Diana two forty

[johNTO]

Finally pulled the trigger on a "basement friendly" air rifle....Diana "two forty" (not the 240) during Bullseye's recent sale.
Designed by Diana and made in China. Wasn't expecting much for $108 but it has me impressed. Decent fit & finish.
The trigger is no T05/06 and a bit heavy but smoothing out nicely (my G17 trigger time has paid off )
I really wanted to shoot this with open sights but my fat face failed me so I installed a fixed 4x crossbow scope with lows. I ended up taking the old Bushnell 3x-9 that my son borrowed for his airsoft sniper (which he no longer does) and it's working out nicely. The one piece with stop pin mount should arrive soon.
At ~40" oal, 7lbs (scoped) and rated @ 575ft/s I think I'm going to enjoy this plinker to shoot the winter away.....






.....shout out to Anthony @ Bullseye for helping me out!

 

[gunsaholic]

I have the two fiftys and a couple of other Chinese made air rifles. People often compare them to something like a higher end Weihrauch or Diana etc and then start with the negatives. But like it or not, the Chinese are turning out some very accurate, very decent air guns for the money.

 

[johNTO]

But like it or not, the Chinese are turning out some very accurate, very decent air guns for the money.

I wouldn't have believed it myself if I hadn't handled the two forty at the counter. I've handled a few air rifles at the counter costing 2-3x more over the last few months but put them back because there were too many compromises, especially the ones with plastic stocks.
When I took the stock off (at home) I did not see any tooling marks, burs, etc. The wood has a smooth even finish with no blemishes. If the steel wasn't blued it sure fooled me.
I've put a couple hundred rounds thru it now and it's starting to cycle very smoothly. The pellets are starting to stack on top of each other and I'm starting to figure out the trigger. Instead of slowly squeezing it I'm kinda jerking it just before break (the trigger )
This two forty is a keeper.....

 

[AppleFritter]

How’s the cocking effort? Was considering one of these for my 7 year old when I saw them on sale

 

[johNTO]

Cocking is really smooth and requires little effort....but for a 7yo? I guess it would be a bit much depending on his/her physical abilities.
The length of pull is 13.75" so that needs to be considered too.

 

[johNTO]

Got the one piece (low)scope mount last night. After levelling the mount/scope, a little bit of blue loctite was applied.
Shot a quick group of 10. The first one was low but after a quick adjustment the two forty looks promising (I found a 20' lane in my basement).
The tear in the top right was a ricochet from the inside plate.

 

[gunsaholic]

Looks very promising!

 

[johNTO]

I'm certainly not complaining!
I think I have enough pellets to get me thru the winter blues and will probably find which one(s) the two forty likes (from my current sampling).
I'm currently working my way thru the Crosman Premier 7.9g hollow points (top left tin).

 

[johNTO]

Appears the two forty doesn't like wad cutters as much as domed pellets.
The Daisy domed HP really surprised me! Might be the one.....

 

[gunsaholic]

Very good results with the Daisy pellets! I had thought about getting one of the two fortys on the sale but I opted for a Weihrauch HW50S instead. I had already picked up a Diana 240 a short time ago. In fact I was just blasting some tin cans with it. Also trying out a 34 I just received.

 

[quinnjoblow]

I have the German made 240 in .177

It’s a great winter basement rifle.

 

[diananike]

How’s the trigger on this one specifically?
As in weight, grittiness, length of pull etc.
I heard the two-forty uses a direct sear and might be difficult to work on safely if it’s giving you trouble.

 

[johNTO]

How’s the trigger on this one specifically?
As in weight, grittiness, length of pull etc.
I heard the two-forty uses a direct sear and might be difficult to work on safely if it’s giving you trouble.

Not sure about the weight but it is very manageable. The web reports 3.5-5lbs. There is no grit that I can feel. I've read that it is a direct sear and should not be messed with (stoning, etc) unless you have detailed experience in doing so. I know I don't. If something goes wrong I'm not sure it would be worth the cost in fixing it vs buying a new one or an upgrade.

The initial take-up is about 1/8" with no resistance. There's another 1/4" of "squeeze" before it goes off. The trigger is getting smoother and I can almost predict when it will go off (now) and I think it shows in getting tighter groups.

Length of pull is 13.75" from trigger blade to end of butt stock pad.

If you're looking for a precision target trigger....this is not for you. However, for its intention (inexpensive fun plinker with decent accuracy and basement friendly) it fits my bill of want/needs, especially for $108!

 

[johNTO]

I have the German made 240 in .177

It’s a great winter basement rifle.

The 240 is a classic plinker. It would have been ideal to have the 240 trigger (T05) in the two forty.....

 

[diananike]

Not sure about the weight but it is very manageable. The web reports 3.5-5lbs. There is no grit that I can feel. I've read that it is a direct sear and should not be messed with (stoning, etc) unless you have detailed experience in doing so. I know I don't. If something goes wrong I'm not sure it would be worth the cost in fixing it vs buying a new one or an upgrade.

The initial take-up is about 1/8" with no resistance. There's another 1/4" of "squeeze" before it goes off. The trigger is getting smoother and I can almost predict when it will go off (now) and I think it shows in getting tighter groups.

Length of pull is 13.75" from trigger blade to end of butt stock pad.

If you're looking for a precision target trigger....this is not for you. However, for its intention (inexpensive fun plinker with decent accuracy and basement friendly) it fits my bill of want/needs, especially for $108!

Thanks for the info.
I have a nice original Diana 24 .22 that has a wonderful 2 stage T05 trigger.
I’m always curious on how the Chinese guns turn out. A lot of them take some work, others are great out of the box.
I’m in the process of doing a second screw mod on my XS25 (Diana 34 copy). It came with a totally terrible T05 clone trigger pack. Probably 8 pounds of grit pulling through the second stage with no indication of when it will fire. Accuracy has been erratic to say the least.

 

[riversrest]

These little Diana rifles are lots of fun and accurate in my experience.

Quite a while ago I got a Diana 24D. In compare to the new model it had a fully adjustable trigger without disassembling the rifle (small keyholes in the triggerguard) and it came with a "Korntunnel", (globe frontsight ?) with four different inserts, called "Dachkorn", "Balkenkorn", "Rundkorn",...

The kids used to drill holes (correct diameter of course) in a wood block and stuck empty but primed centrefire cases (mostly 7.92x57) in the wood block.

Whoever "lit" the first primer at 10 meters won the "competition". Good times !

Btw. Sale price on the "rig" was 79,- Deutsche Mark.

 

[johNTO]

Those old 24's are nice little plinkers with great triggers! I was considering a current model 240. I think they're similar in ways(?)
However, I was drawn to the "two forty" because it had a longer LOP with a girthier (is that even a word) stock making it feel more adultish(again lol).
Downside was I couldn't get a comfortable cheek-weld to use the irons(my intentions) so I scoped it with an old dust collecting 3-9x40 Bushy. A little too much power at 3x for the basement but its working out.

 

[dimeN]

I use those daisy pellets with my 31 and 48 .. both are great accuracy for cheeper pellets..
Alway wondered about those chinese dianas .. glad they are shooting good

 

[johNTO]

A few more pics showing some of the markings etched in gold colouring.
I was wondering what the F in the pentagon meant. Found some info on the net. That means “Freimark” in German. According to the German firearms law any gun with that “Freimark” CANNOT exceed 7.5 Joules energy at the muzzle. No possession licence is needed in Germany. ie. with standard 7.9gr pellets the muzzle velocity cannot exceed roughly 560fps.