Meet Diana

When I told you about my new toy 'Diana' I mentioned the fact that she could make a sparrow spin like a top from fifty yards away...well not exactly yet. Let's just say at that time I new Diana could get the job done if I had a direct hit on my target. Now the problem here folks is the fact that I hadn't shot the pellet gun when I wrote that entry, I was speaking in imaginative terms based on what I was told. I simply imagined what Diana could do, and what my $20 'ol Daisy couldn't do. I thought I would clear this up because it sounded like I had checked Diana out and in reality it was just a matter of getting an itchy trigger finger, so to speak.

A little side note before I go on. It just struck me that my neighbors were very quite yesterday and stayed inside their homes, seemed odd, it was so nice outside?

Ok, here's the 'rest of the story' Paul Harvey. Guess what folks? Diana failed me. I got her out yesterday to play and had a great time trying to 'sight' the scope in. She's a beauty and puts my 'ol daisy to shame. I'm talk'n about no comparison between the two. Diana is a work of craftsmanship; she shoots at a velocity of 1000 feet per second and has the stature and feel that'll make you think 'WOW'. After taking the first few shots though, I was baffled and wondering why I couldn't hit anything? And I'm using a SCOPE! Oh my, I can't even hit the broad side of a barn from a measly 100 paces. Even if you paid me a million bucks! All right, so I'm exaggerating a wee bit. It was somewhat funny though...

It was a funny start because I set up a 3-ft by 4-ft plywood backstop with a practice target taped to it at a distance approximately 100 yards away and was missing the whole blooming works. I would shoot at the target and couldn't find where any pellets were hitting. So, understanding the relationship between target and distance, I opted for a bigger target. I tried shooting the old shed out back from about the same distance and still couldn't find any pellets that landed. Dang! Come on Diana, don't fail me! I got to thinking the smart thang to do now, is to move the practice target up about fifty yards and try that. I still could not hit it!

Sheesh.

Ok, what am I doing wrong? No no, it's not me? It has to be Diana, something is wrong with her set up. I looked things over, to see if the scope and gun all panned out for a one-eyeball-type, general alignment, and to my surprise, the scope was pointing one way and the gun the other way.

Duh.

I sure hope my neighbors weren't peppered by stray pellets with all those trial shots! Just imagine a guy like me with a new machine gun! Mercy sakes, take cover, Handy's got a new gun! Come to think of it, this might be the reason my neighbors are in seclusion?

Well, I got things tweaked for alignment and finally was able to land a few pellets in the area I was shooting for. In fact things improved to the point that I started making final adjustments with the scope elevation and windage screws, whew! After three or four hours of playing, 'ol Diana is doing quite well and I'm feeling a little guilty about imposing any blame on her. At fifty yards, we're getting hits within a two-inch circle of the practice target (the cross hairs), not to bad for a rookie. A little more fine-tuning and the practice target goes out another 50 yards to see what shakes out.

Maybe by spring, if I'm lucky, I'll be able to make my target spin like a top. Shoot, I'm just happy that I'm not wielding stray pellets all over the neighborhood and if it came down to push and shove, YES, I can hit the broad side of a barn!

Copyright © 1998-2008 Jeffry Blair.