Page 2 - Diana 34 Breakbarrel Reviews

Excellent quality and accuracy out of the box. The icing on the cake was the great service and cooperation I received from Pyramid Aifr.

Nothing, it is worth every penny.

If you want a great squirrel gun or just punch paper this gun fits the bill.

This is my second RWS Diana 34. I bought another due to how much I love these rifles. It is hands down the best and highest quality rifle for the money. It is a German made springer and will last you a lifetime. The accuracy is phenomenal....period. In the .22 cal it also has more than enough energy for any small game. In the .22 it is a 16.5 - 17 FPE rifle.

Haven't found anything yet.

The 34 is very easy to take down and do whatever you may want or need to do as far as lubing or tuning. But DO NOT do so without a spring compressor. There is a lot of tension on the spring.

I bought mine off Ebay, it was listed as a "shelf pull", with the only defects being a small ding in the stock and missing elevation knob. When I got it, the bracket that holds the front of the stock on had a screw broken off in it. I contacted Umerex, they wouldn't warrent the exterior, so I had to buy a new bracket along with the elevation knob and elevation spring for the sight. I also ordered 2 new stock screws, but instead they sent me 2 barrel pivot screws. I found the tiny ball bearings (2mm) that go under the elvation knob from a local gunsmith, and bought 2 cap screws for the front of the stock, and changed the toothed lock washer to flat washers and lock washers. They won't stay tight. I will cut grooves in the underneath surface of the cap screws to see if that won't hold with the toothed washers. It is very accurate tho after fixes, shooting same hole groups with cphp and JHB heavies at 10 yards.

A steel rear sight with tighter fiber optics. there is too much side-to-side space in the rear notch for the front sight. A tune at the factory would greatly improve shooting dynamics. It needs velocity tar on the spring, a buttoned piston and polished washers under polished spring ends, and a tight steel spring retainer. It shoots like shaking a coffee can full of nuts and bolts and rings like a bell. After a tune, it would be like shaking a coffee can full of rice with no ringing. I feel like there is a good chance of breaking a scope with all that vibration. After a good tune, a scope would have a much better chance.

It took some diddling, but I got the trigger adjusted where there is about 1/4 inch of first stage with a light but safe second stage. Its ideal for me, and with only about 200 rounds through it with open sights, I can tell I will be shooting shotgun primers set in cardboard from 10 yards or so. A good 4th of July activity. A good value overall and even with the extra money I had to spend it is still a .bargain.

It's beautiful, accurate

Rear sight, better manual would be nice as the directions for adjusting the trigger are clear as mud.

I was ready to send this gun back right after I got it, my grouping was all over the place at 25 yards through the Leapers scope, even after 200 rounds. Then, I removed the scope. With the open sights I was putting shots almost directly through the same hole at 20 yards. I was hesitant to take the scope off as I had gone for the 20 for 20 deal, but I am glad I did. After another 100 shots or so, I put the scope back on and it's a tack driver. I didn't even have to sight it in to be just off the center of the bulls eye by about 3/4". My other issue was how hard it was to cock. Seriously, it was tough to even swing the barrel back up. I loosened the screw the barrel pivots on a bit and it is much easier but the screw was so tight I needed to use and impact driver, the type you smack with a hammer, to break it loose...

I'm a 10 meter shooter but I wanted a classic springer and I was impressed by the customer reviews of this gun. I'm impressed with the quality of the simple wood stock and classic bluing of the metal. As a PCP guy it took a while to figure out how to shoot this gun, but the accuracy even with open sights has me putting pellets through the same hole at 10 meters. The cocking effort is very reasonable and downright easy once the technique is mastered. My 110 lb 17 year old daughter can cock it easily enough with good instruction. The trigger is surprisingly good for a gun in this price range and does not make me miss my 10 meter guns very much. My rifle likes the RWS Meisterkugeln 8.2 gr wad cutters. 10 rounds yielded a hi of 934 fps; low of 923; average of 928 with a standard deviation of 4 fps. That's 16 foot pounds of muzzle energy.

I borrowed a buddy's much less expensive springer that actually felt quite a bit smoother when cocking. This one feels fairly rough. Also I will likely add an adjustable butt plate to this gun to gain some elevation for using the open sights so I don't have to crank my neck so much to get my eyes down to the line of sight.

