Diana Model 35 - purchased in the early 50s

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Dashmen1

Member
Nov 12, 2023
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Grand Rapids
Greetings. New member and first post. I am new to air guns as I recently acquired a Diana Model 35 from my father-in-law. I believe he purchased it in, what was then, West Germany around 1950. It has seen little use, and has been well stored. It probably has not been fired in 10-15 years until one recent test cock and pull with no ordinance. That may have been a dumb move on my part as I'm not sure what, if any, maintenance has been performed. I assume that good seals are key to a compressed air rifle.
I intend to keep it and explore the air gun world. Starter questions:

When I did the one test fire. It had a sharp report and a healthy kick. How to lubricate?
As a new guy, would it be wise to take this to my local vintage gunny for a once over?

I'm also curious about the manufacture date as from what I have read so far, there have been several mods to the gun before it was discontinued/replaced in the 80s. It does not have a manufactured date anywhere on the metal body. There is a lovely image of a woman (statue?) dropping her bow and arrow while her airgun overhead.

Any other advice for the novice would be appreciated. Thanks, Daniel
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Beautiful. I have one from the late 60’s, wonderful guns. Hopefully the dry fire didn’t cause any issues. If you pulled the trigger without a pellet in it that’s the reason for the loud report and sharp recoil. These are very civilized guns normally. Will have a leather seal and I assume a 3 ball sear trigger if it’s all original. Best bet is to re-do this post in the Traditional Airguns section. Some guys there that know a lot about these old Diana springers.
 
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Diana started the date stamping in the early 1960's - your lovely older one was probably made a few years before that. The slender stock with finger-groove fore end and nice solid aluminum trigger blade are identifiers.

The lovely lady is, naturally - Diana - Roman goddess of the hunt. Seen here tossing down her obsolete bow and arrow, and holding up the marvelous new AIR RIFLE...!! Gotta be the greatest airgun logo ever! :D

The model 35 was first made in the early 1930's. Manufacture stopped for the war, and then a re-designed model 35 with the famous "ball sear" trigger came out in the early 1950's. The post-war gun was made until about 1983.

This pic is model 35's from three different eras. Top to bottom, an "RWS model 35," US import from 1980; a late-50's "Diana 35/b," like yours with special target sights; and a pre-war "Diana model 35," with walnut stock and excellent two-state "striker" type trigger.

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cjtamu said:
Beautiful. I have one from the late 60’s, wonderful guns. Hopefully the dry fire didn’t cause any issues. If you pulled the trigger without a pellet in it that’s the reason for the loud report and sharp recoil. These are very civilized guns normally. Will have a leather seal and I assume a 3 ball sear trigger if it’s all original. Best bet is to re-do this post in the Traditional Airguns section. Some guys there that know a lot about these old Diana springers.
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Thanks so much for the advice!
 
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MDriskill said:
Diana started the date stamping in the early 1960's - your lovely older one was probably made a few years before that. The slender stock with finger-groove fore end and nice solid aluminum trigger blade are identifiers.

The lovely lady is, naturally - Diana - Roman goddess of the hunt. Seen here tossing down her obsolete bow and arrow, and holding up the marvelous new AIR RIFLE...!! Gotta be the greatest airgun logo ever! :D

The model 35 was first made in the early 1930's. Manufacture stopped for the war, and then a re-designed model 35 with the famous "ball sear" trigger came out in the early 1950's. The post-war gun was made until about 1983.

This pic is model 35's from three different eras. Top to bottom, an "RWS model 35," US import from 1980; a late-50's "Diana 35/b," like yours with special target sights; and a pre-war "Diana model 35," with walnut stock and excellent two-state "striker" type trigger.

View attachment 406247
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Wow, what a nice collection!
 
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Dashmen1 said:
Wow, what a nice collection!
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Cool, thanks for the Diana logo history. Love that!
spysir said:
Hope you do not mean fired without pellet. Do not do that!
You may find some helpfull info here:
https://forum.vintageairgunsgallery.com/pre-war-diana-air-rifles/diana-model-35/ where to look for numbers, odd variants...
Several experts on these on this forum hopefully one comes along soon. You might alo try a search in the "traditional airguns" section.

Looks nice.

John
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Thanks, John!
 
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Diana is in great shape ,, there are quite a few air gunners in MI , hopefully they will jump in . Kalamazoo has a air gun show i go to .
DO NOT fire it again , or at least get some pellets first b4 you try it again . I would do that, just wally world crossmans will be fine .
The gun should be taken apart and at the very least the leather seal should be re- soaked.
 
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beerthief said:
The gun should be taken apart and at the very least the leather seal should be re- soaked.
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And now you’ve opened up that can of worms LOL. You’ll get a lot of advice about what to soak it in. For that gun at its stock power level Abbey SM50 is good because it won’t diesel. A lot of people will recommend neatsfoot oil. Works well. But too much in that gun could cause dieseling. MDriskill posted above and is one of the folks I had in mind who know a lot about these old Dianas. Helped immensely with mine.
 
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