Diana 54. Open sights.

Got some time today…
Miserable day, very windy so I’m playing with the D54.
The clamp (just bent metal) of this new sight was loose on the dovetail, so I ever so gently squeezed it in a vice a few times till it was a snug fit.
Had to tap it on with a hammer but so far after 20 odd test shots it hasn’t moved 👍🏻
Started with the peep sight with changable appertures. It’s actually a really cool little device, just a pity the mount and dove tail part is so crude 🙈

I want to zero this rifle with JSB 10.34gr heavies at 25yards, but I can only shoot 21yards through my house and into the garden 😂 so if I zero it about 5 or 8mm high at 21 it will be perfect at 25, and pretty much one point of aim (for rabbit head shots) from 5yards out to 30yards. With the open sights I don’t think I’ll be shooting much past 40, so will just learn the drops at 35 and 40.

I played around with height, got it right, then I needed to adjust windage, and that’s where it got a bit tricky.
There is a tiny brass screw and a 4mm nut holding the peep sight onto the body which is also how u adjust the windage, but it’s in upside down so u can’t get a screw driver to the head of the screw with out taking the sight off the rifle 😡.
So off it came, I took it a apart, adjusted it, put it back togather, took it apart, filed down a spacer, put it back together upside down, was better but…. U get the idea.
After an hour of fiddeling around I had changed a few things and put on the “almost a ghost ring blade”, put it back on the file and started again.

I remember now why I love ghost rings so much… because they are just lovely to use.
First group of 3 is about 6mm center to center at 21yards. Lovely 😉
Now to start the “fine adjustments” with the not so fine screws and nuts 🤔

An almost ghost ring.


3 shots at 21yards with the almost ghost ring.

I used to have some of those EUNJIN pellets, they were in .20cal and huge monsters if I remember correctly.
In fact I think I still have them somewhere...
Its strange that you never ever hear of any .20cals here in NZ.

These huge Eunjin should be interesting but unlikely to group well. I think i got them with a Gamo Hunter years ago.

Something I should add to my post above about pellet testing is the "Lead in process".
I used to think this was rubbish, but experience has shown me that it is actually a real thing and should be done.

So if you are testing pellets and change from one brand to another, you should "lead in" the barrel with the new brand of pellets before the real testing begins with the new brand.

The reason for this is that different manufacturers use different recipes for their lead. I dont think any of them use 100% pure lead. I think JSB is probably the closest as their pellets seem to be the softest, but its still not 100% pure lead. H&N's pellets seem to be a bit harder than JSB, so they probably add more tin and mayeb antimony, but who really knows for sure...???

Anyway, when changing from one manufaturer to another, shoot 5 or 10 or 15 before you start to look critically at the group size. How many do you need to "lead in " the barrel? I dont know. I find with my rifles 10 is enough.
Some people say up to 40...?
I know 10 usually works for my rifles because I shoot them in groups of 5.
First 5 will be all over, big group.
Second 5 will be tighter.
Buy the time I get to the 3rd group of 5 the group has usually settled down and will be about as tight as its going to get.

I dont usually bother doing this if I'm changing with in pellets from the same manufacturer, because I believe JSB uses the same lead recipe for all its pellets, as with H&N.
So if I'm testing 3 types of JSB and 4 types of H&N, I'll do all the JSB's first, then change over to H&N, shoot 10 or 15 then start testing all the H&N's for grouping.

Obviously if you try a "green" lead free alloy pellet, they dont contain any lead, but I still go through the same "leading in" process, just to condition the barrel to the new pellets.

Somehow I've ended up with two of the H&N .177 sample packs...
Gun city sells them for about $40, if anyone wants a new unused pack of H&N .177 sample pack I'll post these to you for $40.