Canadian Airgun Forum

I purchased a new Diana 52 in .177 caliber. I have tried a few different brands of pellets as well as different weights. Currently, I'm shooting RWS MEISTERKUGELN 8.2 grain pellets, these print about 1" groups at 10 yds. What can I do to improve the accuracy? I was expecting ragged hole groups at 10 yds with this air rifle.

Bobby B.

Are you resting it on a fairly hard surface? I would also recommend JSB heavy pellets or Cr Premier 10.5gr or Baracuda. The 52 is certainly not a match gun, but if held properly, the right pellet should stack at 10 yards. When I shoot my TX, I always have it in my hands and my hands are always touching the gun in the exact same position. Even if I am resting on a table, I rest my hands, not the gun.

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Tim
CAFTA Governor and lifetime learner

Just read an article about the 'artillery hold' so I'll practice that and see what results.

Bobby B.

Not certain what you mean by the PAL version, mine is the 1100 fps .17 calber rifle. Hope this answers your question.

Bobby B.

In Canada an air rifle that shoots over 500fps in either caliber is considered a firearm, so you need a possession and acquisition license (PAL for short) to own one. As such, many rifles (like the Diana 48/52) can be purchased "de-tuned" to stay under 500fps, or in full power if you have the license (what we'd call the PAL version).

So yes, that does answer the question

p.s. the Artillery hold is the way to go

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Dan

Try lots of pellets (almost all airguns are pellet fussy) and don't bother to judge any accuracy until you've put about 500 shots through the gun. Springers are usually hold sensitive so leave the front part of the rifle and/or stock off the rest if you are using one. My springers shoot better with the rest nearer the trigger, as do most of my other guns (powderburners too) unless the barrel is free-floating.

I've not yet had an airgun that shot very tiny groups from day 1 - all have shot much better after a tin or so of pellets.

I know Meisterklugen's are supposed to be A#1 super, but I don't own any airguns that like them at all. The closest I have is my Daisy 853 which shoots them into about 1/2" at 10 yards. But it puts anything else into a hole half that size. Trying a "few" kinds of pellets probably won't find Nirvana.

I'm finding that trying to judge pellets by price and brand can be frustrating. I have three guns (HW40, Daisy 853 and my QS57) that shoot those ratty Gamo Match things better than anything else. But why complain? They're cheap and everybody sells them.

Nice gun, by the way.

I think I'm having some issues with my HW97K. I bought it about 7 years ago, shot it indoors for a while regularly and then only pulled it out once or twice a year for hunting. I have this idea in my head that when I used to shoot paper with it years ago I was getting ragged one hole groups at 10 yards - but it could just be wishful thinking.

I've been shooting it indoors somewhat regularly for about a month now and just about every 10 shot group I fire (from a rest that is) is very close to 1/2 inch (outside to outside or about 0.320 center to center). Most just under, some just over. The groups might be marginally taller than they are wide but they are mostly fairly round. I did manage a single group that was 3/8" OD. This is using RWS Miesterkugeln pellets - I've tried a half a dozen different pellets, some are quite a bit worse but none were better.

Everything is tight. I cleaned the barrel about 200 shots ago. The scope seems ok - I've even shot at different magnifications and the groups are marginally larger at 4x than they are at 12x with a very slight shift in point of impact (less than 1/8"). It's an inexpensive scope (Bushnel Banner 4-12 airgun scope) but it seems to be holding up.

I can shoot one inch groups (center to center) from my 270 all day at 100 yards using the same sandbags. I don't think I'm the problem. So either I have unrealistic expectations or something is wrong. Maybe the fact that it was very lightly used for about 5 years is an issue. It only has a 3 or 4 thousand pellets through it in total. I'd appreciate any suggestions.

If you were resting the forestock on the sand bag directly, that could be the reason for not getting a tighter group. You have to place the rifle onto the palm of your hand and then rest your hand on the sand bag for the artillery hold to work. You have to experiment a bit with finding the location of the forestock that your rifle will recoil in a consistent fashion as well. HTH.

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"Fast is fine, accuracy is final."

With and HW97k a good shooter should not have too much difficulty getting ragged 1 hole groups out to 25 yards and half to 3/4 inch groups at 55 yards. Mine is .22 cal and does very well with JSB Exacts. Several other guys I shoot with have the .177 version and they seem to work well with Exacts also. It took me a lot of work to find a hold that the gun likes and I have never been able to get good results rested even on a rolled up towel, having said that I have seen Suprmatic shoot amazingly well with his on a bipod so...

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Airgunning is my hobby... and it is cheaper than
maintaining an outside relationship with another woman.
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How long have you been shooting that gun

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VE7SHM//VE7ZJ

Moderator

OK - thanks everyone. You've confirmed that I should expect my gun to be capable of more and that my memory of how it (and I) performed a few years back is (or could be) correct. For the moment, I'll assume that I'm the problem and will keep practicing and experimenting with different holds. I will also try a few other types of pellets to see if anything else works better.

My goal will be to see how close I can come to 0.25 inch OD groups at 10 yards.