Diana 6M Barrel Shroud

[jccams]

I have a very nice 6M. I just noticed yesterday that there are cracks in the barrel shroud on both sides, one worse than the other. Few questions.

Will this continue to spread with use?
Anything that can be done to mitigate the problem?
Any idea where a barrel shroud can be purchased? Love to have one on hand.

Tough for me to capture a good picture, but you can see it very good in one of the pictures. I want to shoot this but am concerned with the crack.

Thanks.

 

[marflow 777]

the shrouds are all gone and even if you got one they would be very old
i have tried to epoxy one and it did not work but maybe you could have better luck and i don't remember what epoxy i use
will it continue to crack, my guess yes it will until it completely fails
is there an option, not that i know of the barrel under the shroud is very ugly
the plastic on the model 6-6G-6M's is getting old and the rear sights will start to crack from age
so the problem you have is something i have thought about a lot over the years and i have never come up with a solution
i have seen in pictures someone made some aluminum ones but when and how many i have no idea
the part itself is complicated, could one be made with todays 3D printing maybe
all i have

 

[jccams]

the shrouds are all gone and even if you got one they would be very old
i have tried to epoxy one and it did not work but maybe you could have better luck and i don't remember what epoxy i use
will it continue to crack, my guess yes it will until it completely fails
is there an option, not that i know of the barrel under the shroud is very ugly
the plastic on the model 6-6G-6M's is getting old and the rear sights will start to crack from age
so the problem you have is something i have thought about a lot over the years and i have never come up with a solution
i have seen in pictures someone made some aluminum ones but when and how many i have no idea
the part itself is complicated, could one be made with todays 3D printing maybe
all i have

I was afraid that was the case. Guess this one will get limited use.

 

[phillip]

the shrouds are all gone and even if you got one they would be very old
i have tried to epoxy one and it did not work but maybe you could have better luck and i don't remember what epoxy i use
will it continue to crack, my guess yes it will until it completely fails
is there an option, not that i know of the barrel under the shroud is very ugly
the plastic on the model 6-6G-6M's is getting old and the rear sights will start to crack from age
so the problem you have is something i have thought about a lot over the years and i have never come up with a solution
i have seen in pictures someone made some aluminum ones but when and how many i have no idea
the part itself is complicated, could one be made with todays 3D printing maybe
all i have

I think the solution lies in 3D printing. I don’t mean the type with poor resolution and noticeable layer lines, I’m talking about very fine prints that exhibit very little layering, if any. Someone someday will create a file with all the dimensions from one of the 6M shrouds or the plastic sight base found on these pistols and that will take care of the problem.

I know it can be done because my son does a ton of 3D printing and I’m oftentimes amazed at the detail and accuracy that those machines are capable of.

 

[marflow 777]

so i assume you know the shroud is really a hand protector but it has many parts
now if you just made the profile of the shroud and held it with and grub screw or two that would work
but it has a set screw for the position it has a plunger and spring and a threaded cap
now i know that 3D printing doesn't thread well but that is what i assume so two areas have threads
of course there were two threaded holes for the Barrel weight
is there a market for the replacement YES, at the last when you could get them, they only sold them complete plugger spring the screw and they were about 47 buck plus shipping and that was 10-12 years ago and sooner than later every model 6M and model 10 are going to need them or something that will work
now if Diana had finished the barrels, you could run them without it but the barrels are crude at best
you could take some 14mm ID carbon fiber tube and make a cover cut an opening for the front sight and wear a deer skin glove on your cocking hand and move on
most people that don't own the pistols would not know how sharp the front sight is but they can do damage to your paw
a CNC machine could make them out of aluminum and that would be the way to go and as i said i have seen picture of just that but when they were made and how many is unknow it could have been a one off made by a very handy person