Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Air Guns RWS DIANA 34 will not group shots -flyers - help please

I have a RWS DIANA mod 34 177 cal with RWS scope mounts and a Bushnell Sportview 3-9 airgun scope. I have never been able to get it to group shots. I sent the scope back about 5 years ago and bushnell sent me a new one. I pulled it out the gun cabinet today and tried again to zero it, but it shoots all over the paper.I have tried all kinds of pellets. I bought a beeman assortment kit of all types of pellets, but still no good results. I just want to shoot black birds ( they make good gumbo!). any help would be appreciated!

thanks -js

Tom Gaylord,who wrote the book,The Beeman R1", and a whole lot of other airgun articles,has this to say about the spring guns.He says that you need to use a very loose hold.And to try and repeat the same pattern of holding the airgun everytime.Because of the double recoil of the spring airgun and the vibration of the barrel,he says the loose hold(he calls it the "artillary hold") ,where you don't hold it tightly ,works best.He also says resting the spring airgun as you would a regular rifle is not conducive to very good accuracy.Airrifles are also very pellet sensitive,but you seem to have that aspect of the matter covered.Hope this helps.

thanks Raj. I have tried a lot of pellets, yesterday I was shooting daisey pointed field pellets. if anyone knows of a brand or type of pellet that RWS like, let me know and I will try it.

I've had high power springers for 25 years,,,mostly beeman R1's....

Your technique has to be good, very good to shoot one well

Shoot from a rest till you are getting groups, your hold, trigger control, and follow through are very important much more so than with a firearm, more like a bow shooting with fingers off of a ledge,,,,

hold it lightly but firm enough that it dosn't jump, make sure everything is tight, scope, base, action screws. And you may want to try a good quality scope that you know is OK. The recoil on these things is vicous on scopes and attatchments.

Are you sure that scope is designed for the reverse thrust of a spring piston gun? You could just be damaging your scope again and again.

no, I am not sure if it is designed for reverse thrust. I need to research that. do the scope that are for "reverse thurst" say so in the specs/descriptions? I just know it is a airgun scope. when I purchased I did not know any better. hind sight is 20/20......

I think i need to find my iron sights and put them back on.

It might say so,,,,mag springers are rough mudders on scopes,,,whole different ballpark than others,,,,could always call the company,,,scope company and check

I have had the same trouble with the same model 34 air rifle. I bought it new and bought a RWS mount and a new Bushnell Trophy 4-14 after calling Bushnell and being assured this scope would handle it. At first it was very accurate and was a lot of fun. You could hit a bottle cap at 40-50 yds if you did your part. The accuracy fell off and you couldn't hit a pop can at 10 yds. I talked to a guy that sold only air rifles at a gun show and he sold me some stuff to clean the barrel which I did. No improvement in accuracy at all. I figured the scope puked so I took it off and put a new Bushnell red dot scope on it after again calling the mfr to make sure it would handle the reverse recoil. The accuracy was a little better but not accurate enough to hit a chit bird at 20 yds. I have tried at least 6 different pellets including the expensive ones. None seemed to be much better than any other one. I gave up and hung it up in the gun room for months. When I get time, I plan to put the iron sights back on and try it again. My 13 yr old son really liked shooting it when he could hit something with it. I'm dissapointed to say the least. I've got a considerable amount of $ in an air rifle that won't shoot any better than a cheapy. If it won't shoot with the iron sights, Im trading it off for something else. What air rifle would you air gun experts recomend? I don't mind spending some $, but I expect it to shoot, or what's the point.

yeselk, I have 300.00 invested in this gun. I had a 177 benjerman that shot better than this gun. keep me posted of your progress. I plan to look for my iron sights this weekend, I will update all of you.

Beeman R1,,,,,they are nice, have had one for many years and it still shoots great

The Beeman R1 should be nice for $600. Wow!

Maybe I should look at something other than a barrel cocker like the RWS Mod 48? Anyone tried one of these? Are the 20 or 22 cal air rifles more accurate than the .177?

Shop around the R1s can be had for less. For hunting I'd go .20 cal,,,targets .177

Thanks for the reply PPosey,
Any web sites to shop for bargain R1s?
Why not .22 cal for hunting? Too slow?

The RWS 48 and 52 are reputed scope eaters. I've got a 48 and so far I've only used the iron sights. It's a .22 and it's got lots of power.


mathman

Mathman,
I know the 48 is heaver than the 34. Does it seam heavy to you? I'm wondering about my son holding it up. Would you recommend the 48?
Thanks

How stout is your son? The cocking effort on a 48 is substantial, and the rifle is heavy. I didn't actually weigh my 48, but it feels just as heavy and has more of a forward weight bias than my Mk.V Weatherby 300 mag. with a walnut stock.

mathman

Sounds like we better go handle one before getting serious.
Thanks

In my mind the .20 is the better round, shoots flatter and faster than the .22 and hits harder than the .177, for squirrels the 177 is a little small, I've killed alot with it but ya gotta be close and good if you want to recover the rat. There usta be used R1's availible for $400-450 that were in perfect shape on the beeman website,,,,,They are a serious tool not a toy, you would be hard pressed to find a centerfire as well made as my 25-30 year old R1,,,

I'll chech out the Beeman website.
Thanks

When I first bought my Model 34 I tried several different pellets. The one that I settled on is the RWS H-point (7 grain). I have only used the iron sights so far but it is impressive.

As my eyes get older, I am thinking of putting a scope on it. I am concerned about the heavy recoil and I am leaning towards the RWS model 300 4x32. Anyone have an opinion about this scope?