Waiting for an old D34 to arrive

[evert]

Bought one of the old D34's with the metal safety and the shorter stroke. Unseen, supposed to be in great condition.

Oh, the waiting time!

[jonnyone]

Having picked up an old '84 model 34 myself back in January I'll be interested to see what this gun looks like.
Dave

[evert]

I'll try and get some pictures up. The pictures in the ad were not really good, but the gun seems undamaged and the seller has been into airguns for years.
What interests me the most is how this gun shoots with its shorter stroke!

[TonyL]

I hope this rifle is everything you're hoping it will be both in terms of condition and shooting characteristics, evert.. From what you've said, I bet it is. Enjoy once here.

[look no hands]

I had an old one a few years ago, I was trying to make a RWS 34SM clone, I had managed to find a newer (80/90s) stock as the one I had was the older short and rounded type, it fitted the newer stock perfectly, I then embarked on fitting a Welsh Willy tuning kit and converted it with a new T06 piston and trigger kit, really nice to shoot, I was going to have a go at trying to convert it to 25mm bore with one of the Walther LGV kits that where available at the time but I just don't have the proper workshop to do such a thing, the whole lots been sold on now.

Pete

[evert]

I had an old one a few years ago, I was trying to make a RWS 34SM clone, I had managed to find a newer (80/90s) stock as the one I had was the older short and rounded type, it fitted the newer stock perfectly, I then embarked on fitting a Welsh Willy tuning kit and converted it with a new T06 piston and trigger kit, really nice to shoot, I was going to have a go at trying to convert it to 25mm bore with one of the Walther LGV kits that where available at the time but I just don't have the proper workshop to do such a thing, the whole lots been sold on now.

Pete

What was the reason for fitting a T06 piston/trigger?

[look no hands]

What was the reason for fitting a T06 piston/trigger?

To me the T06 trigger was better than the one fitted, to be honest I already had the kit in a Chinese 34 clone but the action was shorter than the 34s so wouldn't fit in the proper 34 stock, as I got the clone rifle really cheap I was trying at the time to try and improve it dramatically, which the tuning kit and T06 kit did.

Pete

[coburn]

Bought one of the old D34's with the metal safety and the shorter stroke. Unseen, supposed to be in great condition.

Oh, the waiting time!

Sorry to hijack this thread about D34's.

I picked up a very clean and almost unused boxed Diana 24 at the weekend. Its stamped 07/91, so has the later larger diameter cylinder, but the stroke is very short. I assume its an even shorter stroke version of the 34?

Its in .22, and is doing 450fps with a 14.6 pellet, so around 6ftlbs. I assume this is normal considering the very short stroke.

The trigger has two adj screws, and is excellent as set by the factory, what trigger would this be?.

[Drew451]

Sorry to hijack this thread about D34's.

I picked up a very clean and almost unused boxed Diana 24 at the weekend. Its stamped 07/91, so has the later larger diameter cylinder, but the stroke is very short. I assume its an even shorter stroke version of the 34?

Its in .22, and is doing 450fps with a 14.6 pellet, so around 6ftlbs. I assume this is normal considering the very short stroke.

The trigger has two adj screws, and is excellent as set by the factory, what trigger would this be?.

Nice wee rifles. Essentially a scaled down 34. There may be variations in stroke dependent on trigger/piston units fitted but I've measured a 24 at 55mm, I'm sure. It has the unitised 3 ball sear trigger. They usually give about 5.5-6.5fpe, though I've only ever had .177's.
Is it definitely 28mm bore one?

[coburn]

Nice wee rifles. Essentially a scaled down 34. There may be variations in stroke dependent on trigger/piston units fitted but I've measured a 24 at 55mm, I'm sure. It has the unitised 3 ball sear trigger. They usually give about 5.5-6.5fpe, though I've only ever had .177's.
Is it definitely 28mm bore one?

The exterior of the cylinder measures 30mm, so assume 28 internal diameter.

Just did the maths it's doing 6.5ftlbs, but it's had so little use I suspect it's still running in.
Popped a drop of SM50 in it as it felt a bit dry.

[Geezer]

Nice find, evert. Do show and tell us more when you have it.

[evert]

Nice find, evert. Do show and tell us more when you have it.

Got it now. I'm a bit disappointed, the barrel is bent upwards, and the cylinder scope grooves have been amateurishly deepened with a dremel...
The seller described it as "flawless as new"....

But its not that bad, I can straighten the barrel and will live a happy life with the small dremel marks around the scope groove.

Its currently doing 735fps with 7,9grs JSBs, the piston seal seems a little tight when cocking, but what can you expect from a 1986 gun?
The screws look untouched, so the gun has probably never been serviced. That means I get to clean out the 35 year old grease and change the piston seal

[evert]

Took it apart, and it has really seen very little use, theres really no wear to speak of anywhere.
Straightened the barrel, and put a little Anschutz "gleitfett"on the piston seal, plus a bit of JM Moly paste on the spring. The spring guide on these old Dianas is steel, and fits the spring quite well. The spring seems to have a little thinner wire than more modern D34's. Should have taken some measurements, but I was to eager to get the gun together and shooting, plus the battery in my digital calipers was toast..
Worked the piston back and forth a little, and the seal loosened up a lot with the lube. Added a thin 0,5mm washer at each end of the spring, and assembeled the gun.

Its now doing a health 850-860fps with the 7,9 grs JSB's- good thing we dont have power limits over here

The good thing is that the gun behaves really well, so I'm really happy with the shooting characteristics so far!

[Drew451]

Excellent stuff. I'm glad it turned out well. I think they shoot nicely in .177 and make power easily. I've always liked the plain looks of the early ones.

[evert]

Excellent stuff. I'm glad it turned out well. I think they shoot nicely in .177 and make power easily. I've always liked the plain looks of the early ones.

Yeah, they are much more charming than the later ones. The cylinder is about a centimeter shorter, but that plus the simplistic stock really makes a difference.
Someone mentioned the D24, heres an old 25mm 1985 D24 together with the new-to-me 1986 D34. Notice that the D34 has a plastic trigger, and the D24 has a steel trigger. The D24 has a much simpler trigger system: