Diana The end of the break barrel itch

Nothing wrong with a diana. I don't have a 350 but my 38, 45 and 50 are good rifles

I have a Diana 350 in 177. High quality without that ugly cheap plastic front sight. Got it new at AOA for $199. I did get it tuned and crowned by Mike Melick but he wanted it shot alot before he tuned it. I adjusted the trigger down from the factory setting but forgot how low I got but the trigger pull is great. Open sights are good but gun demands a high magnification scope. I have UTG 4x16 on mine and it is holding up. Will probably have barrel droop like mine. Do not adjust the scope elevation too much to the end of its range. I leave at least 2 full turns from hitting it, more if I can. Shoot the gun at a known distance and then measure the droop and find which droop mount works the best. You can post your results on this forum and I am sure somebody can recommend the right one. I bought a UTG droop mount and it works fine and holds zero.. Anyway, last year at one shooting session, I consistently hit a 2" target at 80 yards. Haven't got out yet with it to see if I can do it again. I use it for squirrel hunting. However heavy and awkward due its length to carry in the woods. What made it easier to carry was one of those Gamo slings that loop over the barrel and stock and carry it barrel down. Since you got the high end break barrel mangnum springer covered in your collection, you need a medium power high end springers like a HW 50 or 35 plus a high end underlever or side level. After that your happiness with be complete.

JDR said:

I have a Diana 350 in 177. High quality without that ugly cheap plastic front sight. Got it new at AOA for $199. I did get it tuned and crowned by Mike Melick but he wanted it shot alot before he tuned it. I adjusted the trigger down from the factory setting but forgot how low I got but the trigger pull is great. Open sights are good but gun demands a high magnification scope. I have UTG 4x16 on mine and it is holding up. Will probably have barrel droop like mine. Do not adjust the scope elevation too much to the end of its range. I leave at least 2 full turns from hitting it, more if I can. Shoot the gun at a known distance and then measure the droop and find which droop mount works the best. You can post your results on this forum and I am sure somebody can recommend the right one. I bought a UTG droop mount and it works fine and holds zero.. Anyway, last year at one shooting session, I consistently hit a 2" target at 80 yards. Haven't got out yet with it to see if I can do it again. I use it for squirrel hunting. However heavy and awkward due its length to carry in the woods. What made it easier to carry was one of those Gamo slings that loop over the barrel and stock and carry it barrel down. Since you got the high end break barrel mangnum springer covered in your collection, you need a medium power high end springers like a HW 50 or 35 plus a high end underlever or side level. After that your happiness with be complete.

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"with be complete." ??? do these words have anything to do with Air Guns ?

The Diana 350... In my opinion, probably one of the best break barrel platforms. At factory power expect 18-21fpe for the mighty 4.5mm, I'd say the majority of newer models will be in the 20-21fpe range, at least my two T06 examples in .177 were. If you have a model with a globe sight, which is wonderful, you could get a Truglo globe sight very cheap when on sale (check Fieldsupply website now & then). While the Truglo isn't built as solid it makes up for it by being very visible during certain lighting conditions. Also, the Truglo sits lower, so with your rear sight about bottomed out you'll be zero'd about 30 yards. With just a few clicks you can be shooting targets out to 80 yards open sights, or further provided you have room and can see the target.

If keeping at full power, expect the OEM piston seal to last about 3000 rounds, but this isn't a "hard" number. Some seals might last twice as long. Just saying at about 3000 pellets in, I'd recommend getting a replacement seal or two to keep on hand. No real need to get a tune kit (like PG4 or whatever), but they are available. I do like Vortek springs, they fit the OEM guides very well. If you want a mild shooter, drop in a Diana 48 spring. This should knock the power down to about 15fpe, then you can shoot "normal" weight pellets. If you decide on a custom spring for even more power, I don't recommend anything with a wire diameter beyond .135" or you risk cracking your stock (if over sprung w/too many coils). I've hit 23FPE with the 350 platform in .177 without really trying, but the gun wasn't happy. Either way, the Diana 350 is extremely easy to work on.

The rifling Diana uses is a bit different. They use wide lands with narrower grooves, but it works great for pellets. My reduced power (~15fpe) 350 can accurately sling wadcutters out to 40 yards on calm days. Great for plinking or pesting. If the wind picks up or if I need to shoot further, I'll switch to H&N FTT's. That being said, my 350 barrels aren't really pellet picky but don't expect Winnie Domes to hold groups past 30-35 yards, hehe. My high power 350 currently has a PG3 kit, I believe. Power was lower than expected, but I spaced it up to make 18fpe. There wasn't really twang with the oem internals, but power was a little higher than I prefer so I tried the kit on a whim. It works well but not totally necessary. Most pellets in the 10.5gr range work very well and stay subsonic. My preference for those heavier options are the H&N Barracuda Hunters (not the extremes as they're too light).

