Original model 5 pistol .177

[Backgardenplinker]

Not much of update. I left the piston seal soaking in IPA overnight. Trimmed off some loose bits around the centre and a gentle scrub.



I really dont want to replace this. It looks hard to fit a synthetic seal let alone find or make another leather one. It will get a neatsfoot soak and go back in on rebuild

Started on grips..

Scraped back the varnish, gentle rub down with emery paper. Some pretty horrible oil/rust stains to contend with.

Allot of work to do yet. Household bleach will be used a few more times then steaming and more sanding

 

[slotter]

Might be needing one mate if i cant re use the one fitted here. I cant find an end cap/barrel locking screw (its same screw) in stock in usual places online.

I didnt check the size of the screw but pretty sure i have seen it mentioned to be M3 thread in which case it shouldnt be difficult to buy something from a none gun related establishment and as necessary cut it down.

 

[slotter]

I really dont want to replace this. It looks hard to fit a synthetic seal let alone find or make another leather one. It will get a neatsfoot soak and go back in on rebuild

Yours is shooting fine on power, i agree, keep the existing leather one as long as it keeps working.

 

[Backgardenplinker]

Not allot more i can do to the barrel/action in terms of a clean up and de-rust without commiting to a full reblack and the prep. I wont be doing that. Its so deeply pitted in places i doubt it would be feasible.

Used the copper coin and oil trick and then some wire wool. It doesnt look to bad from a distance

 

[Backgardenplinker]

Spent a while on the grips today. Bleached a few more times, rinsed and dried. The rust stains are too deep to remove fully and any more wasnt going to help.



Its like water dripped onto the trigger guard over a few years..



I had a go at steaming dings and getting a nice smooth finish. Ultimately its another case of diminishing returns Getting it perfect was not really on the cards.

Id of liked to play around with some different finish tones but to cover the stains i went safe with walnut dye.



Will leave this to fully dry, buff it back and then can start oiling whilst focusing on the action

 

[Cinimod]

Spent a while on the grips today. Bleached a few more times, rinsed and dried. The rust stains are too deep to remove fully and any more wasnt going to help.

View attachment 755534

Its like water dripped onto the trigger guard over a few years..

View attachment 755535

I had a go at steaming dings and getting a nice smooth finish. Ultimately its another case of diminishing returns Getting it perfect was not really on the cards.

Id of liked to play around with some different finish tones but to cover the stains i went safe with walnut dye.

View attachment 755537View attachment 755538

Will leave this to fully dry, buff it back and then can start oiling whilst focusing on the action

Coming along nicely ……..dom

 

[Backgardenplinker]

Coming along nicely ……..dom

Cheers Dom. Looking forward to shooting it

 

[Troy.T.]

Nice work so far. Looking forward to hearing more. You do have to respect German engineering and quality from that period.

 

[Backgardenplinker]

Nice work so far. Looking forward to hearing more. You do have to respect German engineering and quality from that period.

Yes it impressive on all the old diana/originals ive had apart.

I am baffled how they came up with some of the design features but everything works. Quality control was exemplary and they are built to last. Testament to this neglected pistol example

 

[Backgardenplinker]

Cracking on this evening!

Piston seal had a long soak, hopefully its got some service life left.



Cleaning up fixings...



A bit of a file on the cocking slots. Pitting had eroded small areas. Swabbed it out after.



The grips were dry so put a coat of alkanet on first. Its a shame the rust stains came through still, would of been nicer. I tried! The dye dried a fair bit lighter. Its a feature now



A bit of technical info.

25mm piston



Spring dimensions:

Length around 227 mm



2.8mm wire



13.6mm Internal diameter



19.3mm outer diameter

 

[slotter]

The woodwork on mine has a few hairline cracks.
I will just have to watch things to make sure they dont enlarge.
Yours looks to be crack free (?)
Its good to see all the technical detail.

 

[Backgardenplinker]

The woodwork on mine has a few hairline cracks.
I will just have to watch things to make sure they dont enlarge.
Yours looks to be crack free (?)
Its good to see all the technical detail.

There are a few little hairline cracks (on the front jaw and base of grip) I forgot to say but i also brushed an application of linseed oil all around the Inletting of the inside of the grips. So its all getting some good nourishment from oil now, should be ok but will keep an eye

 

[Backgardenplinker]

Its not far off rebuild phase now. Waiting for a few bits in post still. Shims and seal.

I cleaned the barrel. 4 patches and seems clear. First 2 with some wd40 on.



Finishing oil (danish) applying on the grips. Gold shine from light.




This is one springer internal setup i think i may leave as standard. Rear guide isnt a great fit on spring but does have a rotating flange. Piston sleeve seems out of the question as the 2 lever ends sit deep. Slip washers and some kind of guide sleeve/bespoke replacement are options.

Thanks to @Nomis i have an M3 grub screw that is a perfect fit for the end cap locking hole

 

[Backgardenplinker]

Re assembly part 1

Had a little delivery so started putting the pistol back together

New breach seal and a thin shim behind it.



So just need this lot to become a pistol again



First off is the piston. Smeared on a little more neatsfoot on seal, greased it up and it went in the cylinder fairly easily. I put a thin metal metal washer inside too.


