Another Panther post

[RCnMo]

I decided to treat myself to the much talked about RWS 34 Panther in .177. I won't drag this out because it's been said before. This is a pretty nice rifle out of the box. I tore it open before I even put a round through it and gave it some proper lubes. It was dry as a bone. This one could use some polishing up because it is pretty 'crunchy' when I cock it. The firing cycle is quick, and from what I've seen so far, pretty darned accurate. I haven't really had a chance to run it through the wringer yet, but I can see that it will be a keeper. My bore is slightly off center like most of them out there and it doesn't seem to have any noticeable droop. I'll get it scoped eventually and find out. I don't care for the plastic trigger and safety, but they seem to work all right. I was looking for another rifle to rival my CFX and this one is a very close second. It doesn't seem to be hold sensitive, the sights are better than the CFX. The trigger is way better than the GAMO trigger, and yes, it is barrel heavy. The overall quality isn't quite what I expected for a $200 rifle due to the rear sight needing adjusted quite a bit left to bring the POI on center and the plastic parts, but maybe I'm just expecting too much.

[longislandhunter]

Congrats on the new Panther,,, mine is .22 and I absolutely love it !!

Mine is incredibly accurate and has been harvesting tree rats and bunnies in outstanding  form for me since I bought it.   One of these days I'll spring for one in .177 even though I really don't need anymore .177 rifles, that's how much I like the gun.  

Best of luck with yours.....

Jeff

[shadow]

Yes congrat's on your new baby Panther. Jeff knows the Panther and can attest to her hunting power in his skilled hand's. I've heard nothing but good report's about them. Keep us updated on her progress. Ed

[tjk]

I love my 34 'woody'. The Diana's are well built rifles, and I'm sure you will agree after you get it broken in!!! Like you, I wasn't crazy about the plastic parts, but that's mostly just asthetics. Very accurate for the price though. Best money I've ever spent on a "BB-Gun"!!!!! LOL's tjk

[geiger]

strange...mine was also dry as a bone, and i mean seriously...there was not a single drop of oil/grease semar on the piston or spring. do you think we got some models they forgot to lube them at the factory?

[tjk]

Mike, My 34 (.22 cal.) was the same way. After Bob tuned mine we talked alot about the pre and post tune differences. I remember saying to him,...'this thing is kinda rough Bob,...almost dry feeling'. With this he explained that the Diana's usually come from the factory in this condition, though he may have been refering to the 34 line only, I'm not sure. From the first time I shot it pre tuned, I will say that it never ever dieselled at all. After the tune it has had some minimal dieseling while sampling different pellets, but nothing to be alarmed with what so ever. As a matter of fact I really don't mind it when there's a small amount of dieselling. But after settling on two pellets,...JSB exacts and JSB preds ,it will only diesel with lighter pellets like Beeman fts and silver bears. Not to crazy about shooting them in the Diana. They are too light for my taste, and I can hear a slight buzz which is very disturbing to me. I prefer a distinct "pop" when shooting the 34, and I know she's hitting on all eight cylinders. Light pellets scare the you-know-what out of me,......not to mention the money I've invested in it!!!!!!!  All in all, it has been a joy to shoot since Bob smoothed her out and lubed her the way she should be.Super job Bob!! I could not be happier with the results. Boy I hope Santa brings me a chroney this year! LOL's If Ralph tunes his 34 the way he did with the 0035 I got from Wes, he'll really be in for a treat!!!!  tjk

[geiger]

tjk - 11/30/2008  4:00 PM

Mike, My 34 (.22 cal.) was the same way. After Bob tuned mine we talked alot about the pre and post tune differences. I remember saying to him,...'this thing is kinda rough Bob,...almost dry feeling'. With this he explained that the Diana's usually come from the factory in this condition, though he may have been refering to the 34 line only, I'm not sure. From the first time I shot it pre tuned, I will say that it never ever dieselled at all. After the tune it has had some minimal dieseling while sampling different pellets, but nothing to be alarmed with what so ever. As a matter of fact I really don't mind it when there's a small amount of dieselling. But after settling on two pellets,...JSB exacts and JSB preds ,it will only diesel with lighter pellets like Beeman fts and silver bears. Not to crazy about shooting them in the Diana. They are too light for my taste, and I can hear a slight buzz which is very disturbing to me. I prefer a distinct "pop" when shooting the 34, and I know she's hitting on all eight cylinders. Light pellets scare the you-know-what out of me,......not to mention the money I've invested in it!!!!!!!  All in all, it has been a joy to shoot since Bob smoothed her out and lubed her the way she should be.Super job Bob!! I could not be happier with the results. Boy I hope Santa brings me a chroney this year! LOL's If Ralph tunes his 34 the way he did with the 0035 I got from Wes, he'll really be in for a treat!!!!  tjk

it almost seems you're describing my panther 34 some minor dieseling, but nothing too alarming from the looks of it. altough i find it strange that i didn't have dieseling on lighter pellets...weird :S

[tjk]

Brother Geiger, Have you had your 34 tuned yet? Here's my theory. After shooting my guns for a while with JSB's and Pred's,...and I mean for a while,...like 2K rounds, If I shoot anything much lighter, I get some dieselling. Like the whole gun is used to them or something (J's and Preds). But the second I try the lesser weight pellets like the Beeman FTS, or Silver-Bears, I get a minimal amount of "vapor" in the barrel. I've thought of shimming the breech a tad, but haven't tried it yet. Seems to be fine around the breech area,...no blow-out marks around the exhaust port,...and besides, it will plain slap a squirrel of a tree branch!!!! I'd love to try the .22 Cro-Mags in mine,...but according to CDT, this might damage the spring,...too heavy!!!! I do have half a tin of the discontinued Benji-Sher domes in 14.3 grains that are pretty decent in my 392 pumper, but can't bring myself to use them. This spring I hope to get a .22 cal CO2 crosman 2260 SE to use the FTS and SB's with. Next pellet to try in my 34 will be the RWS Super-Domes. Very good pellet in .177 cal.
Ralph, Sorry for hyjacking your post Bro'!!! Hope that Panther purrs when you get done with it!!!! tjk

[geiger]

well it depends how you define tuned...i disassembled mine the first day i got it (before was the syringe accident ), since it was dry as a bone and squeaking like a dying cat. so i took it apart and re lubed it gently with some kind of high speed bearing grease which was without molybdenum. recently i've purchased some molybdenum grease and did the whole job again. the first 100 shots or so it didn't smoke, then when i changed to some heavier pellets i've noticed some smoke in the barrel. but like i've said there's very little of it and besides i did notice some left grease in the corner of the compression chamber which i couldn't successfully clean so i'm kinda hoping it will eventually case to diesel by itself...if it doesn't well i can always buy a new spring and seal.
i have no residue on the breach or something, just some minor vapor in the barrel. have to make a few more observations before making any conclusions.


i was wondering, does maccari sell trough ebay? it would be kinda nice getting one of them springs and some proper lube.

despite these hiccups i'm pretty impressed with the panther and would any day buy another piece, just not from the store i did the last time, they were very unprofessional and they even suggested i dry fire the gun!
actually i'd love a diana panther 350, it's the standard mod 350 with a beautiful synthetic stock. wooden stock is a major "put off" factor in my POV.

[dave2288]

...where are you from?  i wish i could get a 350 in synthetic stock...