I love cocking this gun. It really feels like human powered shooting. I love how this thing bucks when you pull the trigger and the burnt oil smell afterwards. It has screws that actually loosen over time (a shocker to a PCP guy) and when you tighten them it changes where the pellets fly! It really matters where an how you hold this thing too - do it the same way every time or you won't be consistent. I shoot this gun indoors. This gun is at the top of or maybe even a little over the power range I would recommend for indoor shooting (unless at a gun range). 7 or 8 layers of cardboard stop the wad cutters from my 10 meters guns but this thing will blow through all that with a great deal of energy left to spare. It sends wad cutters right through 3/4 inch pine. A steel trap would be a good idea. I have a lot of novice/no experience shooters at my house and they don't get to shoot this gun.

My Diana 34 (.177 cal)was my first serious air rifle that I purchased for plinking and field target use. For a modestly priced springer, this rifle is a tack driver: I can shoot dime size groups out to 35 yards. The stock and bluing on the rifle is excellent for a rifle in this price category. I have taken 3rd place twice in field target matches at my local air gun club. The trigger is pretty good, and breaks at around 1 lb in stock form. My rifle likes H&N Snipers (8.5gr), and shoots them at 870 fps with less than 10 fps. I barrel bore is machined so well that I rarely have to clean it.

A little deeper stock would be nice for field target use. The T06 trigger is good, but it does have some second stage creep. The cocking stroke of the rifle is a little 'crunchy' with the stock main spring. The main spring on mine broke after 4,000 shots, so be prepared to change the spring.

By a pellet pens with a pellet seating tool if you purchase this rifle, such as the one made by Air Venturi. Experiment with pellet depth in the breach. You also may want to install a Vortek spring and guides when you main spring breaks. The Vortek kit makes this rifle a smooth, accurate shooter.

This gun was very accurate right out of the box. It shot RWS Superdomes into three-quarter inch groups at 20 yards with open sights. Overall fit and finish on the rifle seemed good and the T06 trigger was excellent. The second stage had a little too much creep for me out of the box but it just it up very nicely. The second stage had a little too much creep for me out of the box but it Adjusted up very nicely. The fiber-optic sites are easy to see but are a little bit clunky for being super accurate.

The gun came with an extremely dry compression chamber. It sounded like a Canadian Honker goose. The quality control at RWS may need More attention to detail. The butt pad is very hard being solid plastic, and the recoil is fairly violent on this spring or so it wasnt very enjoyable to shoot for very long. I think it be worthwhile for RWS to add a nicer butt pad to the rifle and charge a few dollars more for package.

I gave the RWS 34 classic two stars as an overall rating because of the dry compression chamber. If It had come with a properly lubed compression chamber from the factory I would not have sent the gun back and wouldve given it a four star overall rating. I ended up sending this rifle back to pyramid air because of the dry compression chamber. Pyramid air was really great to deal with on the return. I give them five stars for their customer service. I ended up going with a different rifle because of the shot cycle being fairly violent, the dry compression chamber, and the hard but pad. The fiber-optic sites are fun to shoot and a great back up if your scope was ever to break but they are very unrefined as far as open sites go and it is fairly hard to be really accurate with them.

It is a well built air gun and is bad to the bone!!! Powerful and accurate, made in Germany and built to last! Love it.

Nothing!

Very accurate and powerful! Made well and will last a lifetime if taken care of properly!

Bought a k98 and love it ,wanted something lightr and easy to carry . So I got a 34 just the right size .I was spoiled by the fit finish and smooth shooting on the k98 out of the box . The 34 is a different gun it was dry of oil ,the finish was good , the stock is warped in the forearm it took 1/8 inch of shim to give clearance on the cocking lever. Sounded like a rasp cocking and twannked and vibrated firing . Lubed the spring and that helped some , would have sent it back but the trigger is the best and it started gettiing more accurate as i shot it . After about 700 shots it was cocking and shooting smoother but not much . So I bought a vortek tune kit, And it started cocking and shooting like a german rifle should .

The quality control from the factory , you would think they would test it at the factory if you have to repair it or send it back. They might as well make them in china.

I might of got a bad one , but I with some fixing its a good gun.

I just received my new rifle from pyramydair. .22 cal model 34. Excellent balance of value, quality, function and LONGEVITY. It's my second RWS model 34. The first, a .177cal, I've been so pleased with for 26 years that I thought I'd finally buy the .22cal I really wanted when bass pro only had the .177 in stock. I was a little apprehensive as they've changed it some over the years, plastic parts, sights, trigger guard and such, but I'm here to say after inspection, lubrication and about 300 shots, by all outward appearance, it's actually a schweeter rifle than my first. The plastic parts are of very high impact material and I also appreciate they added a buttplate, as my old rifle's bare butt shows a real beating. All in all, the details of product received look much nicer than the product in the picture, and from initial order to ultimate receipt, Pyramyd's handling of the transaction was absolute top shelf.

