Just a reminder that BB is taking tomorrow off. It’s the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. The next report will be posted on Friday.
Today reader RidgeRunner, shows us the Diana p-five air pistol his grandson traded for at the North Carolina airgun show. If you’d like to write a guest post for this blog, please email me at blogger@pyramydair.com.
Take it away, RidgeRunner
RidgeRunner’s Diana p-five
by RidgeRunner
Diana p-five air pistol.
This report covers:
What is it?
How did I end up with it?
Shooting the p-five
Pellets
So, what does the future hold?
Diana p-five box.
What is it?
The Diana p-five, not LP5, is a very pleasant to shoot sproinger air pistol by, you guessed it, Diana. It is a breakbarrel pistol with a rather small diameter compression chamber. According to the specs it only pops pellets out at an average of 400 f.p.s., with about 1.5 foot-pounds of energy.
Pyramyd AIR does still sell this thing and despite the fact that it is likely made in China, I have so far enjoyed playing with it. Just so you know, I have yet to find anywhere on it, on the box or in the manual where it states “Made In China”, so there is still hope.
How did I end up with it?
Thanks to the wheeling and dealing skills my fifteen-year-old grandson Blake has developed, this pistol came my way at the tenth annual North Carolina airgun show. He swapped out my Diana Bullseye ZR-Mount for this Diana p-five.
Just so you folks know, even though most of you may have already figured it out, I do not like the Z-Mount at all. Do not get me wrong, the idea is great. The problem was in the execution. For a nominal fee, which was more than a new Z-Mount costs, it could be made repeatable and accurate. As for the Diana p-five pistol, I like it.
Shooting the p-five
So these old, tired eyes of mine would stand a chance at shooting this pistol with any kind of accuracy, I put a Hawke red dot sight on top of it when I took it out to the range. I only shot it at ten yards to see what it would do. My, that sure is close.
Being a sproinger, I held this as light as I could. I was cheating some and was also laying it on one of my bags.
Pellets
The only pellet I shot was the H&N Match Pistol wadcutter which comes in at around 7.63 grains. I figured that would give you and me a pretty good idea of what to expect from this pistol. They also fit the bore pretty good.
In all honesty, I was pretty surprised by how well it shot.
This group is only 1.8-inches, not too shabby.
There was one pellet that was a little high in this group that I think I pulled. If we throw that one out the group was only 1.3-inches.
So, what does the future hold?
This p-five will very likely end up in the hands of my “grandson” Quinn. He was not able to go to the show with us this trip and I know he wants a nice pistol. After shooting this thing for a bit, I may have to get another one for myself. Yogi might even like this thing. 😉
RidgeRunner,
A little sleuthing on the internet reveals it to be a rebadged Snowpeak SP500. Maybe the Made in China is hidden discretely under the grip panels?
Siraniko
Absolutely correct Siraniko
It’s made by SPA in China and in Europe it’s also sold as such. The only difference that brings a higher price is for Diana is the name.
Looks like a nice, fun, little pistol for plinking, etc. Seems like a fair trade for the mount you didn’t like. I would assume that the trigger must be okay and the feel of the gun pretty good since you were able to shoot it that well. Enjoy it and remember that (according to the description on PA) it is German designed. 😉
Elmer,
The German engineering is obvious. It is a very well-designed air pistol.
No, I did not like the ZR-Mount. The idea was great, but the execution of such just was not there. The one I had was the third generation of it and they still had not figured out how to do it right.
Maybe they should talk to some of the old scope makers?
I bought also the “Diana” version of this pistol. I dismantled it and gave it a high quality grease, shot cycle and the velocity is quite good. Somehow I’m not very accurate with this pistol. A bit strange, it is not bad but… somehow… I gave it a chance, shot like 3000 pellets and… strange.
As of this moment, it is still here at RRHFWA. I did attempt to take this apart but have not been successful at such. I have also not seen anything to say where it is made, but the German engineering of this is obvious.
I failed to mention that the trigger is somewhat adjustable. I have not touched this one as it is quite nice. It is also very easy to cock and has a very nice shot cycle. As for the price tag that Pyramyd AIR has on it, this is worth every penny of it.
