Hi, I am JakeH. and I have been shooting air-guns on and off since I was 5 (found a daisy in a building being torn down) and I recently purchased a Diana 350, I am hooked! So far I have put over 3000 rounds through it and I still hear a creaking sound when loading the rifle, which to my understanding is not good. Where could I send this gun to get it tuned and smoothed out for a reasonable price? Also, the muzzle-break scratched the finish on the end of the barrel and caused a buildup of nasty, hard to scrub off junk. Since being on this forum, I have seen some "Chopped" 350s that have "gnarly" (excuse the 70's verbage) muzzle-breaks and I was wondering, where could I go to get that done (I am in Washington state) or where could I send it? Are there any other "Must have" modifications to improve handling, power, etc.....

Gun#1: Diana 350 .22 cal with a Leapers 6-24x50mm scope with a RWS muzzlebreak
Gun#2 .22 Umarex 850 AirMagnum in the mail.

Here is a place I saw advertised, but never used them.

http://www.pomona-airguns.com/

dave

I always read here since my son got me this RWS 350 Magnum .177 and showd me this place last January but I have not much to say as I am new at all theis computr stuff and I dont know anything to what some of these guys know and it makes a guy feel kinda dumb and stuff at knowen what ya dont kknow. There is a guy here that I see put things up to help people with problems. I print stuff from a few of the shooters here and have a binder with good informaiton and pictures from them.

I have a .177 RWS 350 Magnum and this guy Curtis from here has put pictures up that gave me a big help in figuring out how to work on my gun's trigger and do some great things. He really seems to know his guns and lots of other things. I think that I read on this that he used to work on pellet guns and I am thinking that he still does because I have been watching him doing work on a guy's RWS 350 Magnum from here.

I save his writings and pictures on my computer and print them too. I think that i can put guides to his pages that are on tis site so that you can get a look at them to see what he does to RWS 350 Magnums.

I am saving money before I ask him to see if he would work on my RWS 350 Magnum to make it shoot better and cock easier because when I pull the barrel down, it sounds like the big spring is creaking or something and I think that it is grinding at where the barrel hinges on to the front of the gun. I think it needs grease or lube and I know that there are special lube that are for airguns that you don't see in stors or gun shops. I have heard that if you use the wrong kind of grease or lube that some can be volatol and make little detonations inside of the gun that can really hurt the guns insides and things. There are a lot of special things that should be done to these guns because of the power that they have which makes them wear down faster than some lower power guns as I understand it to be.

Heree is what I have of his that is about the RWS 350 Magnum that has some good pictures and informtion but there is a lot more of his stuff on this place. My Dughter is gonna put the guids to the pages up here for me as I am not a whiz on these things so I don"t know if it will work right for ya but here is our try at it.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/184474/thread/1205093675/last-1205382466/350+Magnum+trigger+pull

http://www.network54.com/Forum/184474/thread/1208187622/last-1208309687/Harry's+350+Tune+-+T05+trigger+housing+debur+-+tune+pics

http://www.network54.com/Forum/184474/thread/1210399951/last-1210455560/Hospitals+-+Surgery+-+and+Harry%27s+Tune+with+photos+included

Some of the shooters here really know their stuff and you should print what they say and keep it in a binder or something because I have learned things from some of them that you just don't see in gun books.

2 more fellas named Hetor and Tim know a lot of intresten things to and Tim cut barels to make them shorter like carbene rifles. It is just crazy to what can be done to these guns now days.

I'ma hopen this help it gonna work for you.

Greetings and salutations everybody,

Mornings are so much better when you get coffee delivered to you in bed!

Well Jake, where to begin?

I guess that I need to start by extending to you a warm welcome to the finest Diana oriented forum on the internet! We have a great bunch of guys here that are very willing to share their knowledge and experiences with all new-comers to help you enhance your shooting experience!

Now down to the business at hand

Congratulations on your purchase of a 350 Mag...I believe that they are one of the finest magnum break barrels available today, and at a very reasonable price for a piece of fine German engineering I might add!

So I understand that you have about 3,000 rounds through your 350. That is more than enough to get your gun broken in. By "broken in" I mean that most of the internal parts should have worn enough to smooth out any of the rough edges that are left behind in the manufacturing process. Parts begin to wear in and "mesh" together to the point that the gun will actually begin to fire a bit smoother in most regards.

The trigger should have smoothed out a bit by this time.

The main seal should be "well seated" and conforming to the inner diameter of the compression tube thus creating a consistent seal.

The spring should be "set" and settled in.

Those items are the "main" elements that smooth out over time which most people tend to define as the period between 500 and 2500 shots, although those numbers are NOT set in stone.

So what needs to be done to 99.999% of break barrel spring guns that simple shooting and use won't cure?

