Ordered a wood stock .22 cal RWS Diana 34 from Natchez Tuesday night & Big Brown brought it to me late this afternoon.
Opened up the box and WOW, its purdy. Fit & finish is very good. Metal is a deep dark even blue. The wood is fairly plain but the finish is great. Stain is even and finish is smooth with no blemishes.
I had expected the gun to be heavy but its not bad at all. It is a bit front-heavy but that seems to make it easy to hold steady. I especially like the slim stock. Its easy to get your hand around & will be a breeze to carry in the woods.
The gun does not show any droop when looking down the side of the barrel so maybe I will not have a droop problem when mounting a scope. It has the less-desirable barrel with 12 lands but so far that doesn't seem to be a problem.
This gun has the best sights I have ever seen on an air rifle. Seems like most guns come with pistol-type sights that are 1/8 inch wide, or about twice the width of a starling at 25 yards. The front sight comes up to a slim, sharp point and the rear sight is a modified v. At 20 yards I can aim it almost as precisely as with a 4X scope. Don't think I am going to be in any hurry to scope this gun.
Checked stock screws and they were tight. Ran a few patches down the bore. They came out clean. OK, time to shoot this bad girl. Cocking took way more effort than I had expected -- but still not too bad. The piston made a honking noise, kind of like a goose. Have read that some of them do this but will quieten down as the seal wears in. Already getting quieter. After cocking, it took a lot of effort to close the barrel. Checked all the moving parts & determined that the hinge pin was excessively tight. Loosened it about 1/16 turn and all is well. Loaded a pellet & let it fly at my 10 yard target. Took 5 shots to align the sights.
The shot cycle is very solid, smooth, and powerful feeling with no spring noise or noticeable torque. Just a straight back thump. That T-05 trigger is a sweetheart! I could feel almost no first stage but the second stage is crisp and smooth. Probably about a 3 pound pull - and I am happy with that.
I set up a target at 20 yards and started trying different pellets from the bench. It shot most of the pellets I tried very well. CP, CPHP, Crossman Field Pointed, JSB Exact, Superdomes, and Super Points all shot well. The CPs actually put 5 shots into 1/2 inch -- at 20 yards -- with open sights !!!
I think this gun is going to be very accurate, plus, it doesn't seem to be at all hold sensitive. The gun did not like Crow Mags, FTS, Daisy Wadcutters, or Daisy Pointed.
Also, this gun seems to be very powerful. When shooting into a phone book it goes through almost as many pages as my .22 Discovery. Don't think it will have any problem at all taking out pests or small game animals.
I am looking forward to getting to know Ms. Diana better. She is a keeper. I think I will just enjoy her with open sights for now. I know she will wear a scope some day, but not today. I know she will get a tune, but not soon. At this point in time I am happy with her just the way she is.
Gary
