I've seen more than a few people say they prefer the Diana's over the HW guns. Just wondering why this is? Build quality, shooting characteristics, looks?? Obviously it is personal opinion, but I'm just curious to hear some answers. I've owned both BTW, so I'm not biased toward either .
good quality, accurate AG's. I do believe the HW's to have a step up on the Diana's in the finish department, aswell as having the Rekord trigger on there side. On the other hand, the Diana's are very well made and both the T01 and T05 versions that I have, have very decent triggers once adjusted to what I like. As far as being pellet fussy, each of my HW's and Diana's have a preference and the only rifles out of both brands that aren't fussy at all are the .177 & .22 24's, they'll digest almost any pellet type or brand. I can shoot all day with any of my HW's or Diana's without fatigue, I love them all.
A preference? That's a tough one, but I think by a short curly one, I prefer the HW's. But this does not at all deter me from loving all of my Diana's.
Depends. With the small guns, I prefer the Diana 24 over the Weihrauch30S/R7 and in the light magnum breakbarrel class I also prefer the Diana 34/36/38 over the Weihrauch 85/95/R9. But I do adore my Weihrauch 77k.
Why is the one brand more interesting?
- Dianas are easier to service. Weihrauch isn't difficult either, but Diana seems more "natural" to take apart.
- Weihrauch is claimed to have good quality but it seems their quality tolerances are quite ... tolerant. Dianas seem to have a more constant level of quality. Weihrauchs often need to be greased/lubed/adjusted before they shoot as they should.
- Is the Rekord trigger really all that special? OK, it's good, but it doesn't seem to improve the acciracy. Compared to the trigger of a real target gun like a Walther or Feinwerkbau (or a Diana 75) it seems a rather basic.
Also, the one makes models that the other doesn't seem to have:
- Diana doesn't make light magnum under-or sidelevers in the 14-16fpe class. Weihrauch makes the 77/97 series (The Diana 46 and 300r are less powerful)
- Diana makes magnum under-or sidelevers like the 48/52/54 and the new 460. Weihrauch doesn't
- Although a powerful breakbarrel, the Weihrauch 90 is often regarded as slightly less powerful than the Diana 350. Besides the HW90 is a gasram with some disadvantages as harder cocking and temperature may influence it's shooting.
In general, I think it shows little knowledge to bash one brand or the other and I think that a real airgun afficianado has both in his closet.
There was always something I liked about the Dianas but never really pinpointed what it was in particular. I've had other brands of rifles over the years that are more accurate, more powerful, better looking, etc, but the Dianas just feel good to shoot, pure and simple, no frills, just the way I like it.
Now this might sound a little funny, since I own the Forum 'n all...
My first rifle was a DIana/Beeman 35, and I have always liked the fit and finish of the Diana Breed.
Hmmm, Choose between a Diana and an HW? I couldn't do that!
The two HW products I have are no doubt very specialised to their tasks, which they both do extremelly well! The 55 is a dream to take apart and to service, work on, and adjust. The R-11 is new and keeps suprising me with it's power and long range accuracy! MyHy Score 25D is a tackdriver and my modified RWS Model 40 has become a 50 yard+ accuracy monster!
I own around 8 Diana/RWS rifles (various brand names)and a couple Pistols, and have found little trouble with working on the simpler models. The 3 Ball trigger is a trickey little devil, but fires superblly when clean and adjusted properlly. The more powerfull and/or mechanically advanced Diana's are a bit troublesome to work on as the recoiless mechanisms are complex and the others have a HIGH amount of preload on their Mainsprings. **BE VERY carefull working with powerfull, pre-loaded Mainsprings!!!
I prefer to leave the Experts work on my more powerfull rifles reguardless of brand as they have the proper tools. The lower powered Mainsprings can be dealt with on homemade Spring Compressors and are real fun to polish inside,"home tune", or repair. Diana parts are common as are HW parts.
HW rifles seem to be better set-up for the Ameatur Home Gunsmith to dissamble. Their Mainsprings generally have lesser pre-loads and come apart easilly. Parts are plentifull.
See, choosing between is difficult, because both are exmples of fine German craftsmanship, usually both shoot accuratelly, and both can be left stock or Modded as far as an owner wants to go.
Both brands have some manical followings, but I prefer to own and enjoy BOTH for different reasons and different circumstances. It may be a strange standpoint, but I make a concerted effort not to compare these fine makers products.
IMHO, each Model has it's individual attributes and believe it or not, almost no two of either Brand has a direct, opposite, counterpart in the other's lineup (Save the Match Target Models). The Sporter rifles are just different enough that one cannot directlly cross-compare certain Models! To me it appears this was done purposelly... You can take either's break-barrel or sidelever and shoot alongside eachother, but each is SO different and was so innovative that direct comparisons is a hard thing to do! Therefore, I simply choose out two rifles and shoot each for it's own "pet" or favorite attributes and I do not try and make choices. Definatelly makes shooting either a much more plesant task, and it removes "Brand Loyalty" from my mind!
