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The Diana Stormrider PCP bolt-action airgun has four models that cover two stocks and two calibers. The standard guns are the wooden stock Diana Stormrider. The other pairs are the Diana Stormrider Black guns that uses a slightly lighter all matte-black synthetic stock. Each of these is available in either .177 (4.5mm) and .22 (5.5mm) calibers.

PCP stands for Pre-Charged Pneumatic. Air is charged from compressors, hand pumps, scuba tanks or other sources into the air cylinder, which is the tube below the barrel. The two are tethered together via a mid-point barrel band and the receiver at back.

The company Diana is from Germany, which might be surprising to anyone who might expect German guns to field names like Bertha or Frieda. But Diana was the name of ancient Rome’s goddess of hunt, and Germany actually has a significant Roman heritage especially along the Rhine where we see place names of Roman origin such as Cologne and Koblenz.

Stormriders sport 19” long rifled barrels. Overall length is 39.8”. The wooden stock version weighs 5.1 pounds while the synthetic is a tad lighter and more manageable at 4.8 pounds. Other than material, the synthetic and wooden are identical and have a nice Monte Carlo design while the forend and grip are both texturized with pennant surrounds.

The guns are accurate. They’re also full of nifty and much appreciated features. For instance, the quick-fill nozzle makes loading a snap, and there’s a nicely contoured black rubber buttpad in back.

The guns have an open sight in front and a micrometric adjustable sight in back and a nicely placed manual safety. The gun comes with a built-in silencer in front and a milled 11 mm prism rail for scopes. Diana also offers an optional regulator for the Stormriders.

Diana’s current offerings are the Generation 2 Diana Stormrider. Compared to the previous Generation 1 guns that had a non-adjustable single-stage trigger, the Gen 2 have a two-stage adjustable Diana Improved Trigger (DIT).

The CO2 air cylinder has a 100 cc volume, which should be good for about 30 shots between refills while providing 2900 PSI of thrust to power your shots. [That’s the equivalent of 209 tons of pressure per square foot!] The trade-off between .177 and .22 pellets is that the smaller .177s have a higher maximum velocity (rated at 1,050 feet per second) but lower impact energy (20 foot pounds) when compared to the heavier .22 pellets that mange 950 feet per second but 26 foot pounds. So the heavier pellets are about nine percent slower but hit 30 percent harder.

Capacity is nine .177 pellets or seven .22 pellets. In both cases, these are stored in a rotary magazine. PCPs permit one to fire one shot after another without having to change CO2 cartridges and/or pump the gun between shots. Without any such repositioning or extraneous movement required, accuracy can be stunning and actually quite easy. And then there’s the absolute absence of recoil. For such reasons and the aforementioned silencer, the Diana Stormrider PCP airguns are very popular at the shooting range, target shooting matches or plinking.

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