Please understand that the following items represent what (( I )) personally believe to be important areas that require attention for a complete tune if you wish to take your 350 Magnum to its full potential.

1. Hand Lap the bore and perform a "crown check" which may include a re-crown and a crown polish. If your barrel does not have the crimped dovetail slot for the globe sight, then choke the barrel AFTER the re-crown and polish...Diana doesn't choke their barrels...there is a FAUX choke IF the crimped dovetail slot is at the muzzle end of your barrel.
   
2. Clean and re-lube the barrel pivot hole in the breach block - use Maccari Moly and Clear Tar mixed at a ration of 1:1.
   
3. Debur and polish the inner side of the arms at the yoke.
   
4. Hone and polish of compression tube and treat with a special penetrating lube
   
5. Debur and polish the cocking slot and the edges of the compression tube where the trigger housing inserts into the tube.
   
6. Debur and polish the "shoe" end of the second arm in the cocking linkage
   
7. Stone and polish the pivot points in the cocking linkage and stone and polish the small metal spacer wheel where the first arm connects to the second arm...then lube all contact points with a mixture of Maccari Moly and Clear Tar mixed at a ratio of 1:2.
   
8. Debur and polish the slot on the bottom of the piston and check the button at the end of the piston rod for any damage - damage in this area is unlikely as all of the metal in the piston is hardened, but it should still be checked to be sure...resolve any issues if any even exist. Button the piston - 350 Magnum pistons generally don't need to be buttoned, but I do them anyway with Delrin as dots, plugs, or my preference is a solid Delrin ring strip at each end of the piston...lube with Maccari Moly.
   
9. Replace piston seal with an OEM seal or a Maccari seal - JM has 2 different seals for the 350...I prefer the seal which REQUIRES sizing as you are then guaranteed to get a GOOD seal if the tube is ever so lightly out of spec...lube with a Spray-on Moly and let it cure for 24 hours and then lube BEHIND the leading edge of the seal with Maccari Moly.
   
10. Check the compression tube to be sure that it is not out of round - or out of spec. in any other place.
    
11. Debur and polish the trigger housing and do the same to all of the internals including the upper and lower arm...be sure to stone and mirror polish the bottom of the lower arm to make the trigger smooth as glass and crisp and clean!!!!!!!!!!!! That's a Major Important Point with the T05 Trigger Unit!!!!
    
12. Fabricate or purchase screw cups for the front stock screws....use LocTite 242 (blue) on all of the stock screws including the screw at the front of the trigger guard that draws the trigger housing and compression tube down tight to the stock.
    
13. Fabricate or purchase a tophat and rear guide - brass, steel, or stainless steel. Lube the oustide of these parts with Maccari Moly and lube the inside with Maccari Clear Tar ONLY!!!!!!!!
    
14. Replace the spring with a Maccari spring, an OEM spring, or a custom "high power" spring depending on what you wish to accomplish where the gun's power is concerned...this is a magnum gun so I personally prefer an OEM or custom high power spring with spacing factored into the rear guide and/or tophat for extra power and increased smoothens...After all, I didn't buy a magnum to MAKE it shoot with less power.
    
15. Lube whichever spring that you use with Maccari lube - Either "Heavy Tar" or "Velocity Tar"...I prefer a light coat of heavy tar!
    

Diana 350 Magnums do not come from the factory with much lube to begin with, and if any spray lube has ever been blown into the cocking slot in the receiver OR if the poor main spring has EVER been basted that ULTRA CRAP RWS lube, then it is NOT surprising that you are hearing that "creaking" sound when you cock the gun...that is the spring compressing...there is probably a buzz and a twang sound when the gun is fired as well...Ewwwwwwwwwww...it hurts to think about it!

Well, I hope that helped give you some ideas of what to start thinking of when you consider the operation of your 350!

I wish that I had more time to write some more for you, but I have to hit the shower and get more coffee and a smoke.

One thing that I would suggest that you take a peek at is a posting that I did last night where I was talking about mid to heavy weight pellets.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/184474/thread/1214282893/last-1214293850/Power+Hunter+Pellets+in+15.49+Grains

The ones that I have listed are GREAT for the 350!

Ok....coffee and smoke time......Oooooooooooooooooooooooooo...Steph says shower time too......VBG!!!!!!!!!

Good shooting to one and all,

-Curtis

That is a ton of great info, wow, thanks. But where could I send it to get these mods done as there are no local gunsmiths that do airguns and I have no where near the tooling required.

P.S: I use only Wolverine FT pellets (basically Jsb pellets)in my 350 and my groups shrank to 1/2 of what they were with CPs!

Gun#1: Diana 350 .22 cal with a Leapers 6-24x50mm scope with a RWS muzzlebreak
Gun#2 .22 Umarex 850 AirMagnum in the mail.