I hope this post reply does not anger anyone, for it was NOT intended to, OK? I simply wanted to state my personal position andtry to explain how I enjoy ownership of either Brand. I am a shooter, and am fortunate to (now later in life) own some of the worlds great airguns, I live shooting them and love each for it's own personal attraction that made me choose it. picking any one of them apart because of the other would sacrifice my main reason for spending my hard earned dollars on them, so I just emjoy them all...
I sincerely hope that you all enjoy your guns and shooting as earnestlly as I try to!
I can't say exactly why I like them. Maybe its because none of them has ever let me down in the accuracy dept. I take them out and enjoy the heck out of them. Same thing I like about my BSA airguns.
To me they're as good as the shooter and ultimately that's all that matters.
Some of the finest Dianas are no longer in production
July 21 2006, 12:37 PM
Today I went shooting at 25 meter (27yards) and I brought 3 airguns:
all with iron sights (or plastic sights )
Diana 27 .177
Weihrauch 77k .25
Diana 350 .22
The little 27 produced groups about 2/3 the size of the other two guns. Basically, the 350 and the 77k shoot the same groups.
ALthough I like the recent dianas too (I love my 24/34/350 models), it's a pity Diana stopped the production of the 25/27/35 models. Should these models still be in production, the answer to the question "Weihrauch or Diana" may often be different.
I agree with Joris 100%. The 25, 27 and 35 are true classics. Please allow me to add the sweetest air rifle that I have ever handled: Diana Mod. 60. If I had to choose a single air rifle over any other (pretty, balanced, accurate, pleasant to cock, no maintenance, just the right weight etc.), it would have been my Diana 60. They just don't make them like that anymore. If you have ever shot a Walther KKM .22 LR 3P Target rifle you'd immediately see what I'm talking about. Older Dianas had something that only older Walther rimfires also had: quality that gets the sport going
I started competition shooting in 1980 at the age of 16.
Back then, we were spoilt with stunningly beautiful guns: We had the Walther LGR / Feinwerkbau 300S / Diana 75 (the Diana was rare, though) and others.
If you were a competion shooter, you really had beautiful tools.
And in rimfire too, the guns had beautiful walnut stocks, as does my Walther UIT Super, which I still use for formal benchrest competition at 50 meter. If only that Walther had a Rekord trigger... (haha, cynical remark )
It hurts to see some of the current guns. It looks as if the soul is completely lost. (RWS 31 and others and certainly the target rifles)
When I shoot a Feinwerkbau 603, it shoots ery well but it's beauty is nonexistent, compared to a 300S. The same goes for all the recent "tactical" airguns that fall short of old Dianas that were made with a lot more craftsmanship and were easy to fall in love with and to adore.
Whan a coincidence! I shoot a FWB 601 competitively but, like you said, it is "soul-less". I always put pride of ownership above function. I still use a Sansui amplifier (but w/CDs), a Nikon F and Nikon F4F SLRs (but with a Nikon Coolscan V ED), etc. I like to blend the "old" with the latest.
In a previous post I said that I prefer Dianas because they are not pellet/ammo fuzzy. As soon as the LOGUN Penetrators came out, I got a box of the 9.5 grains and tried them on my Dianas.
They shot wonderfully.
Point made.
The older Dianas shoot well the latest pellets (including the Stannum -- not lead -- DYNAMICS), which may or may not be true with the latest RWS-marked Dianas. HWs can be pellet-fuzzy, at times, but the Dianas I have are not. I purposefully shot the cheapest pellets I could find with my Mod. 60 and -- guess what -- they shot equally well to H&N Final Match that cost the Earth!
That's where my older Dianas have an edge; they shoot every pellet ever made well. That's a HUGE bonus, in my book.
...at the risk of going off topic...
I also have two old Nikons: an FM (1983) and a Nikkormat (1968), but haven't used them anymore since I bought a Leica D-Lux in 07/2004. It may not be the sharpest thing, at 3.2 mp, but colors and contrast are quite good and at least it looks very beautiful for something modern and digital. Besides it's small enough to be my constant companion.
I may consider a digital Nikon slr as my old lenses can still be used. But at this time I still want to "wait a few models". I want a (completely manual) digital FM, should they ever make one.
Yes, I know how you feel. I also wanted the Nikon D200, but I will wait until they perfect it further. My Nikon coolscan gets 24 million pixels per square inch from a Fujichrome Velvia 100 slide, compared to 10 million of the D200 and 18 million to the latest digital Canon (lots of $$$) per frame at the highest resolution.
OK, enough said, back to our beloved Dianas and HWs
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