If shoots as hard, reliable and true as my old one come 2044, I won't say a bad word about it. I'll hafta let ya know then.

That new trigger is incredibly light. Even right out of the box. It sorta took some getting used to. I accidentally discharged it downrange a couple times because I'm so used to the old one, which in itself wasn't by any means what I'd call a heavy trigger.

I purchased it here for $219 in Nov. 2013. My gun is a .177 caliber. The gun's fit and finish is excellent. The T06 trigger is even better than the the Rekord trigger; it's as close to a match trigger as you can get from a sporter spring airgun. I can feel exactly where the trigger "breaks" and it is predictable and repeatable from shot-to-shot. I didn't need to make any adjustments to the trigger. At the beginning, the firing cycle is harsh, buzz, and "twang." To my surprise, after about 25 shots, the buzzing is gone, and the "twang" is gone; the gun shoots smooth now, don't know why.. I won't be needing a Tuning kit. This gun shoots smoother than all my spring guns without a tune job. My gun shoots JSB Exact at 894 fps (14.9 ft-Lbs). Accuracy is not as good as my HW97K and R11, but both of these guns are in the higher price range than my Diana 34; however this is a very versatile gun, it is light weight, slim, not muzzle heavy and shoots hard enough.

Make it more quiet, it is not backyard friendly.

The cocking effort is between my HW35 and HW97K. When my gun is new it sounded like it is exploding, perhaps it is burning oil, but after about 8 shots the exploding sound stopped. When cocking, the gun makes a dry creaking sound. I put a some oil on the main spring and it still sound the same.

I bought my Diana Model 34 in 1992. It still performs flawlessly. In fact it has a lifetime guarantee and I have sent mine back twice in the last 25 years because it began to lose power. Both times it was returned to me in a timely fashion shooting more powerfully than when it was new. I have shot this rifle thousands upon thousands of times. In fact I shot it over 200 times today, and it was shooting less than an inch groups at 40 yards. I paid $169 for it and in my opinion it is still the finest air rifle ever manufactured. I just bought an RWS/Diana Model 350 Magnum because I wanted a .22 caliber air rifle and now I wish I had just bought another Model 34 in .22 to go with my .177.

Absolutely nothing, it is the finest air rifle in the world. The perfect balance between power and accuracy. Anything more is overkill and harder to shoot.

Buy the .22 if you like to shoot squirrels and are not always able to make a head shot. The .177 is very flat shooting though, it is probably all you need.

Pyramyd Air sales was great in giving advice on selection. The rifle can be a tack-driver with proper hold. It is easy to cock and the stock is very nice. A minor point but being left-handed, I like the position of the safety.

Better quality control on the part of RWS/Umarex as the compression chamber was dry and needed oil to stop the "honking. Easy fix but should not have passed quality control. I seemed to get a super-dooper-drooper”. The initial sighting-in was 8” low at 10yds from an optically centered scope. This was with the special drooper mount. I wound up shiming the rear ring with about “.053” inches of plastic shim. I also moved the rings as close as possible to max out the angle. This seems to keep the adjustment range of the scope more within its range. This was done after 500 rounds or so using the open sights. I would prefer not to have to go through all these contortions to zero the scope. Is RWS notorious for “droopers”?

The artillery hold is paramount. By using this hold the rifle is a tack-driver. Interesting observation: seating the pellets with a tool into the breech caused a loss of 50fps in velocity. I found the best is to seat it by hand as flush as possible. Since the face of the breech is slanted and not square to the bore the bottom of the pellet sticks out a bit when seated by hand. This causes a small crease on the pellet skirt when the breech is closed but doesn't seem to affect accuracy or velocity.

Oh man, so many positive things to say. Beautiful, understated, classic wood stock design and finish. Mirror-like blueing. Superb fiber-optic open sights, easy adjustments. Nice heft and dead-on pointing. The trigger . . . . so, so much better than the Crosman Nitro Venom I tried a few months ago, maybe the best trigger I've ever had the pleasure of using on any gun, right out of the box. Barrell delivered remarkably clean. Graceful lines. The .22 hits plenty hard. Recoil, to me, is not a big deal. I paid for the 10-shot test, feel that that was money well spent. I like the placement of the safety button, right in front of the thumb. Not a loud shooter - - okay for my suburban back yard.