As for what pests/game animals can be taken with a full power Diana 350... It depends on local jurisdictions, personal ethics and what pellet being used. Generally, it's not recommended to take anything larger than a raccoon with any break barrel, and some may argue raccoons are beyond the limits... while others... in certain circumstances... have cleanly taken larger critters (edited to avoid conflicts) ... "allegedly"... But that's a whole different can of worms I don't care to open...

But I sure do like these emoji friends...


Also, keep in mind the 350 has a lot of swept volume, it's essentially a 34 long (as in a D34 with elongated compression tube). There's a bit of a snap to the muzzle report. If you have the model with a globe sight and wish to minimize that snap, search out a Weihrauch 16mm slip on moderator with cut out for globe sights (AOA has them occasionally). Otherwise, any 16mm unit or adapter should work if you wish and are willing to give up open sights.

That's about all I've got. Enjoy your new to you gun.

I have owned a couple Diana's, 34 and 48. Great guns!

My first German airgun was a HW95L .22 cal, which I hated for a dozen reasons. The first good German gun I got was a 350 Mag .177 cal, bought second hand. I got the .177 cal simply because it was available, always opting for a .22 cal, ever since my early Gamo Hunter days. But I did shoot my fair share with the gun as is.

350 Mags have a reputation of being hard to shoot accurately, but that's highly subjective. With my first ever outings with it, I made beautiful kills at respectable distances, using the factory open sights. You need to learn your follow through is the biggest lesson, I think. There are people who have used the 350 Mag for really long-distance bigger small game hunting with success, so the accuracy (and power) is there.

The 350 Mag is really long, at full four feet, and I had a little trouble getting used to the cocking cycle starting from way up. I think shorter guys might have an issue here. After getting used to the gun, the reach didn't bother me. As far as cocking effort goes, the 350 Mag is super-easy for the power it makes.

After getting my gun going (degrease, deburr, new piston seal, relube), the 350 Mag was shooting past the speed of sound with midweight pellets. Useless accuracy, of course, at north of 1100fps. It actually wasn't easy to find readily available pellets that did shoot within the hard accuracy limit of 875 fps. Even Baracuda 10.65's left the barrel at 916 fps. The only super-heavy .177 cals I had, RWS Power Bolts, shot really slowly, with a terrible cycle.

Detuning is easy, but I went with full power and a .22 cal barrel like I had always envisioned. Switching calibers is easy with the breakbarrels.

Everything worked better in the bigger cal: way smoother cycle, less muzzle report, much higher KE, and most importantly, no need to hunt for extra-heavy pellets. Now the gun shot FTT 5.55 / 14.66's at 865 fps, for 24.3fpe, perfect! Dianas actually shoot what the manufacturer claims.

My 350 Mag has been left aside for a while, due to ever more springers coming my way, but the gun delivers, big time.

Back when I registered on this site... my stable included a 350 - .177 and 2 other .22 RWS rifles... thus, my screen handle thinking. Today, I have zero RWS rifles, and though they were attractive, decent performers back when I owned them, I made a decision to move on... mostly into pcp and have no regrets, (though I have acquired a Beeman R9 - .177 more recently).

My 350 was a "lightly used" purchase... it was in immaculate condition and functioned as it should've. A very powerful .177 rifle! and quite possibly the reason I sent it down the road, as I never gained confidence in its' shooting consistency with the ammo I experimented with and the time spent attempting to learn the recoil effect. I never tried ammo over 10gr offerings and possibly the heavier ammo 13gr+ may have-could have been best for the power of the rifle?
Hopefully your experience with the 350 will be more fulfilling. Good luck.

I had the 350 and 48 both were too picky on hold, they both could be accurate if shot with care, kept my 34's but mostly moved toward affordable pcps.

First adult AG was 350 Magnum. Clean the barrel. Use heavy pellets. Keep the screws tight. Shoot till your arm falls off!

Bought one of the Gun Parts Corp. NIB .177 350 Mag. Mounted a Hawke 4x12 Vantage on a RWS one piece mount.
Its a great shooting combo. Shooting a variety of heavier pellets under an inch at 50 yards and a few it likes under 1/2 ".
It's tricky in it took awhile to figure out the exact hold it likes. Used to Sheridans and much lower powered spring guns.
Diana 25,27 and the like.Even different from the 48s I have picked up since then. That's the fun of springers in my opinion.

Smithy72, I wish I purchased a few more of those Diana rifles when Numrich (Gun Parts Corp) had them. The pricing was great at the time.

Just Zack 2 said:

Smithy72, I wish I purchased a few more of those Diana rifles when Numrich (Gun Parts Corp) had them. The pricing was great at the time.

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Yes ! I got lucky and bought a .177 34 too !