mm caliber – not 4.4 mm.
That’s what it says on the packaging, too. Specifically, it says that 4.5 mm (.177 caliber) BBs are appropriate ammo.
Then there’s the owner’s manual…
So how can we resolve this dilemma?
Well, first I went back to a special Hard Air Magazine investigation about the actual size of .177 caliber steel BBs. Part Two of “The Big HAM BB Test” looked-at the actual measured sizes of a range of steel BBs. I’ll pull out the highlights here.
First we have a summary of the tested BB diameters. You will immediately see that the average diameters were all less than 4.50 mm. In fact, only the Avanti Precision Ground Shot exceeded 4.40 mm. The largest diameter BB we have ever measured was 4.43 mm.
| BB Type | Actual Weight | Actual Average Diameter | Diameter Variability, Smallest to Largest |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASG Blaster | 5.35 Grains | 4.40 mm | 0.9% |
| Avanti Precision Ground Shot | 5.43 Grains | 4.42 mm | 0.4% |
| Crosman Copperhead | 5.12 Grains | 4.37 mm | 1.1% |
| Hornady Black Diamond | 5.35 Grains | 4.40 mm | 0.9% |
| Umarex Steel | 5.30 Grains | 4.39 mm | 0.7% |
For detail, let’s look at the actual measured diameters of Hard Air Magazine’s standard test BBs. In alphabetical order, they are…
Crosman Copperhead BBs are the smallest in measured diameter. This is confirmed by their lowest unit weight, as you will have seen above.
So, when planning this Diana Oktoberfestgewehr review, I decided to use steel BBs as the ammunition. A second decision was to start test firing using Crosman Copperhead BBs – as these have the smallest diameter.
Then I moved-on to test each of our standard BBs, moving to the largest last.
As we’ll see in detail tomorrow, all of the steel BBs worked just fine. Over more than 300 shots with a variety of steel BBs, I experienced no jams or blockages. The Oktoberfestgewehr digested all these steel BBs with aplomb.
Now I had no 4.4 mm diameter BBs. However I did have some H&N Smart Shot in 4.50 mm caliber. These copper-covered lead BBs were also tested in the Oktoberfestgewehr and gave excellent results too.
We’ll see more tomorrow…
BUY FROM PYRAMYD
Diana Oktoberfest BB Rifle 0.177
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