Quote:
Originally Posted by KC911
Duz it $uk more or le$$ than a Diana  ? Just askin' fer a friend of a friend... |
I don't own a Diana (otherwise known as RWS) pistol, but I do have an RWS Diana Model 34 air rifle, and a Model 48 air rifle in .22 caliber. I bet I shoot the Model 34 more than any other. What a wonderful rifle. So is the Model 48, but it is a good deal bigger, heavier, and a lot more powerful.
I have one Weihrauch rifle as well, the HW 80 in .20 caliber. It was sold here for years as the Beeman R1. Another wonderful rifle. It's as big and heavy and powerful as the RWS 48, though. Almost "cumbersome", really, but that is where you need to go for that kind of power.
I would give a slight nod to the Weihrauch for quality. They are a little more money as well. Really, though, in the end, there is little to choose between them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc
Just noticed you said .20 caliber is that something new ? My Diana is .177 which I thought was the standard .
|
"Standard" air rifle/pistol calibers are still the good old .177, and the .22. Some of the more powerful air rifles now come in .25 caliber, meant for air rifle "big game" (rabbits, possums, etc.) shooting.
The .20 is definitely an oddball. It was introduced by the American company, Sheridan, along with their very high end, expensive pneumatic rifles. This was in the late '40's or early '50s. These things cost what a good centerfire hunting rifle of the day would have cost.
The guy that started the company did not want customers to use inferior quality ammunition, resulting in poor performance, and blaming his rifle. So he made it in an oddball caliber - .20 - so customers
had to use his ammunition. Sheridan Bluestreak and Silverstreak rifles, along with the company's pistols, were the only air guns available in .20 caliber for years.
I'm not sure when it happened, but eventually a few other manufacturers took an interest in .20 caliber. Very, very few offer it today, or ever have. The only guns I own in .20 caliber are my Bluestreaks, one Sheridan pistol, and now one rifle and one pistol from Weihrauch.
It's really, really "picking nits", and air gun uber geeky, but the .20 caliber does offer real advantages. It can achieve the same velocities as the .22 calibers with the same pellet weight, but has better sectional density, so it penetrates better. Same weight, less frontal area. That said, the rats I shoot probably cannot tell the difference...