Hard for me to imagine asking for more out of a $300 gun. Maybe, as others have said, RWS could go with metal for the trigger guard.No big deal, though - - that's nitpicking, really. It's just a lovely rifle.

This rifle has stability and balance that, for lack of a better word, is just "right." I gave one to myself as a retirement gift after having been away from shooting for more than 25 years. I figured that shooting from the standing position using open sights would be a little embarrassing, but to my amazement, I was putting 10 shots into a 2-inch circle at 75 feet on day one. As a nearsighted old guy who hasn't shot in a long, long time, that made me very happy. In fact, I'm going to hold off buying a scope for awhile - - the open sights are that good. This gun points as well as any rifle I've ever shouldered. It reminds me of a beloved Remington 514 bolt-action .22 that belonged to my grandfather, a gun so true you could shoot pennies off a fence rail all day long at 20 paces. Build quality is superb. A pleasure to shoot and hold. I've put about 400 shots through this beauty and it's breaking in very nicely. Totally satisfied, would recommend to a friend.

Trigger pull is great. So far accuarcy is good at 10 meters.

White spacer under recoil pad. Higher comb on stock.

Cocking effort is approx 40 lbs not 33. Squeek in chamber or spring. Thinking about returning gun for evaluation

I am no expert on modern-day break barrel pellet guns the last time I shot a pellet gun was 50 years ago. As a teenager then I had a Benjamin Sheridan pump and a Crossman CO2 pellet gun. About four months ago I bought my first break barrel pellet gun a Gamo bone collector in 177 caliber and like it. Decided to get another break barrel in 22 caliber did some research online reviews etc. and decided to purchase the Diana RWS 34. I like this rifle it is definitely well-made with quality materials and workmanship. It is German made and reflects that fact. Out of the box with the open sights I was able to get it sighted in pretty quick with consistent groups. I then put a leapers 3 x 9 x 32 scope on got that sighted pretty quickly and I'm having some very consistent groups. I've only put about 100 pellets thru it so it's not broken in yet but already am showing excellent accuracy. Very pleased with this rifle and look forward to shooting it more and getting to know it better.

RWS packaging leaves a lot to be desired, most of the stryofoam in the box was busted up but rifle was fine. I'm not crazy about the safety I cannot put safety back on with my thumb alone, The downward pressure stops it from coming back I have to grab it between my thumb and index finger but it's really not a big deal on a single shot rifle. The instructions for adjusting the T06 trigger just doesn't make sense to me the way it's written. Maybe it's the German or maybe it's me but I think they need to have an American write the instructions on it. I'm still working on it and haven't yet found what I like but again this is kind of a minor thing and getting used to the trigger will be fine

Pyramid air's customer service has been outstanding. The first 34 they sent to me didn't feel like it was snapping or locking or seating shut after loading but I thought maybe this was how the gun is designed, I really didn't have the experience to know whether this is how this rifle is designed I shot it for about four or five days and noticed if I put any force up underneath the forward part of the stock the breech would open. I called PA and ran it by them and they said no shouldn't be like that, you send it back to us and they sent me this one I just reviewed. PA as a loyal customer in me

This review is on RWS 34 22cal. that came with a scope 4x, Nice trigger out of the box, very nice finish solid gun was the 1st impression. I shot 3 different pellets Benjamin 14.3gr hollow point, Crosman premier hollow point (believe similar 14.? gr weight was not marked on the can) & Crosman alloy point 16.7 gr. I sighted in at 25 ft and shoot out to 50ft (I have very little experience with spring guns). I expected some what of a larger group but due to recoil spring guns have, but that was not my experience once sighted. The gun printed multiple rounds in or near the same holes. I would agree dime size groups with in 10 rounds getting use to the gun. The crosman premier hollow point shot bit more consistent in this gun, the Benjamin hollow points shot very close to the same. The gun was sighted to zero at 50' and at 25' the gun shot 3/4" low so just bit above the lower duplex point. One thing I noted both lead pellets fit very snug in chamber and had to be place with surprising force

The scope mount that came with the package is one piece high base mount which has two recoil pin screws. These recoil screws fit in the base bore pretty loose I wasn't to happy about that, I pulled the mount back against the bore. I personal needed the scope to mount more forward in the base for full clear objective field for my cheek weld. The scope had a parallax adjustment, very predictable with adjustment during sighting the gun. Over all the scope and the base probably fine to start with... the distance between the to mounts maybe a problem with a different scope if it has a shorter tube between the bells. I tried to mount a 2x7 Hawke mil-dot and it won't fit in this base the tube between the bells are to short. The scope worked fine I just had to change my cheek position from what I'm use too, the proof is in the group I shot.

