Not a rookie for airguns but definetely for a RWS.
I have other airguns but decided to finally give the RWS a try with a 34 in .22 caliber.
Many years ago with the Daisy and the BB"s, I got hooked with airguns. Never owned a powder rifle even thou I spent 20 years in the Army. I have always been an airgun fan.
I have no idea why I never bought a RWS and it has been with me for many years, I even had the opportunity when stationed in Suttgart, Germany while in the military.
I currently have the Beeman GH950 in .22 (Spain), Crossman Quest in .177 (China), Mendoza RM-600 in .22 (Mexico), Old trusty multi pump B. Sheridan in .20 (USA) and now the RWS34 in .22. Always been intimidated by the Diana, RWS brand. It took me 40 years to make this decision, because I have been an airgunner since I was 16.
Question, Should I break it in (how many pellets before it reaches the sweet point) or send it for tune-up and get a nice low magnum?
I tend to shoot heavy pellets. I like accuracy over velocity, is this ok with the 34. I am old fashion, prefer no scope even when at my age I need all the help I can get from this dept, so iron sight's or peep? And yes I do have 2 rifles with scopes.
I use my rifle's for target practice. Airguns because of their .8 millisec discharge, recoil and vibration teaches you patience while shooting. Shooting a rimfire .22 is a piece of cake compared to air.
I still remember when I was 16 years old, I would go hunting with my father for rabbits in Verdun, France where he was stationed. My father was also in the Army and with 3 more brothers we had to eat rabbit 1 day a week. It was not easy for my Dad to maintain 4 boy's a wife and himself with an E-6 pay in the military while overseas.
I know many of the more seasoned RWS, Diana shooters can help me with my first RWS.
PS: Not that I have not shot a Diana before, I have never bought one.
Your Mod 34 is a nice little (ahem...) gun. I just got one myself in .177 about a month ago.
The first few shots with it were a little rough. Expecially the first dozen or so cocking strokes. Felt rough. Shot with a jarring.
That was about 1000 shots ago. I've learned a few things since. She prefers pellets that seat firmly, but not too firmly. Anything that just slips in is too loose. Mine really started to smooth out after a couple hundred rounds.
I'm using CP hollow points in mine. It does like them. Didn't like the CP points, too loose. With them it's all bang and twang, but with the slightly tighter HP's it's very smooth to shoot.
I'm grouping about nickles at 20yds. That's good for me.
I installed a Bushy sportsman 3-9 x 32 on 2 piece rings (it was what I had). Installed that all after about 50 shots on the open sights. Once I screwed it down tight, it stayed put and has so far. I do mean tight. When time and finances allow I'll get an adjustable 1 peice mount to allow me to center the elevation on the scope better, but it's holding it's own as-is.
If it were me, I'd shoot it as is for at least a few hundred shots. Then consider a tune, if you still feel you must. I'll tune mine if and when the main spring or guide fails, and not before. It's got all the power I need (no chrony, but it punches thru pine 2x8 with ease) and squirrels stand no chance. In fact I've not seen one since the gun was 2 weeks old....
But it will take a few hundred shots to do so. If you had it tuned, it would be smooth right away. It's up to you - if you don't mind breaking it in, by all means do. If you'd rather have a smooth shooter off the bat, you'll need to send it out for a tune.
"but I'll be needin' that gun, fer squirrels and such."
This air gun is from Germany. It is metal stamped "Made In Germany" not Spain like it was advertised and for $200.00 and a Diana what else can you expect.
Should I buy extras like muzzle port. The trigger needs improvement and it is stamped in the barrel T 05, What is this?
Hi Warren. Your story is very similar to mine. I too grew up with airguns and although I enjoy the 22 rimfires I prefer a good airgun for the challange. I owned a bunch of them and collect the Diana RWS. In all I have twelve adult rifles and a bunch of other less serious ones like crossman, daisy, etc.
I have the 34 in both calibers and find them a real joy to shoot. I also prefer open sights to scopes. I have scopes in just a couple of guns for long range accuracy. Just today I was shooting a Gamo 440 hunter (very accurate gun) with a Bushnell 3 to 9 by 40 and it is a blast just to see small figures popping at 90 yards. This kind of shooting requires a scope, but I leave that type of range for .177 only which have a flatter trajectory.