WHAT?! RidgeRunner is recommending that we should buy what is likely an air pistol that is made in Uncle Xi’s country? The truth is after having handled and shot this pistol, I am impressed. No, it is not a target pistol, not by any stretch of the imagination. It is very easy to shoot and surprisingly accurate though. It would be very easy to keep the feral soda cans and wild water bottles at bay with this little thing.
Hey, try those pellets in the Falke 50, she might surprise you at 30 feet
Breeze,
There is one problem with that, those pellets do not live here anymore. They are on their way to upper PA right now.
Do not fret, there are plenty of other candidates for the next 50 trial.
Might I suggest RWS Hobbies? They are my ‘go to’ pellets for these old German guns.
My Falke 60 does great with them! But I never shoot paper with it, only dirt clods, leafs and feral cans.
On your next review might I suggest you put the fun factor first. ie. It’s not a target rifle, it’s a youth rifle. Shoot what youth would have fun shooting.
And if you are ever disappointed I would gladly give you a cash refund…..
Have a happy Thanksgiving
Breeze,
I am not so certain I have any or those. In RWS I have some SHP and Superdomes. The reason I have those is some of the “old gals” like those. I do have some R10s, but I save them for Izzy. I guess she may be considered one of the “old gals” these days because it is nigh on impossible to get one of them nowadays.
With the exception of my Izzy, I am just not much into using those wadcutters.
RR,
The me the key to a nice shooting pistol is trigger feel.
Have a nice Turkey Day everybody, and remember what you are thankful for!
-Yogi
Yogi,
You will like this pistol then. Being a lousy shot, I cannot do this thing justice. The entire shooting experience with this pistol is nice.
The truth is I will have folks coming to RRHFWA tomorrow and I put the Hawke dot sight back on this pistol and zeroed it in for the feral soda can hanging out back. While I am smoking turkey breast, they can do some plinking.
To Whom It May Apply – yes, enjoy the turkey tomorrow and remember the blessings you have received which made it possible for you to have that turkey and plink with your airgun.
May you and yours enjoy the many blessings the Lord has given to you.
I find it interesting that Snowpeak also offers or has offered this pistol in .22 cal. I see on Snowpeak’s web site they list the .177 as 500 fps and the .22 as 350 fps. Yet on sites that sales the pistol, I see the .177 listed anywhere from .50 to 500 fps.
snowpeaksports.com
They make a lot of air guns. Myself, I stay away from China. But I admit Snow Peak seems to be a very good brand. Over one million air guns a year produced?
https://hardairmagazine.com/news/snowpeak-airguns-biggest-airgun-manufacturer-youve-never-heard/
Thanks for the report.
Doc
Doc,
Snowpeak has been listening to airgun shooters for some time now. Now Nova Vista has begun doing that also (think Avenger and Avenge-X).
I am in the process of lightening my load around here. Are any of the Chinese made stuff going to move in here. Doubtful. I am going to end up trying to find homes for some of these “old gals” before long.
Funnily enough, with all this talk of turkeys, when I saw a dismantled view of the SPA500 on a UK forum a while ago it immediately struck me as being somewhat similar to the Zira Blow pistol, although that is a semi-recoilless design.
On the Blow, the action sits in two cradles and the grip attaches to those; the SPA500 attaches the grip straight to the trigger housing. It is still quite a small pistol though, by break-barrel standards, comparable in size to something like the Umarex Browning Buck Mark.
iain
Iain,
Nice. Thanks. Yes, by most breakbarrel air pistol standards, this is pretty small and easy to hold.
You mentioned above that you had tried to take it apart, I’m not sure quite how much of this will be relevant to the P-Five but just in case …
The plastic grip on the Zira Blow has to be in two halves, able to be split left and right, because where the four screws go in, two either side, the interior of the grip is shaped to fit into a recess around each screw hole. These are in the two cradles on the Zira, and it is not possible to just undo those four screws and lift the action out of the grip: the nut and bolt lower down in the grip has to be undone to allow the two halves to be split.
I recall the Zira as having a fairly nice trigger – the leverage on the sear probably helps – although the blade itself was a bit uncomfortable. The sights, and sight picture, weren’t brilliant and you really had to carefully pick them out when coming up on aim – these have been much improved, it seems, on the Snowpeak/Diana.
iain
While you are at it, try a few of the HN Match Green pellets in this pistol and the Falke (if you still have a few). Give it 3 to 5 shots to “season the bore” then see how they group.