There's cheaper guns out there. I bought one never could keep it sighted in, I could not trust it on any kind of critical shot, it also was a springer. The gun broke after ~ 300 rounds, couldn't lock the piston when cocked. I returned it and got my money back. I had it about 2 weeks. After some research I really wanted to buy gas piston gun, but I couldn't find one that review very well in this price range. What I found the RWS 34 has the best reliability, accuracy and features for the money in my search. The trigger being the most important in a springer gun to me, you just can't shoot well with a terrible trigger any gun. This is a two stage trigger some people don't like these types. The finial stage has bit more creep than I would like it's noticeable to me, other people may not notice it. The trigger is very smooth light trigger I'd say close to 3lbs. I made no adjustment just shot it as it came out of the box. My concern is with the safety, once switched off can't get it "on"?

This is my first springer rifle. The Diana RWS 34 was very accurate right out of the box and excellent fit and finish. The wood stock is a thing of beauty. The sight is very easy to adjust and I was able to dial it in quickly, even though I am a right handed shooter who is left eye dominant. The cocking effort on my 22 caliber is reasonable and does not tire me out like I thought it might. I plan to add a scope soon for hunting, but the open sight works great for me right now.

I would prefer a rubber butt pad over the metal one provided. I would also like to see RWS provide a sling mount system for carrying the rifle in the field.

This is a long heavy gun that is a little intimidating at first. I find that the weight makes the gun very stable while sighting, but some smaller shooters might find it too heavy.

I don't believe that you can purchase a better rifle for the money. As simple as this rifle is, a $500 price tag would not be unjustifiable. It's that good. The new T06 trigger alone is worth it. The consistent 5 star reviews are not a coincidence, for it is the combination of value, craftsmanship and accuracy that has garnered this German made (that's right) rifle legions of fans.

The barrel droop. I don't understand why it can't be a simple engineering adjustment and avoid having to move your scope's turrets to far to one side. Using the fixed sights however are not affected by it since they sit atop the actual brake barrel

With all the rage PCP rifles out there costing more than firearms, having a true-and-tired simple, but delicious to use RWS 34 in your arsenal is something everyone should consider. It's as basic as playing baseball with a wood bat.

First off, the t06 trigger is excellent. It came with great and easy to understand instruction sheet on how to adjust the t06 trigger, but it felt great the way it was adjusted out-of-box. The accuracy was pretty much stellar with open sights (within the first 10-20 shots) at 20 yds off hand. The fit and finish of the RWS/Diana rifles is superior to many other brands of airguns. The metal work is always Very well done. The bluing is deep and dark, and all of the external parts are very nicely polished. The stock is fairly comfortable, ambidextrous, and decent looking. The power was very good as well. I was shooting steel plates at 20 yds and this rifle was ringing them quite loudly. Pyramid air customer service so far seems to be pretty good too.

This rifle is a high VALUE item at its price range and there are lots of good about it. There are a couple areas that it falls short though. These rifles are known to come from the factory bone dry. I don't understand why they would make such a nice rifle then ship them out without properly lubricating the internals? makes no sense to me. The rifle i got started cocking roughly around 80 shots and the next time i tried to cock it, it stopped mid way through the cocking cycle and would not reach the cocked position. These rifles are easy to work on and fix if something goes wrong, but i couldn't even diagnose what was wrong, because even opening the rifle up (with a spring compressor of course) to diagnose the problem, is forbidden if you wish to keep your warranty. Thats nonsense.. I might have been able to fix this problem myself, but I'm not even going to try if I lose my warranty. So I had to return it for a replacement. I will report back when i get the replacement .

Pyramid air has great customer service, and is replacing the rifle, but the whole experience was still kinda upsetting, and frustrating. Going through a return and replacement is not overly quick and easy. It takes time. I am fairly sure though that i just got a defective rifle (which is prob a 1 out of 1000 chance). I also wish that Diana/RWS would offer 2 things for this rifle as accessory items. A nice Walnut stock, and a set of NON fiber optic, all metal adjustable sights like the ones that are on their older t05 guns, or like the ones that are on the 350 magnum (with replaceable front sight inserts). They should make a set of those sights that will fit the model 34. I think there is a diana 34 premium stock, but it is made out of the same wood as the regular stock (beech). They should really either offer a premium model with a nice (not too fancy) Walnut stock, and then offer the walnut stock as an accessory that you can buy -> like Air Arms does. All in all I love the model 34.