For shorter range (up to 50 yards) you can do quite well with iron sights although you could not expect very small groups when your eyes cannot simply replicate the same positioning every time at that distance. However a .22 has power and accuracy and a tremendous punch and the best shooting is done at around 30 yards with iron sights. The other problem is that due to the rate of drop of a .22 pellet at longer distances, the iron sight will not allow you to raise high enough to compensate for it so you are pretty much stuck with shorter range which is a blast.
The main advice I would give you is not so much to start spending money in tune ups, but rather to test for pellets and allow the gun to break in. You may never need a tune up after 1000 shots and having found the right pellet for the gun.
My 34/.22 likes RWS pellets very much, botht the pointed and the domed. It dislikes many other pellets and does OK with JSB's. It does like also Beeman Wadcutters for target.
This does not mean yours will too, but what I am saying is that I don't think you have yet done the full homework with pellet selection firing at 20 yards with a benchrest until you are satisfied that you have found "the one"
Congratulations on your new investment of one of the best air guns made. I am not a seasoned expert, but love my 34. The gun was made by one of the best. When I first received my rifle, I contacted one the best tuners in the business by email. He told me to keep the rifle and fire it about 500 pellets and then decide to do a tune. He advised me, that it may not ever need one. I fired the 500 pellets, did a standard lube and the gun really smoothed out, and is extremely accurate. I see no reason to get a tune for a rifle that was made to last a life time. Not right away. Maybe down the road after I shoot for a year or so, maybe. But why spend your money now. Also, my rifle like all pellets, especially Masterglugiens, hobbys, superdomes and standard crosman. Surprisingly it really likes gamo rockets.
I also have RWS 34's ( .177 & .22 ) with the T05 Trigger )
Mine really settled down after about 1000 - 1200 shots .
The brand -style -weight pellet is the one that you shoot best with .
If you wear a wedding ring watch how you hold the barrel when you cock / break the barrel or you could make a wear mark and damage the bluing near the front sight where you would it .
After the 500 - 1200 shots through it , if at that point you want to really feel a nice gun try this .
Unless your not comfortable making and using a spring compressor to do a de bur / hone and clean up and lube job inside , yes send it out .
But making a compressor is a snap and not much work and $$$ .
As for the De bur and hone . When I had mine down I just checked anything that had a sharp edge or felt like it had a burred edge . Anything that slides -hinged - or moved was debuted or honed . I used small very fine file and a smooth fine stone.
I then really cleaned everything with Acetone and or lacquer thinner - after using those I went over it all with alcohol. Then get some Jim Macari ( spelling ?? ) Heavy Tar Greeks and some light molly grease.
There are tone of how to's on here , just look back through the files for . Spring compressors and Lubing etc .
The gun after break in and the DeBur and Lube is too smooth .
It cocks much easier and smoother. The twang is gone , no squeaks , and no vibration etc .
As you have it apart get your self some ( BLUE LOC TITE ) Use it on the front hinge pin and the front trigger guard screw . These WILL COME LOOSE if you don't
Check the crown on the end of the barrel. It may need a slight touch up. ( also is an easy home fix )
Other than that not much to do to the gun , but if you want only a 500 ft per sec gun you might want or have to get a different spring as the gun now probably is shooting at 625 - 750 ?? All depends on the gun the pellet etc .
I would not reduce the velocity or power of the 34. The 34 can be a very smooth gun from what I have read in different forums with just a lube tune (and a debur and/or hone) which is a standard service all the springer tuners offer and can be had for $55-100 depending on who you go with. There is also a very popular spring kit (with guides) from Jim Macarri as others have pointed out, that can also increase the power a little on top of making the gun smoother. Of course if you decide to go with the Macarri spring the gun should be lube-tuned (inside) at the same time and there are springs available to prevent any power increase or even reduce it.
