Registered User
With any luck Diana will keep a few models in house made in Germany.Originally Posted by andrewM
As to the EMS 34 the cocking leaver points towards a Diana clone model but having said that, I've owned a SMK mod 20 which is a HW95 clone and a mod 208 not quite a Diana 34 but along the lines of that model, which were not bad for the money being asked at the time, their prices seem to have been bumped up of late so a secondhand HW or Diana would be a better bet.
Perhaps this post points towards myself wanting to know where the EMS 34 is being made, so for the moment I will refrain from any more speculation and wait for Diana to spill the beans.
Hw77+7
Registered User
As per the above posts, and according to their catalogue, the 34EMS made in Germany alongside many other models. As others have mentioned, the range or number of variants of the German made models has been reduced.
https://www.diana-airguns.de/fileadm...g_2020_web.pdf
Registered User
The EMS I thought was labelled as being assembled in Germany, which probably translates to parts from China built in Germany.
Registered User
If you look at the catalogue there are notes beside each model which state either MADE in GERMANY or DESIGNED IN GERMANY or ASSEMBLED & QC IN GERMANY, whichever is applicable. They state MADE IN GERMANY for the 34EMS. If some components were made in other countries it would not surprise me but if all components were made outwith and merely put together in Germany, I believe they would have to state ASSEMBLED & QC IN GERMANY like they do with their PCP Mauser look-alike.
The models which state none of the above seem to be the models of Chinese design and build that are available from other brands.
Registered User
I've owned pretty much all the pre and post war original/diana rifles over my 40 years affair with airguns. Upto a couple of months ago I was diana less having sold my last t01 34 and 280, mainly due to finances. Recently a 34 with the rarer slimmer, butt pad less stock has come back to me after selling to a mate 20 odd years ago. I did try to sell it but I'm glad it didnt go. I've given it the first spring change from new, piston sleeved the cylinder added a slip on butt oad and even bagged an 80s rubber muzzle break. It shoots just over 11fpe with ease. The slim stock gives it 99 handling qualities and is a joy to shoot. It's now a definate keeper as a back up hunter and plinker, partly sentimental but mainly because it's a bloody good gun. I would say the 34 from this era is Diana's best all rounder.
Registered User
The cylinder on the EMS is stamped made in Germany I believe but it still doesn’t seem to be a true 34 , I suppose the link can be changed but the chisel latch is not Diana DNA.
it follows the early short cylinder 34 with no scope ramp so that’s one thing . Will I buy one ? May be just out of curiosity
Registered User
Very helpful to see that catalogue (clearly designed for the USA market, with ft/lbs well over 20 for a number of models) and it seems that all the old favourites are still made in Germany but with a number of cheaper models made elsewhere, as Drew points out.
This raises the question as to what Diana is doing in the UK market and what the agent is doing to stimulate interest here; not much it seems given a trader I spoke to seemed to think they were having financial difficulties and had more or less packed up. He said he could not obtain stock, especially of the 48 and 52.
If they removed the plastic parts - incl plastic sights - and did some good marketing, they could take business from HW and re-establish themselves here. That would be good for the industry and for us.
Registered User
Evening Andrew,
I think they've dropped the 52 from the range and retained the 48. As you know they are same action. But I can't help thinking the 52 stock just that little bit more attractive to the market as the 48 appears plain. There are a great many other models in the recent cull. There are some of the older and in my view quite desirable models still out there in some shops. But as they sell they will be the last or that lineage.
I've said before that it's more than possible many of these models have been culled from the range as poor sellers or ones that have low profit margins. Who knows? In one sense I hope that whatever is going on behind the scenes allows Diana trade mark to continue its fine tradition. On the other I find it frustrating that what to me seem some of the better models have now been dropped.
I recently emailed both Diana and it's importer here about their laminate Airking. All adverts wherever found indicate this model to be FAC only. It's a vibrant and striking gun, not to everyone's tastes, but one that I am sure could be collectable. So, it puzzles me that given the small market share the Diana brand enjoy here, it's been decided that what is already likely to be a low number model is designated FAC only making its sales even lower? By the way the email query resulted in Diana referring me to Highland outdoors and Highland outdoors referring me to Diana. So I'm none the wiser.
