Spring/Piston Model 48E History and Specifications,

[Motorman]

I recently had the superb good fortune to acquire a .177 caliber Diana Model 48 (an underlever gun circa 1930 as opposed to the modern-era Model 48 / 52, a sidelever gun). While the only inscription on the gun itself says "Mod. 48", I have seen it referred to as the Model 48E (?). My example has minor surface rust, but happily does not suffer from the common maladies of missing / excessively butchered screws and broken / missing sights. I intend to disassemble, clean, and relubricate it, but I'd like not to jump blindly into this. Does anyone have any repair / refurbishment experience with this gun? History? What is the FPS performance range (recognizing that this is also a function of pellet weight)? Any and all information on this gun will be gratefully received! Thank you!

Motorman
Eastern MO

 

[Eric Brewer]

Motorman, I didnt even know that there was a 48 under lever. Is it a Diana? Any Diana markings? After looking into this I found:
48/E Air rifle ~ 1920 1940 Cocking lever under forestock, english style stock
Wow, you may want to reach out to Diana themselves. E

 

[Motorman]

Motorman, I didnt even know that there was a 48 under lever. Is it a Diana? Any Diana markings? After looking into this I found:
48/E Air rifle ~ 1920 1940 Cocking lever under forestock, english style stock
Wow, you may want to reach out to Diana themselves. E

Yes, it has the word “Diana” and the figure of Diana holding a rifle over her head on it plus “Mod. 48”. That’s it. Diana’s records were destroyed and key people died during WWII, so they can’t offer much help. This gun is reportedly a German copy of the BSA Standard air gun that was introduced prior to WWI.

 

[DIANA Airguns (official)]

I recently had the superb good fortune to acquire a .177 caliber Diana Model 48 (an underlever gun circa 1930 as opposed to the modern-era Model 48 / 52, a sidelever gun). While the only inscription on the gun itself says "Mod. 48", I have seen it referred to as the Model 48E (?). My example has minor surface rust, but happily does not suffer from the common maladies of missing / excessively butchered screws and broken / missing sights. I intend to disassemble, clean, and relubricate it, but I'd like not to jump blindly into this. Does anyone have any repair / refurbishment experience with this gun? History? What is the FPS performance range (recognizing that this is also a function of pellet weight)? Any and all information on this gun will be gratefully received! Thank you!

Motorman
Eastern MO

Hey Motorman, thats a really nice message. We like to read that such old DIANA air rifles are still on the market. Regarding our information we have on hand today it was an underlever system which was produced between WWI and WWII. It was based on Mod. 45 but with a longer cylinder to operate with more air power. The shooting distances were named with 30-40 meters and it was available in cal. .177 and .22. Pricing was about 56-63 Mark (currency). However sadly to say that we do not have any detailed technical information on hand anymore. Hope this will help you and we wish you enjoy your DIANA airgun. BR from Germany.