Well I got the new to me 34 Diana at 11am this morning. I was shocked to see,,,, this thing is like new! The photos above didn't do it justice. It looked well worn and the wood looked distressed to me. Well imagine my surprise to wonder if it was ever used? It has no wear showing from being cocked, and if I had not cleaned the barrel before I shot it, I might of thought it was never used. In fact it truly has been barely shot! The stock won't be getting redone anytime soon, as it has no scratches or blems anywhere, and also shows no signs of use. Literally like a new gun. It is a 03 vintage and wears the T05 trigger.
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I found it to have anywhere from 17fps spread to 27 fps spread with the 7 different pellets I had to test it with. But luckily I had done my homework talking with others, and after a conversation with Tom at Vortec, had his new seals, and the HO Tune kit for this rifle sitting here waiting for whatever needed attention. with these velocity spreads seaming well over acceptable, by 3pm it had been taken down, cleaned and properly lubed with the Vortec HO kit installed. WOW!
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Yes it went from high 10 fpe and double digit velocity spreads with every pellet I tried in it. To now with the new power system installed single digit E.S. for every pellet I used. The best pellet gained 62 fps for a 5 shot average with the 8.4 grain JSB Diablos, from the way it arrived, and all pellets recording from 13+ fpe to as much as 14.4 fpe, giving 3 to 4 more FPE, with all pellets. I really lucked out on this little break barrel.
To my surprise it is not all the difficult to get good hits with this off the bench holding offhand using the front bags to steady my old weakened arms. But the more I shot it, the more the groups seamed to tighten. Obviously breaking in and smoothing out. Only about 100 or so shots on it now but very happy with the results and quite sure it is going to get better before it gets broke in. It also gives pretty good results right off the bat with three different pellets. The 7.4 grn Terminators @ 915 fps & 13.5 fpe. With a twenty shot group that just missed being completely covered with a dime. But most 5 shot groups with the three best pellets shooting 1/4" to 5/16" and repeatable.
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Not no target rifle, and the first ever 177 I have ever owned, but I think this is going to make me a great little plinker, and reliable small pest controller. I am going to check out the possibilities of shortening the 19.5" barrel and might just make it a little handier for my needs. But I will talk to some with much more experience before I attempt that. For now, Im pretty pleased with this pig in a poke I picked up!
Now since I don't have a lot of refinish work to do, time to get the new 8 twist Krieger chambered for 6x47L and concentrate on getting the 600 yard rigg ready for summer match duty,,, before my luck changes!