It would seem that these days (and Diana are not alone in this) it may be better to.look for your desired gun on the second hand market than new.
Dave
Registered User
Diana had their best share of the market in their "Original" days. The importer at thd time was Frank Dyke and Co. who actually advertised and promoted the brand, attended shooting shows and competitions with the guns. You could find new Originals in even relatively small gunshops in rural Scotland so Dyke distributed them well.
Sometime in the mid 80s Dianas started coming in from at least two other importers and under different branding and I think this confused the buying public and diluted the once strong brand. Dyke gave up the concession and eventually what became RUAG was left as the sole UK importer and they did very little to promote the brand. It was a sleeper brand for them and by the early 2000s you could hardly find a gunshop that held a new Diana. Prices increased significantly and then there would be a change of importer every couple of years- never a good sign. You have to wonder why Edgar Brothers held them for only a brief spell. They did seem to distribute them better, which you would expect, but it didnt last.
Now Highland Outdoors. I emailed them a couple of months ago to find out what they had in stock that I could order through my local dealer. Absolutely nothing, I was told- they were completely sold out of stock. Take from that what you will but they did say they expected another delivery sometime this month so hopefully its not all over yet. I would not like to see the brand disappear from the the UK or become defunct.
Dodgy Diana User
I agree, as so often, with Drew.
I’d add that if you rewind to the 50s and 60s, the Original 50 (including its British-market cut-price version the 50E) either matched or undercut the BSA Airsporter and was definitely cheaper than the Webley Mk3, while offering similar or better performance and good quality.
The 35, though not well-remembered now, was in the same bracket as things like the Webley Falcon, Hawk, and later BSA Mercury, but just better.
And the 1978-onward 45 was a decent and cheaper competitor to the FWB Sport (best sporter of the 70s) and the slightly later HW80 (although many 1980s “12 ft-lbs” 80s actually came out of the box at 16-18, hence their “very parfull” reputation).
Diana were hugely helped in the 70s and early 80s market because they offered everything from cheap tinplate things, through boys and youth rifles, to adult sporters, and both entry level (model 6, 66) and high-end (10, 75) 10M match stuff. Something for everyone. No other maker did, ever.
The 34 and 48/52 series did pretty well in the 80s and early 90s. (When introduced in the the U.K., the 34 was cheaper than the basic models of the Mercury, Vulcan, or HW35, less than 3/4 the price of an HW80). As Drew says, the importers rather lost interest, hiked the prices to eventually stupid levels, stopped the advertising, and generally screwed the brand.
By contrast, in the US, the 34 quickly established itself for two or three decades as the thinking-persons entry-level sporter and the 48/52 as the (IIRC, cheaper) rival to the full-fat HW80.
Registered User
"The importer at the time was Frank Dyke and Co. who actually advertised and promoted the brand, attended shooting shows and competitions with the guns. You could find new Originals in even relatively small gunshops in rural Scotland so Dyke distributed them well."
Frank Dyke was first class. They replied promptly to enquiries and were pro-active in their marketing. That is what is required today: an enthusiast (with some entrepreneurial acumen) who will go around each gunsmith in the country or at least contact them, market the brand at trade events, in journals and at competitions and engage in social media and Youtube advertising. Simple stuff but it requires an advertising budget from the supplier (Diana), which should be par for the course. A relatively small operation with two or three employees could easily accomplish this, along with the admin.
If Highland sport has taken over, then the brand has become one of several promoted by a larger company whose allegiance is therefore split. Furthermore, is anyone interested in dealing with a company that is responsible for the manufacture of Webley in Turkey (as I understand it) and the undermining of this important British mark, that was produced in Birmingham in better days?
I suspect that Diana is focused on the USA, as the current catalogue suggests, with its powerful ft/lb figures. Surely, though, it would be quite straightforward to alter the springs for the UK market.
Perhaps someone would consider emailing Diana in Germany and draw to their attention the splendid marketing of Frank Dyke in the old days and draw a comparison with Highland Sports, whose allegiance is clearly divided and not solely focused on Diana, adding that Highland's reputation - in view of the goings on with Webley - is not exactly endearing.
Rgds
A
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