Tag Archives: RWS Superdome pellets

Diana model 26 breakbarrel air rifle: Part 3

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Diana 26
The Diana 26 air rifle.

Part 1
Part 2

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • The test
  • Sight-in
  • Falcons
  • H&N Finale Match Light
  • RWS Superdome
  • Trigger is great!
  • Sig Match Ballistic Alloy
  • JSB Exact RS
  • H&N Match Green
  • H&N Baracuda Match with 4.50mm head
  • The final test
  • Discussion
  • Summary

Today we look at the accuracy of the Diana 26 I have been testing. Two things are different about this air rifle. It’s a Diana 26, which I didn’t hear of until recently and it’s a .177, which I haven’t had much luck with. So I chose 7 different pellets, in hopes of finding one or more than were accurate.

The test

I shot from 10 meters off a bench using the artillery hold, though I had to hold the rifle tighter than normal because the butt is so slippery against my shoulder. I shot 5-shot groups to speed things up, but decided I would shoot a final 10-shot group with the pellet that was most accurate. read more

Diana model 26 breakbarrel air rifle: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Diana 26
The Diana 26 air rifle.

Part 1

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • This is a .177
  • RWS Superdome
  • Firing behavior
  • Trigger pull
  • No vibration
  • JSB Exact RS
  • Hobby
  • Barrel tension
  • H&N Baracuda Match with 4.50mm heads
  • Sig Match Ballistic Alloy
  • Discussion
  • Cocking effort
  • Summary

I asked in Part 1 for owners of Diana 26s to tell me of their airguns and I was surprised that so many responded. Apparently I was in the minority for not knowing about the Diana 26. From what they said and what I’ve read I have learned that the 26 was closely related to the model 28 that came out when the model 27 ended production. So models 23, 25, 27 and 35 went away and models 24, 26, 28 and 34 came into being.

The model 34 is a whole story on its own, that I will cover one day, but not today. This report came about because I wanted to get a model 35, to see if I could tune it to be as smooth and light-cocking as a 27 and have a little more power. I got the 35, which is an early rifle with some very curious features, but I also acquired this model 26 and a model 27S that’s equally unusual. We are looking at the 26 in this series, so that’s where the focus will remain today. read more

Ruger 10/22 Air Rifle: Part 5

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Ruger 10/22 Air Rifle
Ruger 10/22.

This report covers:

  • Mounting the dot sight
  • The R47 sight
  • Can you see the front sight through the dot sight?
  • Sight-in
  • The test
  • First group
  • RWS Superdome
  • Crosman Premier Light
  • Sig Match Ballistic Alloy
  • Ten-shot group
  • Discussion
  • Summary

Today I will test the Ruger 10/22 at 25 yards. I’m doing this so the rifle can go back to Umarex, because they are apparently waiting for it. Other writers, I suppose.

Mounting the dot sight

As I mentioned in Part 2, Umarex sent an Axeon R47 dot sight to test on the Ruger, and today I will mount it and sight it in, then test the rifle at 25 yards. To mount any aftermarket sight to a 10/22 you have to first install Weaver bases. I showed you the factory-drilled holes for those bases in Part 2. I took a new package of two-piece Weaver bases and screwed them to the top of the receiver. That took 5 minutes. read more

Diana Stormrider Generation II precharged pneumatic air rifle: Part 3

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Diana Stormrider II
Diana Stormrider Generation II precharged pneumatic air rifle.

Stormrider Gen 1 Part 4
Part 1
Part 2

This report covers:

  • Open sights
  • The test
  • Sight-in
  • Crosman Premier Heavy
  • JSB Exact Beast
  • RWS Superdome
  • H&N Baracuda Match with 4.53mm head
  • JSB Exact Heavy
  • Summary

Last week reader Krasi asked me when I would do Part 3 of the Gen. II Diana Stormrider. I had to be honest with him — I had totally forgotten it! It’s sitting here in my office and I never gave it a second thought. So, today I make up for the oversight and start reporting the accuracy of the Gen. II Stormrider.

Open sights

The Stormrider has good-looking open sights and I wanted to try them first. It’s a very good thing I did, which I will discuss in a moment.

The test

I shot off a rest at 10 meters. I shot 5-shot groups that gave a rough idea of the accuracy and also allowed me to test more pellets. I decided that if there was a pellet that was particularly accurate I would also shoot a group of 10 with that one. read more

Hatsan Proxima underlever repeater: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Hatsan Proxima
Hatsan Proxima underlever repeater.

Part 1

This report covers:

  • Why no single-shot tray
  • RWS Hobby
  • Teaching point
  • JSB Exact RS
  • RWS Superdome
  • H&N Sniper Magnum
  • Discussion
  • Cocking effort
  • Trigger pull
  • Summary

Why no single-shot tray

I am usually sensitive to the questions of my readers, but in Part 1 I missed it completely. Reader HawkEye asked why the Hatsan Proxima doesn’t come with a single shot tray. I ignored his first comment, thinking he was just joking, but he persisted so I finally answered him. I said this.

“This rifle isn’t made to be shot single shot. No tray because it doesn’t work that way. Cocking is too hard and the loading space too confined.”

And I wondered why he would even ask such a question, until it dawned on me that he couldn’t envision the scale. I had shown him an enlarged picture of the feed probe and, looking at that, he could see plenty of room to load a pellet. read more

Diana Chaser air pistol: Part 4

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Diana Chaser air pistol
The Diana Chaser is a new CO2 pistol.

This report covers:

  • Mount the sight
  • Front sight?
  • Cut to the chase
  • The test
  • The trigger
  • Dialed the dot way down
  • First target
  • Second target
  • Summary

Today I test the Diana Chaser air pistol with the UTG RDM20 Reflex Micro Dot sight we have been reviewing. The last test was done with the sight mounted on a Beeman P1 back in January, and it did quite well. I told you I wasn’t going to run a special report on the sight, but instead I would be testing it on several airguns as time went by. The Chaser test is today.

Mount the sight

The Chaser’s rear sight had to be removed to mount the UGT dot sight. There is a short rail in front of the pellet trough but I didn’t think it was quite long enough for this sight base. read more

Diana Stormrider Generation II precharged pneumatic air rifle: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Diana Stormrider II
Diana Stormrider Generation II precharged pneumatic air rifle.

Part 1
Stormrider Gen 1 Part 4

This report covers:

  • Fill
  • RWS Superdome
  • Discharge sound
  • JSB Exact Heavy
  • Chronograph
  • Last pellet
  • Discussion
  • Trigger pull and adjustment
  • Summary

Today we look at the velocity of the .177-caliber Diana Stormrider. I linked to Part 4 of my test of the .22 caliber rifle last year for comparison, but the rifle I’m testing today is a .177-caliber second-generation airgun, where that last test was a first generation. Part 1 of this report discusses the differences.

In Part 1 of this report I made a big deal about this Stormrider’s fill adaptor coming with a male Foster fitting on the end that connects to the hose of most air tanks. However, in re-reading the other report I see that the Gen 1 gun had one, as well, so Diana has thought this through from the very beginning. read more