RWS D34 Barrel Jam

Sudz

Member
Dec 28, 2024
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My first post. Please be gentle... I have a RWS Diana 34 from 1985 which is still like new. It's been a great rifle and has served me well. Pellets started to hang in the barrel recently. This had never occurred so I was somewhat surprised. I thoroughly cleaned the barrel which made no difference. About every forth pellet would jam. Using my cleaning rod to push a pellet through, I discovered the jam was about 1 1/2" from the muzzle. This happens to be exactly where my muzzle break set screw contacts the barrel. When pushing a pellet through the barrel all goes well until I hit this spot. Drag goes up significanly which I assume explains the jam. Using a borelight the bore looks pristine. So it appears that tightening the set screw on my muzzle break made a distortion in the barrel creating the tight spot??? This is very hard for me to believe this would cause the problem. Any ideas from you guys on what may be going on here?
 
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I'd be more concerned about condition of mainspring, piston seal , and breech seal. Have you access to a chrono? The slight resistance shouldn't stop a pellet?

Suggest you remove the muzzle brake and retest! My hunch still says something is amiss in the compression cycle.

Normally a 34 is a powerhouse ( I've got a tuned 36)
 
Another idea is to push a pellet through the barrel and check it out to see if there are any "strange"wear marks on,like distortion. That is to rule out a problem with the muzzle break. Also, some barrels are choked at that place, which makes it harder to push through.I say the pellet is harder to push through at this spot because of the choked barrel There is the paper text for checking out the breach seal , place small piece of paper at that spot and shoot rifle and see if that paper blows off....
It is like investigating what, why, and what to do to fix the problem.(y)
 
After you check it and make sure there's nothing way out of whack, there is a choke to be considered on some barrels(i have no idea if yours is choked).

There's the cheater steps of cleaning the bore, lapping the bore, and sorting projectiles by size washing /drying/lubing them..... If that's something you want to spend time on. My guess is the power plant side of your gun is tired.
 
Vortex air spring or a votex brand spring spring? If it's a gas spring the pressure might have leaked out.
It's a spring. I've replaced the breech seal so it appears the next move is the main seal. This does appear to be the concensus of the guys reporting back. It's not that old but its highly suspect at this point. Time for a teardown it would appear....

Thanks for your input and all the others who pitched in. At least at this point I have options and a place to start.

Cheers, Sudz
 
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Your set screw did nothing. There is a factory choke induced by the dove tails being pressed in.. There is not a Alan wrench made that would have enough tourque to distort that much steel and not strip the bolt.

As stated ,your piston seal is shot and extreme blow by is happening. New seal fixes it.

That being said might be good time for aftermarket spring and guide.
 
Your set screw did nothing. There is a factory choke induced by the dove tails being pressed in.. There is not a Alan wrench made that would have enough tourque to distort that much steel and not strip the bolt.

As stated ,your piston seal is shot and extreme blow by is happening. New seal fixes it.

That being said might be good time for aftermarket spring and guide.
Thanks for the set screw comment. I really was having a hard time imaging this could damage a barrel. I'm planning on replacing the seals. Since I have an older delrin Vortex kit which has served me well, I will go back with their seal. Assume this is an appropriate move to make?
Cheers...
 
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I got the gun tore down and its obvious the main seal is shot. This is from an older Vortex kit with delrin sleve and top hat. The seal itself is a two part affair. Consist of a red plastic carrier with a plain looking o-ring. Everthing looks good with the exception of the seal. I have observed that the spring will not come out of the delrin sleve. Is this a concern?

I'll be orderring the "current" seal from Vortex. If I should find it neccessary to replace the Vortex spring and sleve, I'm considering going with the ARH.

All comments welcome.... :)
 
I got the gun tore down and its obvious the main seal is shot. This is from an older Vortex kit with delrin sleve and top hat. The seal itself is a two part affair. Consist of a red plastic carrier with a plain looking o-ring. Everthing looks good with the exception of the seal. I have observed that the spring will not come out of the delrin sleve. Is this a concern?

I'll be orderring the "current" seal from Vortex. If I should find it neccessary to replace the Vortex spring and sleve, I'm considering going with the ARH.

All comments welcome.... :)
The spring will come out. They come out for me. Tom should be able to sell you just the spring if it has a few thou shots on it it's probably tired. A couple ways to get the guide off. I took the Vortek guide off from an HW50 and an HW30 PG3 kit before.
If you just want a spring (and seal), take the spring off before ordering to be sure you can do it successfully first.