Needed a little poke with screwdriver to line up the piston cut outs with the slots in cylinder.



Greased up the cylinder/slots and the cocking lever. Appear to have forgetten to photo that.



Barrel needs to go on next. I tried the breach shims from chambers as per parts diagram but they dont fit/not designed to be there. Oh well, only got them just in case.



First up needed to connect the levers..



What i do with these pins now is line up with tools. Start small so its easy then for next tool slightly smaller than the pin itself..



Push in the pin and push out the tool simultaneously. Much easier than fiddling around lining up with pin alone.



Proper smear of moly on the breach



Wiggle the barrel untill main bolt is aligned.



Tighten untill desired and fit the locking screw. I had to go a bit loose.. Theres no way of fitting the locking screw at every fraction of a turn. Theres 4 postions per turn on the main bolt.



Ok whats next? Trigger.

This is how it sits. The spring leg tucks up under the frame. Top right of cut out in below pic



I did a little test to make sure.

View attachment 757370

Fit the pin holding the trigger..



With trigger in i re fit the adjustment screws. The small one is indeed a locking screw. No idea how it works but it does so that must be loose to adjust trigger then tightened again after.




At this point i stopped to question just how i should install the main screw. The height its screwed down is the sear engagement. Inner screw the weight. I set it roughly where i think it was originally but i will be setting this up properly later.

Quick video clip of the trigger action and screenshot of an instruction manual for a 5G pistol that describes trigger adjustment and applies to the this old model too

View attachment 757382

Diana original Model 5 trigger adjustment



Maybe useful info there for some folks i shall be back later or tommorow to continue the rebuild.

 

[Backgardenplinker]

Reassembly part 2

I couldn't find a new spring for the silver latching sear thing so for now im reusing the bent one. The silver part drops in place and spring is simple to locate. Tension screw first then the locking one.




With that last part on its time for the mainspring and guide. I added a little preload with a washer too i brush grease on, thin coating.



I may play around with the internals later but for now its pretty much as it was.

100% a spring compressor job!

I used the grub screw to first hold the metal tube once fully in the cylinder. Can see no tension on the clamp here..



Then screwed on the end cap till near the screw. Tension on clamp just in case. Back out the grub screw.. Twong! The tube pings back into the end cap.



Jobs done. Line up the hole and refit the screw. I forgot pic but its in there



I thought thats the main job over..



Fitting the open sights took longer! Front was simple but the rear was like one of those metal puzzle toys. Finally i worked out how the elevation screw and clicking plate part went into the sight frame. No pics sorry. I reccomend not taking that apart. It looks simple but theres a knack. Got to locate the plate under the wheel on an angle allowing the narrow screw neck to pass through the narrow jaws in frame and the plate tabs to sit right too. Dont ask, its rediculous



Just grips to go on and testing/trigger adjustment. It cocks and fires fine, yet to do more than 1 shot

 

[Backgardenplinker]

Finished the rebuild today so its more or less tidy up attempt complete.



Initial chrono was 4 ft lbs/500 fps. This was excess oil on seal combusting and its down to 400 fps allready. I think it will settle roughly where it was originally.

It cocks and shoots well, bit of buzz from spring and recoil going on. Somthing i have experienced twice allready is the breach seal starting to lift out! Need to look at that, wayward oil issue maybe, i think some has got behind it.

Trigger guard needs re shaping at some point, grips need more oiling. That spring on the lever and possibly trigger tension one needs replacing down the line too. It could be worth getting a properly fitted rear guide and reducing preload a tad to make it a smoother cycle.

The trigger was a little tricky to set more or less right but now it is.. wow! 2 stages. Its a very light release on 2nd stage too. Lovely.

Ive had a little play on targets, nothing too impressive yet in grouping terms. Almost certainly my wobbling and flyers. Cut some playing cards though. 2 cards sliced with 3 shots, 6 yards/2 hand grip standing

 

[DanSimpson]

Looks like you've had fun with it mate.
Its certainly a mega improvement from when I had it.
Atb
Dan

 

[Backgardenplinker]

Looks like you've had fun with it mate.
Its certainly a mega improvement from when I had it.
Atb
Dan

Hi Dan. Yeah its allot of fun. It deserves to be fully restored but im happy enough to use it a little in the rough.

I was hitting the odd spinner at 25m at the range with it standing unsupported last Monday, put a few entries in the july pistol comp recently too and more cutting the deck. Heres some more pic/updates for thread




Ive stuck a little extension on the front sight post to give adjustment at 6 yards.



This was pretty cool. Hit a playing card 25 meters rested!

 

[slotter]

Great to see it back together and working.
Your story will be very useful to anyone else who has to take one apart.

I need to start to use mine at targets!
All ive done is checked it works/ chronoed.

 

[Mr Fettler]

WOW, thank you so much for the write up.
I was given the same pistol 40 years ago by a local kid, the stock was painted white and the metal had some surface rust.
I gently removed the paint, the metal work I rubbed back with scotchbrite BUT this removed all the blacking.

By then I had recovered from a bike crash, so I put it all back together, put it in a box and its sat there ever since.
Maybe a winter project