You said you like using heavy pellets. As you can see the gun is already a 500fps one with some heavy pellets. They range from 475 to ~ 580fps with the heavier pellets (>15.5gr). The medium weight pellets (~14gr.) range from ~595-649fps. Now these guns they test at Straightshooters are usually not broken in with >500 shots, so the gun will get a little more power as it breaks in. I know that's not important to you, but I felt I should mention it but you probably know this. The main reason I 'm pointing this link out is so that you may look at which pellets have the highest coeficient (BC). It means these pellets lose less velocity down range compared to others. This characteristic also gives them a flatter trajectory. It is important with a .22 to get a flat trajectory pellet since they are heavier, so that you don't have to adjust your point of aim or your sights/scope for those 'longer distance' shots.
I tend to use pellets that have a BC of over >.025, or the top 3-4 best BC performing ones in my Diana. They are usually very accurate as well. To no surprise the Beeman Kodiak (and FTS), JSB Exact (Jumbo 15.9gr) and Crossman Premier are part of the small group of pellets with the highest BC (.025-0.34). They usually are. These pellets typically and historically work very well with RWS rifles but I think at 20yds on open sights you can find a few more pellets that will work well, or what others recommend that own a 34. I don't own one (yet..). The ones I like to use with a high BC, benefit you more at distances greater than 15 or 20yds and because the velocity and Energy (FPE - more punch) loss is small, I use them for hunting.
So my recommendation here is for when you decide to shoot beyond 20yds (with scope or not). You will not be disappointed with a good quality, flatter trajectory high BC pellet. This is not to say you should not shoot these at 20yd targets either. There could be cheaper pellets out there that are accurate enough for target shooting at 20ydys.
Which brings me to my next point. Some recommend trying many different pellets to see which ones you like or perform best in your gun. Well I find that an expensive proposition. What if you buy 10 tins of different pellets (~$70-80), and only like 3 of those? Then you are stuck with 1,700-2,000 pellets or $50+ worth, that your gun doesn't like much or are not as accurate and you don't enjoy shooting. They do sell sample kits w/different pellets too but they are not cheap either. If you plan on doing only target shooting at 20yds or less, you may want to try a couple of different flat-headed (wadcutter-like) pellets at first (usually cheaper too) but 20yds is the maximum distance for accuracy on those. Use domed pellets for >20yds.
Good luck. I am sure you will find out quickly what the 34 likes to be fed.
I'm not saying tune it, but one of the advantages of a tune on a new rifle, is so that you can enjoy shooting right away instead of shooting 8 tins of pellets though it to get it to smooth out. A simple lube tune is nothing more than a polishing of all metal to metal surfaces. When a coil spring compresses, it twists. When it releases to it's original shape, it twists again. By honing the mating surfaces of the spring ends, guide and piston, you achieve a smooth, slipery surface to dampen the spring torque. Combine this with the right lubes, and you have an gun that is a joy to shoot. A more advanced tune might add a top guide and piston buttons for even tighter tolerances. Velocity will drop some.
Or you can shoot 8 tins of pellets and the gun will probably wear itself smooth. The choice is the shooters. By the way, I would not take the gun down to 500 fps. A good lube tune may only take a few fps from your current numbers.
"but I'll be needin' that gun, fer squirrels and such."
Excellent information from all of you. Basically the same guidance from the crowd and not different opinion's from individuals on the same subject.
Airgunners are very special, it is 30% gun and 70% the shooter.
My initial reaction to the RWS 34 to my other guns:
Good:
1. No recoil compared to all of my other springer's.
2. Not loud compared to my the Quest 1000 in .177.
3. Light weight compared to my other .22.
4. Same Hitting as my Mendoza.
5. As accurate as my Benjamin Sheridan .20 at 30 yards.
6. Nice safety, easy to learn.
Bad:
1. Heavy to brake compared to my heaviest (Mendoza)
2. Do not, repeat, do not like the trigger. (Plastic and slippery).
3. This gun needs a Scope. The sights are miserable. Acurate (out of the box) but needs improvement.
That makes:
6 Good
3 Bad
But the bad's can be fixed. Replace trigger with a TRS III, Scope with a 1 or 2 mount and medium priced scope. and wait until the wear and tear takes cars of breaking the spinger.
And it becomes a sweet break barrel.
