MacTech
Member
Due to an unwillingness to use up my stash of .22 ammo if I can't easily replace it, I decided to invest in a spring piston airgun, as pellets are still cheap.
Last week I found what appeared, to my inexperienced eyes, to be a good deal, a used Ruger Air Hawk (Chinese made Umarex copy of the RWS Diana 34) for $75, it looked practically new, and was only missing the cheap scope that would have been thrown away anyway, I took a chance.....
.....no matter what I tried, loctiting the action screws, trying a tight hold, an artillery hold, trying four different brands and models of pellets, it just would not group, totally unpredictable, totally aggravating.
This morning, I purchased an inexpensive Beeman 4x39 airgun scope, mounted it, and found I had to crank the windage all the way to the right, to the point of the knob almost falling out just to get the pellets even slightly close to the POA....
In frustration, I took it all back, got store credit, and turned around and purchased a used RWS Diana 34 with a cheap Tasco 4x15 rimfire scope, fully intending to throw away the scope and just use the irons.....
Once I got home, I grabbed an empty 8oz soda can and put it on one of the snow banks left over from Nemo, there was a large hill behind it, so there was a safe backstop, I went to the end of the driveway, around 25 yards away, and loaded up a pellet, placed the crosshairs on target, and pulled the trigger.....
THWACK!
A hole appeared in the can EXACTLY where I amed it, to rule out a fluke, I tried a few more, basically stacking them on top of each other, cutting a single ragged hole in the can
First time I have ever had a used scoped gun be dead on from the first shot, looks like the cheapo Tasco scope stays on, at least until either the magic is gone, or the rifle recoil eats it up, don't want to let the magic escape from this one....
I then decided to try another test, I grabbed an empty steel soup can, one of the ones that the Ruger Air Hawk could barely DENT with 10.5 grain Crosman UltraMag pellets, and with the first shot, the Diana 34 punched a clean hole clear through BOTH sides of the can
I then put the can on it's side with the base facing me, and just like with the soda can, chewed one ragged hole through the can
This little Diana 34 is a phenomenal little airgun, light, powerful, and quiet, all things the "Rugerex" wasn't (well, aside from being quiet, it *was* that...), it also balances better, has a wonderfully crisp trigger with no creep and clean break (air hawk was mushy with creep that could be measured in miles), has minimal plastic on it, just the rear iron sight, and safety cap (the Ruger had plastic sights front and rear, plastic trigger guard, trigger, and "muzzle brake") and most importantly, I can hit targets with it
It did end up costing me an additional $50, but it's worth it, especially since it works so well and is amazingly accurate
Gonna have lots of fun with this one, and I won't have to even dent my stash of .22 ammo
And somehow it just felt right, coming out of the store, putting my German made airgun in the trunk of my German made hatchback and driving home to my 240 year old American New England colonial house
The Diana 34 definitely is a great example of that German Precision.....
Last week I found what appeared, to my inexperienced eyes, to be a good deal, a used Ruger Air Hawk (Chinese made Umarex copy of the RWS Diana 34) for $75, it looked practically new, and was only missing the cheap scope that would have been thrown away anyway, I took a chance.....
.....no matter what I tried, loctiting the action screws, trying a tight hold, an artillery hold, trying four different brands and models of pellets, it just would not group, totally unpredictable, totally aggravating.
This morning, I purchased an inexpensive Beeman 4x39 airgun scope, mounted it, and found I had to crank the windage all the way to the right, to the point of the knob almost falling out just to get the pellets even slightly close to the POA....
In frustration, I took it all back, got store credit, and turned around and purchased a used RWS Diana 34 with a cheap Tasco 4x15 rimfire scope, fully intending to throw away the scope and just use the irons.....
Once I got home, I grabbed an empty 8oz soda can and put it on one of the snow banks left over from Nemo, there was a large hill behind it, so there was a safe backstop, I went to the end of the driveway, around 25 yards away, and loaded up a pellet, placed the crosshairs on target, and pulled the trigger.....
THWACK!
A hole appeared in the can EXACTLY where I amed it, to rule out a fluke, I tried a few more, basically stacking them on top of each other, cutting a single ragged hole in the can
First time I have ever had a used scoped gun be dead on from the first shot, looks like the cheapo Tasco scope stays on, at least until either the magic is gone, or the rifle recoil eats it up, don't want to let the magic escape from this one....
I then decided to try another test, I grabbed an empty steel soup can, one of the ones that the Ruger Air Hawk could barely DENT with 10.5 grain Crosman UltraMag pellets, and with the first shot, the Diana 34 punched a clean hole clear through BOTH sides of the can
I then put the can on it's side with the base facing me, and just like with the soda can, chewed one ragged hole through the can
This little Diana 34 is a phenomenal little airgun, light, powerful, and quiet, all things the "Rugerex" wasn't (well, aside from being quiet, it *was* that...), it also balances better, has a wonderfully crisp trigger with no creep and clean break (air hawk was mushy with creep that could be measured in miles), has minimal plastic on it, just the rear iron sight, and safety cap (the Ruger had plastic sights front and rear, plastic trigger guard, trigger, and "muzzle brake") and most importantly, I can hit targets with it
It did end up costing me an additional $50, but it's worth it, especially since it works so well and is amazingly accurate
Gonna have lots of fun with this one, and I won't have to even dent my stash of .22 ammo
And somehow it just felt right, coming out of the store, putting my German made airgun in the trunk of my German made hatchback and driving home to my 240 year old American New England colonial house
The Diana 34 definitely is a great example of that German Precision.....
