Diana well worth her crown, says Paul Miller
Shooters worldwide often start their journey in this great sport with an air rifle. For youngsters, the more straightforward and lightweight rifles can be the perfect platform for learning the basics of safe gun handling and trigger control. They can enjoy lots of inexpensive practice to hone their skills then continue on to other aspects of shooting, while keeping some form of air rifle in their collection all their lives to continue with practice or use for small pest control. Some progress to more hi-tech and expensive PCP rifles for competition, while others just enjoy break-barrel or side-lever guns for fun plinking and general shooting.
In my lifetime air rifles have progressed from pretty basic and inexpensive break-action models to firearms like the amazing Skout Epoch PCP we reviewed last August. That’s an incredibly sophisticated, heavy and super-accurate firearm, best suited to benchrest and competition work and for more experienced shooters only.
The Diana 34 Classic in the spotlight here is a fine example of the break-barrel actioned rifles of years gone by, made in Germany by a company with an enviable reputation for producing some of the best air rifles in the world since 1890. In fact ‘Made in Germany’ has always been a comforting trademark for so many forms of rifles and shotguns from a country famous for its world-class engineering skills.
The bold claim printed on the box states: ‘Our Mission is Precision’, an admirable aim for a firearms manufacturer and the moment I opened the box I was impressed. The Diana 34 Classic has, as its name suggests, a classic-shaped stock which is very pleasing to the eye. It appears to be made from straight-grained beech and is walnut stained, the lines clean and well proportioned. I’d go so far as to say this is an elegant rifle of the old-school design.
It’s man-sized but could easily be used by a smaller-framed junior or lady shooter and is pleasing and comfortable to handle. It points precisely and with the addition of a quality scope as we’ll see, makes for an air rifle that would be a ‘keeper’ for life. By that I mean it’s way more than an introductory firearm you’d outgrow and sell before moving on to something more sophisticated.
This Diana’s a traditional spring-powered break-barrel actioned rifle. The EMS in the name stands for Easy Modular System which may, in the future, allow enthusiasts to change the barrel and calibre and swap the current power plant for the Diana N-Tec gas ram system. When available this would require the services of a gunsmith to install, according to Australian distributor Nioa.
The build
Make no mistake, this is a quality air rifle. The large cylinder and barrel are beautifully blued and the overall feel of the firearm as mentioned is one of balance and confidence. Considering it weighs 3.2kg without the scope it’s remarkably handy. There are some plastic components like the trigger guard, front and rear sight assemblies and butt plate, yet for a rifle in this price range these are necessary economies which in no way affect performance.
Scope suitability and open sights
The rifle was provided for review with a compatible scope. The Leupold brand needs no introduction and the VX-Freedom Rimfire in 3-9x with 1” tube and a set of excellent Sportsmatch mounts completed the package. These were easily installed and a perfect match for this rifle, the optics crystal clear and a simple adjustment of the lockable eye relief had me in business. This scope is set parallax free at 60m which worked well at the shorter ranges you might expect to be using this rifle. Leupold also make an extended focal range (EFR) 3-9 and 6.5-20 for air rifle enthusiasts seeking perfect focus from 10m to infinity.
I know a lot of people mount scopes like the Leupold VX-3HD EFR 6.5-20 on air rifles, particularly where they’re used in competition. However, allowing for range restrictions in shooting pests with an air rifle like this and the often uncertain rests we use in the field, this 3-9 range felt perfect to me.
It was a pleasure to be able to see so well through the scope and place shots with precision. It also complemented the balance of the rifle by being mounted quite low, enhancing the ability to have a good cheek weld on the stock. It also looked pleasing when installed which for many enthusiasts can be important.
The long, substantial cylinder was dovetailed on top and allowed plenty of room for scope placement with no need to remove the excellent adjustable open sights. These fibre optic sights worked most effectively before I mounted the scope, providing a precise aim point in conjunction with the front site which is removable. The barrel is also threaded for a sound moderator, though this is probably irrelevant to most of us in Australia without a suitable permit.
Performance
I’ve already touched on how good this rifle looks and its ‘Classic’ tag is well deserved. It handled brilliantly and was easy to break and load. The .177 pellets performed well but as always, you should try different brands to see which one your rifle prefers. The 495mm barrel and associated power plant is said to achieve about 890fps in the .177 cal model and 740fps in .22 cal. Both of these are good numbers and put this rifle well up in the break-action class. To crack 1000fps you’d need to look to the Diana 350 Magnum in break-action or consider the Diana PCP models.
The automatic safety was totally reliable and, while annoying to some, I think the need to actuate it every time you fire the rifle to ensure safety outweighs the inconvenience of having to push it off every shot. The trigger was precise to use and there was minimal spring jump or recoil from the mechanism on firing. The trigger’s adjustable for first-stage travel and second-stage weight and sear engagement, though I didn’t fiddle with these as I found it released crisply at around 3lbs.
I didn’t manage to have a crack at any feral birds or rabbits, though have no doubt this rifle and scope combination would deal with them most effectively within sensible air rifle range.
Diana has a long-standing reputation for producing quality air rifles of every type and price range. This 34 EMS performed superbly and is one I’d be more than happy to have in my safe. Thanks to Brad Johnson at Nioa for his technical knowledge and making the rifle and scope combination available for review.
Specifications:
Manufacturer: Diana Airguns, Germany
Model: 34 EMS
Calibre: .177 reviewed (.22 also available)
Action: Break-barrel
Barrel length: 19.5” (495mm)
Overall length: 45.4” (1155mm)
Capacity: Single-shot loading
Finish: Gloss blue on barrel and cylinder tube
Safety: Tang-mounted automatic
Stock: Walnut-stained beech, length of pull 14¼”
Trigger: T06 adjustable.
Sights: Adjustable fibre-optic open
Weight: Approx 7lbs (3.2kg)
Warranty: Three years
Distributor: Nioa (www.nioa.com.au)
Prices (approx): Rifle $699, Leupold scope $599, Sportsmatch mounts $68.