Canadian Airgun Forum

Recently acquired this fine piece of Chinese manufacturing from a good fellow here on the CAF. The rifle came with both .177 and .22 caliber barrels, both with very nice rifling, and without a rear sight but with a small Crosman 4x15 scope. It is said to be a Diana 20 T01 copy, with an automatic safety added (the small lever on the right side of the receiver), and a direct-sear type trigger. The trigger is a bit different from the common Diana-type direct-sear, as it uses one spring for the sear and one for the trigger blade itself. If I'm right, the first gen. model I got was made from the late '90s to around 2010. There's no serial number on the gun.

The wood stock has a few nicks, that's to be expected on a 10+ years old airgun, but it'll be easy to repair/refinish. Excluding the ''user induced marks'', the finish on the stock is pretty good looking after a good clean-up with mild household detergent. This is no beech, but rather some kind of asian hardwood, with some nice figuring in the grain. The bluing is very good, nice and even, and takes a rich dark hue when oiled. Fit and finish are good to very good, on par with the bigger brands like Crosman or Umarex.

Upon checking the gun I noticed the breech seal was starting to crumble, as well as the piston seal. Both were replaced using a Diana 26 mm piston seal and a 12x7x2.5 mm oring for the breech (common Diana size). Other than that no repairs were necessary, so I just cleaned up the innards and re-lubed and re-assembled the gun. I also installed a rear sight off of a Crosman Optimus, was almost a direct fit.

The CH D-18B was advertised as having a velocity of under 490 fps in .22 caliber when new, after the rebuild I chronied it @ 483 fps with CPUM 14.3 grains, pretty much in the ballpark I think (though it was dieseling a bit). This gun has a rather short piston stroke, and it makes the shot cycle ''snappy'', very similar to my Weihrauch HW30S. Haven't had the time to shoot for accuracy yet, but I'm expecting good results after reading past years reviews on the gun.

Pictures :

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If everything's so lovely yeah, then why don't I, why don't I, why don't I, why don't I feel lovely?

More pictures:

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If everything's so lovely yeah, then why don't I, why don't I, why don't I, why don't I feel lovely?

A couple more:

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If everything's so lovely yeah, then why don't I, why don't I, why don't I, why don't I feel lovely?

The Canadian Hunter was a solidly built rifle. It appears to be the same rifle as the old Xisico XS-B11 (out of production) but the Canadian Hunter version had better bluing and stock finish. The first CH version had the metal sights and side lever safety. The second version had a push button safety like the Diana 24 and plastic sights.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=75076&view=next

viewtopic.php?t=18125&highlight=canadian+hunter

topic75239.html?hilit=Canadian%20Hunter

Simple Trigger Tune - topic29151.html?hilit=Canadian%20Hunter

It appears that the XS-B12 replaced the older XS-B11 (Canadian Hunter) rifle. Someone with a pocket full of cash could fund a new Canadian Hunter based on the XS-12. On the Xisico page is says " “Private Labeling Available”.
https://xisicousa.com/product/xisico-xs12/

looks good to me

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"A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle"

It's heartwarming to see the old girl back in action and loved by someone again!
At one point I had a Canadian Hunter .22 (I believe 2nd variant), a Diana 24, and a Stoeger X5 (all wood stocks). The power plants IIRC were just about identical. There were some differences in latch rod lengths, and the Diana had a T-05 trigger - memory doesn't stretch so far back. I did save some photos, and one of them shows a similar rifle on a Chinese website called a XT-204. My Canadian Hunter was a good shooter, in the end I sold all 3 of them in an effort to reduce my collection to 3 rifles, which I did.
Here is my ex-Canadian Hunter (pic for Yep Yep) and below that the page from the internet with XT-204:

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Iacio, ergo sum

Thanks Todd! I read your posts with great interest, real glad they weren't lost .



Thank you so much Ace . First airgun I buy since the C-curse, so glad I did! It actually reminds me of my Diana 240 in .22 .



Thanks Duke . I found your old review on it: viewtopic.php?t=40511&start=

That was an interesting reading, indeed you had a second variant, too bad they no longer make it . And thanks for the pic, one can wonder where's the ''center of interest'' in it . Love them 4-legged companions, I so miss mines .

Cheers!

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If everything's so lovely yeah, then why don't I, why don't I, why don't I, why don't I feel lovely?

I'm hijacking my own thread, wanted to add this: I found and just bought a ''real steel'' Diana model 20 at Canadian Air Collector: https://canadianaircollector.ca/collect ... 2712388775

The ''Sold out'' mark is because of me . Didn't really had the money, but I just couldn't resist . Should be here in around a week.

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If everything's so lovely yeah, then why don't I, why don't I, why don't I, why don't I feel lovely?

Incredibly cool to see someone breath some new life into the old girl. Really fun to read