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Diana 35 - More than 50 Years Old

Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 6:18 pm
by nash
Hi guyz...

My cousin discovered a Diana 35 lying somewhere in his ancestral home... which his father claimed was owned by his grand father and must be more than 50 years old as he himself used it in the early 70s.... I was wondering whether Diana air rifles were availabe in the 1950's in India...

he brought that to my home.. and to my amazement its still working great..... it even has a Diana 35 Logo on it... The Blueing is completely gone.... its become a bit rusty.... the stock has loads of scratches but still looks good.... The trigger pull and the power still seems great....

jus have a look guyz... ( Sorry.. for the quality of the pics )...

Re: Diana 35 - More than 50 Years Old

Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 6:39 pm
by rsuresh
Nash,

Can you locate the serial number ? if you can , send the serial number to the Diana people they may send you the details of the gun !

Hope this helps to get a little background and the year of manufacture of this gun.

Re: Diana 35 - More than 50 Years Old

Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 6:43 pm
by nash
The gun is very rusty ... i could see the diana logo only after i thoroughly cleaned rubbed the barrel with salt paper.... the serial number is not visible at all..

Re: Diana 35 - More than 50 Years Old

Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 10:50 pm
by PRITAM PATEL
nash wrote:Hi guyz...

.. The trigger pull and the power still seems great....

jus have a look guyz... ( Sorry.. for the quality of the pics )...
I would suggest not to shot any further, go for complete overhaul,

if possible have electro-rust removal (goggle some, its easy 8th grade chemistry) get some finish, new leather washer, breech seal, new main spring and back in business,

its called restoring history and i m sure it will give you deep satisfaction other than just shooting it ( I m restoring a 82 make model35 since last three months and I m enjoying the project)

regards

pritam

Re: Diana 35 - More than 50 Years Old

Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 11:18 pm
by fantumfan2003
Yes they are very sturdy. Most springers are. I have one from 1968. If you need any help with it at all, , give me a shout here

M.

Re: Diana 35 - More than 50 Years Old

Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2010 12:14 am
by nash
sure fantum... would be great to have ur guidance...

I'm completely a newbie when it comes to air guns...

I would luv to restore this gun... but kinda blank as to what i need to do first..

just removed the stock to see what i could do but didn't have the guts or the know-how to go any further... so fixed it back...

any suggestion/advice would be great...

Thanks is advance guyz...

regards..
Nash..

Re: Diana 35 - More than 50 Years Old

Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2010 4:43 pm
by fantumfan2003
Nash,

First you need to disassemble the gun and rid all the parts of rust. I'll help you in taking it apart as you may not have tools to do this, particularly a spring compressor. Where are you in Mumbai ?

Check your PM

M.

Re: Diana 35 - More than 50 Years Old

Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2010 4:50 pm
by nash
Hi fantum..

I'm in chennai.. How I wish I could bring this gun to u..

Re: Diana 35 - More than 50 Years Old

Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2010 4:50 pm
by Big Daddy
Beauty...thats what it is. Know of a guy in Secunderabad who would love to strip your gun and bring her back to glory :lol: . You there giant!!!!

BD

Re: Diana 35 - More than 50 Years Old

Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2010 4:54 pm
by nash
Yeah... It'll be jus wonderful if I could restore this beauty..

Re: Diana 35 - More than 50 Years Old

Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2010 7:20 pm
by Katana
Nash,

I have a Diana 25 in .177 that belonged to my father (dunno when it was purchased, he was born in 1939) that he used in his childhood. I too used it in my childhood and then it was brought out from retirement for my son, who is 9! And, yes, it still works pretty good!. Quite accurate still, altough it would do with som botox treatments! :lol:

Re: Diana 35 - More than 50 Years Old

Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 8:20 pm
by snIPer
Good find. do restore it and put up pics of the process as you go :-).

Do not use Sand Paper to remove rust - remove all the parts and soak the rusted parts in thinner - the rust will leave - after that you can use fine sand paper and smoothen it out. then you can go in for blueing or buy a can of spray paint and paint it up (cheaper option of 200 bucks).
/S/

Re: Diana 35 - More than 50 Years Old

Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 8:37 pm
by ragav
Hi,
If you need help in restoring it I'd be glad to help. I have quite a bit of experience.
rgds,
ragav :wink:

Re: Diana 35 - More than 50 Years Old

Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 9:43 pm
by t20
ragav wrote:Hi,
If you need help in restoring it I'd be glad to help. I have quite a bit of experience.
rgds,
ragav :wink:
where are you located buddy? I have one d35 too never thought I can do anything with it but if you help me to do tuning then perhaps it would be nice project to spend weekend with.

Re: Diana 35 - More than 50 Years Old

Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 10:41 pm
by nash
Where ru from ragav..