The Lesser Spotted Original/Diana 35

[T 20]

What date is it?

Ah Ian --- I was going to contact you as it seems that they were only made upto 1987.

It's stamped 04 68 so April 1968.



All the best Mick

[I. J.]

Ah Ian --- I was going to contact you as it seems that they were only made upto 1987.

It's stamped 04 68 so April 1968.



All the best Mick

Odd. I have one for sale (on another airgun forum ) surplus in my collection that is dated 10.89 so ....

The one Im keeping is dated 1953.

Another, the rarer B version (.22) is, I think even earlier but has no serial number.

[T 20]

Odd. I have one for sale (on another airgun forum ) surplus in my collection that is dated 10.89 so ....

That's why I was going to contact you Ian.
Another weird thing that I read was that Mayer and Grammelspacher got the UK use of the Diana name back in 1984.

Love those two 35s you've shown, I do have an earlier Diana 35 though as it was made pre WWII but it's a hell of a mess.



All the best Mick

[I. J.]

When I was younger (yes, I was once young ) I lusted after my mates Original 35. It wasn't exactly a 'dustbin killer' but boy was he accurate with it. Ive often seen him hitting (empty) 12B cases beyond 30 yards, standing.
The '35 is a rifle not often tuned and sorted so it will be interesting to see what improvements over standard you can make.

I also have a tatty .177 version that I will get around to sorting and advertising on here when I get a round tuit.

[T 20]

When I was younger (yes, I was once young ) I lusted after my mates Original 35. It wasn't exactly a 'dustbin killer' but boy was he accurate with it. Ive often seen him hitting (empty) 12B cases beyond 30 yards, standing.
The '35 is a rifle not often tuned and sorted so it will be interesting to see what improvements over standard you can make.

Yes, that's about the same story as me Ian, my best mate, Andy, had a 35 and could hit anything he aimed at, but unfortunately Andy died in an horrific car crash in the early 1980s which is part of the reason why I wanted one.

For a quick tune, (though nothing's carved in stone) I'm looking at fitting a synthetic seal, longstroking the piston a tad and sleeving the transfer port down --- so nothing too drastic.
There is one thing I've read on here that points to the main problem of getting power out of an Original 35 but I need to get inside mine first to find out if this info is correct or not.

Before I do all that I'm going to make my very first spring compressor so I don't lose my balls.



All the best Mick

[TonyL]

Yes, for me, also, the Original 35 was one of the more "exotic" German rifles brought to the fore by the advent of Airgun World that I would have loved to have owned back then.


Another project to follow with interest.

[TonyL]

The '35 is a rifle not often tuned and sorted so it will be interesting to see what improvements over standard you can make.

.

For a quick tune, (though nothing's carved in stone) I'm looking at fitting a synthetic seal, longstroking the piston a tad and sleeving the transfer port down --- so nothing too drastic.
There is one thing I've read on here that points to the main problem of getting power out of an Original 35 but I need to get inside mine first to find out if this info is correct or not.

Before I do all that I'm going to make my very first spring compressor so I don't lose my balls. :

All the best Mick

Yes, I guess the awkward and fiddly nature (perceived or otherwise) of stripping / replacing those trigger balls will have put many of working on these rifles. I'm sure I've read in places that using grease to retain those balls when rebuilding helps immensely.

[T 20]

Yes, I guess the awkward and fiddly nature (perceived or otherwise) of stripping / replacing those trigger balls will have put many of working on these rifles. I'm sure I've read in places that using grease to retain those balls when rebuilding helps immensely.

Yes Tony,

I always grease my balls when working on a Diana.

[Geezer]

I have one very like that from the 70s, and one from before they used date stamps (50s? early 60s?) with better build quality.

I like 35s. As alluded to above, they have nice triggers. They handle well (not too heavy, not too light, not too long, not too short, just right). They are well made even in the cheaper post-1966ish versions. They are mostly a little better than contemporary BSA and Webley models (setting aside Webley blueing) and BSFs (setting aside how punchy the BSFs were).

If you can live with 9-10 ft-lbs typical muzzle energy, rather than the 1970s/80s demand for “full legal hunting power”, they are very nice to own and use.