Thank's again for your input, I really appreciate your time in the keyboard.
I really do not understand you opinion of how hard this gun breaks. For the power it delivers, it is very easy to break. Really this gun is a piece of cake to cock. The sights? Man, I was firing great right out of the box. The sights were fantastic. I was shooting Starling at 20 and 30 yards the very first day. I then placed the cheap RWS scope and saw no improvement. The smoothness of the gun, and the balance of the barrel was perfect! The trigger is fantastic! Everyone right away likes to bash the "plastic trigger". It seems like only the real men know about triggers. FIRST AND FOREMOST! THE TRIGGER IS NOT! AND I REPEAT NOT PLASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!! It is 100% pure virgin PVC. RWS really needs to do better at marketing and give more information. The trigger is a high grade of PVC, which is the same type of PVC that will encase fiber optics, which will be buried under ground for hundreds of years. The material will outlast any metal trigger on the market. It will not and I repeat NOT BE EFFECTED BY HEAT AND COLD! Metal is a conductor and expands and contracts.This trigger will not be effected by a cold day, and then change on a warm day. The trigger is light, and is designed to give a nice smooth pull. You do know that you can adjust the trigger pull right. The pvc. is not slippery, it is SMOOTH! It is even more smooth than your own skin. If you concentrate with the pull, it is so much more a relaxed and natural feeling. RWS Diana was not trying to give a cheap trigger, they are giving you a great trigger!
I found my trigger smoothed out very well. It's a beautiful sporting trigger, no creep now and decently light. Forget that it's plastic (pvc is a plastic!), and you'll learn to love it.
I too found my gun hard-cocking at the start. Especially breaking the detent. It eased up dramatically with some use. Try a drop of oil on the detent to help it smooth out.
Not to beat a dead horse, but PVC is plastic in the same way meat is a MacDonald's burger compared to the top of the line Angus Sirloin. Most would say a vast difference. But they are meat. Plastic can be recycled and recycled many times down the line. You can buy a cheap vinyl windows that will last 5 years, turn blue, crack peel, blister etc. Or you can Purchase true "Virgin" vinyl (PVC) windows that have a true lifetime warranty. Pvc, is the purest form of Vinyl before any recycling. Make no mistake, the trigger on a toy gun, is NOT the trigger on a RWS. I have said many times before. RWS does very poor marketing. They really need to come out of the box and explain the virtues of their TO5 Trigger system.
T05 trigger-
"The Panther has the T05 trigger, which is found on most of Diana's spring guns these days. That may not mean much to you, but as the owner of several older T01 triggers, let me tell you that the T05 is better. It's crisper than the older model, but unfortunately it has a plastic trigger blade that offends some shooters. I like it better than the older stamped steel blade of the T01 that was too curved, in my opinion. This trigger is straight and feels much better when pulled. It doesn't swing up as it comes back. I have lived with the use of plastic in firearms for so long that a plastic trigger in an airgun doesn't bother me, but I know there are many who object to one."
By the way, my next purchase will be the Panther 34 in 22.cal.
Well yes plastic it is. You have 3 contact points when you fire a Gun. One arm in the rifle front stock, another in the trigger and your side face in the butt. Correct? The only way to explain this is how I dance with my wife. One hand with her's, one on her waist and my face againts her's. By the way that is the closest I will get will anything in a 3 contact point, my airguns and my wife.
Three point contact again. The two points before the trigger are important but the trigger hand is more than important it is crucial. Do you want 1 stage?, 2 stage?. 1.5# trigger pull?, 2 or maybe 3. Do you want metal or plastic?
My guns have a metal trigger guard and a metal trigger not a metal trigger guard and a plastic trigger. Do you want white milk or chocolate? I like metal trigger's which for me is white, personal preference. If you like chocolate, that if fine with me.
Another point is break barrel. IT IS A BEAR to break (the 34 RWS). Ny
Mendoza is 37 in .22.
Crosman is 31.5 in .177
Beeman is 38 in .22
There is no way my RWS is 33 unless I have a very tight break barrel. This gun was made in May 2005 and I believe it might be and oversight in the break barrel department. I will check to see if the screw is way above or just that the gun is new and needs to loosen up a little.
And this is why I ask question's in this forum, because only the best come here and I Learn from the best.
Thank you to all.
It's 30% the gun and 70% the shooter with airguns.
If your gun is VERY Hard to cock check to see that the factory didn't maybe have the hinge / pivot screw maybe too tight ?
But once you loosen it it wants to keep loosening unless you use some LocTite on it when you re tighten it .
You have been around air guns a lot so I would guess that you know how to cock a break barrel one .
Just in Case you haven't or don't do it this way , give this a try .
When getting ready to break open the barrel, Hug the gun stock under and against your side and arm , then using your open palm give the end of the barrel behind the front sight a good fast hard slap. Then you can grasp the barrel and pull it down and back .
If your already doing this and the oil and checking the screw tightness don't help , I hope it just wears in to be smoother and easier .
I do know that a De bur / hone and Lube job made mine a lot easier and smoother .
It was built in May '05 but you bought it new? That 's strange. The Model 34 is one of the best selling Diana rifles. I bought (ordered) my Diana 350 on 8/31 and it was built in May '07. Did you buy it from an airgun on-line retailer, or a regular firearms dealer/store? If it were a regular gun store, then maybe it was sitting in stock collecting dust because I don't think they move too many airguns. When I was trying to order the 350, 3 big on-line airgun vendors were out of stock in the .22cal and the one I finally ordered from, had 1 left.
You need to call Umarex. They can also walk you through a couple of things to check.
The box where the air gun came in had German and English markings and sleeved into another box with only English markings. On the left outside of the chamber, at the end is maked in english "Made in Germany" and I correct myself, it is 08 06, which means Aug 2006. I purchased it over the Internet from an obscure vendor and paid $180.95.
It was shipped UPS and arrived with the front sight round housing bent to the right which I corrected. Out of the box without adjustments it shot a clean 3 shoot's at 1.25 inches at 30 yards. Do not know the FPS but estimate 700-725 with crosmans .22 wadcutters.
The trigger has play at the X and Y (vertical and horizontal) you can notice and see it, the pull is ??? I cannot describe it. It shoots at the very end of the pull.
The break is UNBELIEVABLE hard, compared to my other .22 air rifles, it is rated at 33 lbs, maybe I read wrong. I think it is close to 38 because my Beeman GS 950 made in Spain is 38 lbs and my Mendoza RM-600 is 38 also. This RWS 34 is over those 2 in cocking effort.
Recoil is minimal and this gun is not loud compared to my LOUDEST airgun the Crosman Quest 1000 in .177. So much so that you hear the pellet hitting the target louder than the exit the gun on the RWS.
and remember in air guns it is "30% the gun and 70% the shooter".
I bought mine with a scope and ended up with a worthless unit fit for the closet but nothing else. RWS replaced several scopes and when I finally got a scope that didn't break I found that nothing could be done to keep the scope in place on the rifle. Shot strings up and down no matter what. I gave up and tried mounting a peep sight from my FWB and found that it wouldn't stay in place either. During this process I found that the barrel droop was so great that it was almost impossible to adjust. I spent a lot of money on UPS shipping cost, the last one to try and adjust the barrel droop which was unsucessful, although RWS claimed to have fixed it. Why anyone would recomend this rifle> I'll never know.
The RWS T05 trigger does have some vertical & horizontal free play. That's normal.
It sounds like the barrel is not bent if you can shoot 1.25" groups or better consistently at 30yds. Call Umarex. Their # should be in the back of the box the gun came with or go to Umarexusa.com
Let us know how that goes.
I put a piece of duct tape as a shim in the rear hold the scope and he has worked perfectly with the Cheap scope from RWS. I have shot about 1500 pellets with no problem. I shot a squirrel at 50 yards this morning and have been shootin a paper plate at 100 yards today. Good luck. the gun is great, just don't give up.
I took 2 squirrels yesterday afternoon. Within 10-15min. of each other. I think I have wiped out the entire neighborhood of squirrels I need to go to therapy, I can't help myself!!
I need to go to therapy, I can't help myself!! 