RG,
I do still happen to have some of that “green” stuff, I think. To say the least, I have not been impressed with it. I even have some of that GTO stuff. I am still not impressed.
Will this pistol get a further go? You never know. There is a good chance the Falke may see some of these “green” things go down its bore.
RR,
You know a Walther LP Model 53 air Pistol was a last second fill in for the James Bond “From Russa With Love” poster. (Ref: Toms Dec 14 2020 blog, LP53) and this pistol looks like it could be a stand-in for that one.
Now that particular air pistol last sold for $351,053.95 An ultimate James Bond collectable.
Perhaps you should put on a tux and replicate that pose and post it here. (Everything posted here can be found in an on-line search separate from this blog)
“The name is Runner … Ridge Runner”
May jack up the value some being the online celebrity you have become in the Airgun World. Just a passing thought.
My P5 Magnum will eventually build up arm muscles or sprain them at my age. This one looks like an all-day economical fun plinker and I like the style. Need to check out my Bullseye Bucks on hand. A nice Christmas gift to … me!
Perhaps you should put ‘AE’ after your name. Airgun Enabler. Have a great Thanksgiving!
Bob M,
Until this past NC Airgun Show, I had a very nice Predom Lucznik here at RRHFWA. At the last moment I brought it with me and it ended up being traded for that wood gripped “Benjamin Franklin” 130. I was not a big fan of the Lucznik anyway, though it was a decent shooter once you became used to the lousy trigger.
Now as for paying over $300K for that particular LP53, that person must really be a huge James Bond/Sean Connery fan. Just so everybody knows, our word fan comes from the word fanatic.
Now as for “The name is Runner…Ridge Runner” thing. Nobody wants to look at an overly round penguin. Now, if you were to get you one of these for Christmas, you would very likely enjoy shooting it, especially after the P5 Magnum. When I brought this thing home, I was afraid this was going to be one of those “muscle builders”. Right now, one of these is in my “Wish List”.
Much to Mrs. RR’s dismay, I am a self-enabler. I do not need any help, at least not in that department.
Be sure to give thanks to the Lord this day.
RidgeRunner,
Looks like he got a good trade, nice pistol. 😉
Wishing you a Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!
dave
Dave,
He has become pretty good at that trade and negotiating thing. I usually do pretty good when I turn him loose at the airgun shows I take him to. He could stand to cut those bangs of his though. Ah well, I guess I will let him enjoy them while he still has them. 😉
“Ah well, I guess I will let him enjoy them while he still has them. ”
Yep, may as well let him enjoy them now; once he’s like us, he won’t have any anyway! 😉
To All,
Happy Thanksgiving! May you have more blessings to come.
Siraniko
Siraniko,
May the Lord’s blessings shine upon you and yours.
Everybody,
Happy Thanksgiving!
May the celebration be rich with joy and may your next Thanksgiving find you and yours more blessed in all the things that truly matter.
shootski
shootski,
May the Lord give his blessings to you and yours.
I would feel most remiss if I did not wish the Lord’s many blessings upon our beloved host. It is my hope that he will walk through each day with the guidance of our Lord upon his feet.
To each and every one of you out there, I give my sincere thanks and wish our Lord’s blessings on all of you. I have been blessed so richly to have been able to share this Thanksgiving with you. Thank each and every one of you.
Back to you and all with that sentiment, RR.
Happy Thankgiving, everybody. Thanks to Val and Tyler and B.B. for this blog and the friendships it has fostered and the knowledge shared here. And to all the other readers who read this blog but perhaps do not comment, thank you too. Without you, this blog would probably not continue to exist.
Happy Thanksgiving and God’s blessings to all. I am pleased to report the rumor going around that Thanksgiving was being diminished by overlapping Halloween and Christmas shopping is misleading. Over 80 % of people in this country celebrate Thanksgiving. Travel by auto and air will set new records this year.
Deck
Yes RR, blessings right back to you and to our host, BB.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Count me among them. Hitting the road momentarily….