Only marking I see are 329 on stock
Some early model of Diana?
Ow! Pinched my finger just looking, I'm out!
I love those old militia models. Spring gun simplicity at it best.
David Enoch
Someone once said a proper air rifle has but three ingredients, steel, timber and hide.
Could be an early Diana, or a BSA, but most of the militia-style BSAs I've seen say BSA on them somewhere.
Does it shoot? If not, these are some of the simplest guns to work on and make healthy.
It may be a copy of a early Diana 27. I had a similar one a few years ago. It looks to be a neat little rifle.
Bob in WV
I don't know what it is, but I like it !!!
I don't know what it is either but I would like to have one just because of the simplicity of the design. It might not be that way internally but on the outside it screams spartan.
I did a quick search and it's listed as a Diana 27 prewar model. The one from the search was made in 1923.
Can't help with what it is, but that "329" could either be the date of manufacture or just an identification number.
BTW, anyone else notice that the rear sight looks like it's on backwards?
I have a Diana 27, the receiver that holds the stock is larger and more squared off.
but it is much more like a copy of the Diana that I also have, it is stamped Silver Fox, made in Japan. Which dates it pre WWII if it was after it would have been stamped Made In Occupied Japan.
both are fun and easy to shoot.
Yes the rear sight seems to be on backwards.
looks like a seal club to me. One for the small Japanese hands. ?
Quarter-stocked springer rifles of that style are generically known as “Millita” guns, after a famous maker of them. Similar guns were made by many German companies under a variety of brand names for many years, and widely copied elsewhere including, as already noted, Japan.
The first model of the Diana 27 was similar in appearance, but had a differently shaped trigger guard and would have the Diana logo.
It’s unusual that it not have any sort of brand or trademark on it, which might make me lean toward Japanese origin.
”3.29” might be a production date (March 1929).
The stepped front of the air cylinder plus shape of the trigger guard suggest to me it's very close to a Tell 44 or 45 per the catalog page below, from Danny Garvin's excellent vintageairgunsforum.com. Overall length will help to assess. Normally Tell-branded rifles will at least have the word "Tell" stamped on top of the barrel, but there could have been variants made for other markets or such. I don't recall seeing a Japanese Millita-style gun with the stepped cylinder but the vast variety of them often brings out undiscovered stuff.
The OP's photo doesn't appear to be the cataloged sight merely reversed...?
Don R.
