Diana 48 Air rifle

[woods555]

I have had my air rifle for 25 years and it has always shot well. One day I noticed the mv low and after checking I found the mv down to 430fps. It has always been 1020fps. Someone may have dry fired it. It has never been cocked for more than 20 minutes. It has had aboout 5000 pellets shot in it. Can you tell me what might be the problem? Thank you very much,  woods555

[IOWA DON]

woods555 - That is exactly what dry firing did to my FWB124. The seal is probably now ruined. Assuming that is correct, more shooting risks damaging the piston and cylinder more than what it may already be damaged. - DON

[keith44]

25 years old, 5K pellets...time for a tune up.  New piston seal, and lube it.  While you're in there, new spring.  Yes dry firing also causes this, but seals do go bad over time.

[Victor3]

Also inspect the breech seal. The one on my 48 had deteriorated after ~15 years and needed to be replaced.

[Not the 10th Man]

Pretty much what the other folks said.  I've only had one of these for a year and a half or so- Probably less than 3K rounds through it.  At 2K rounds, I noticed the power had dropped way off.  I don't remember the numbers, but as I recall I went from about 20 FPE down to about 14 FPE.  I got a factory new spring back in it and was amazed at the difference.  I also replaced the breech seal, just because I was already in there.  After about 30 rounds, I was right back up to my 2o+ FPE.

While you're at it, you might as well upgrade.  My buddy installed a Vortek spring kit in his 52- It made a huge difference!  VERY short, sweet shot cycle, and a little more velocity.  Here's a couple links for you:

http://vortekproducts.com/ourstore/Tuning-Kits/RWS48

http://www.airrifleheadquarters.com/page/page/251488.htm

The RWS-48 is a darn sweet shooting little spring rifle.  I hope you get yours back up and running for another several years of good service!

[woods555]

Thanks for your help. It is really nice to have friends I don't even know.  Rick