Thoughts on peep/diopter on Diana 350?

[JNG]

I recently picked up one of the Numrich .177 Diana Premium 350 Magnums.   It appears as though it will be a fantastic .177 powerhouse of a springer. We all know 'magnum' air rifles can play havoc with even good mounts/rings and optics. I'm seriously contemplating removing the rear sight and attempting to find and successfully install a peep/diopter sight.  I LIKE open sights, even with powderburners. Most of my air rifles have open/peep sights. Currently only two have optics. I have some experience with the Diana ZR mount. I have one on my Diana 430L. Have had not one issue with it. But that is on a 12fpe rifle, not a 22fpe rifle. I'm not sure if I really want to play the game of scope/mount creep, tore up scope rails, trashed optics, etc. I'm not sure the ZR mount is up to the task on the 350M. I have several Williams conventional rear sights and peeps on several of my powderburners. I like them and have had great success with them afield.

So, has anyone put a peep on the 350M? Or even a 34? What works? What does not? I know the Williams FP AG is a likely candidate, but it seems either Williams has discontinued it or it is a special run sort of thing. They still offer the 5D peep.  High line of sight model or low line of sight model? My 350M has the traditional sort of Diana sights as opposed to the fiber optic type if that matters.

Even if you have not 'peeped' a 350M (or a 34), but have peeped a similar break barrel from HW or one of Diana's side levers or underlevers, please offer your opinions too!

FWIW- The recoil is significant on my particular 350M. It also seems to be a 'hot' one as well. After several shooting sessions and quite a few pellets, old HN/Beeman Barracuda/Kodiaks are averaging 993.46 fps with an extreme spread of 11.5fps three foot from the muzzle. Old boxed CP heavies are averaging 989.44fps with an extreme spread of 6.5fps. Rifle is also one of the best in fit finish I've seen from Diana, and I've seen a lot from Diana (I love em!). Numrich had 34 left when I called to inquire. So as of mine shipping they still had 33. I consider mine to be a heck of a steal!

[Roadworthy]

FWIW I have the ZR mount on my 460 with zero issues so far.  I did lube its rails with molybdenum disulfide powder but graphite would probably work equally well.  If you do choose to remove the rear sight put set screws into the holes to prevent dirt and dust buildup in case you ever want to put the stock sight back.  Put the stock sight in a safe, easily remembered location.  They can be hard to come by and they're NOT cheap.

[RedFeather]

You might try Amazon for the William's target airgun sight. I bought one from there a couple months back.

Here's an old Dianawerk post on the 350 with peep. The Williams sight is mentioned a ways down.

[JNG]

@Redfeather

link to the dianawerk thread?

[MDriskill]

One of my favorites for older Dianas are vintage Anschutz steel "Universal" match diopter sights. They are relatively small and light by match standards, and the long flexible mounting rails combine tremendous grip with fine position adjustment. All of them use the standard German 9.5mm x 1.0mm eyepiece thread, so will take the huge range of aftermarket adjustable irises, etc.

FULL DISCLOSURE: 1) I own tons of match sights...but have never put one on a really powerful springer. 2) Hector Medina has stated he's seen Anschutz sights come apart on springer sporters! And I would certainly avoid the alloy-bodied ones on a 350, but the steel ones are built like little anvils, designed to also work on center fire rifles.

Left to right in this pic: Anschutz model 6705 (alloy); 6700 (steel); early 6702 (steel, but the fiddly clear adjustment scale might be something else to avoid); later 6702 (steel).



Note - as far as I can tell, no match diopter ever made by Diana themselves will fit the rails on current models. Which is probably good! Designed for the classic Giss recoilless match rifles and 700 FPS-class sporters, their securement system is absolutely too weak for a hard recoiling gun.

[RedFeather]

Dang it! I blame it on Covid!

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/thedianawerkcollective/viewtopic.php?p=11461#p11461

I think you would need a pretty tall front sight with one of those 10M target sights.

[phoebeisis]

Jim

I just got a Diana 350 magnum-same Numrich deal-arrived 3-4 daya ago. I LOVE IT-AND SHOOT GREAT WITH IT.

Great rifle-I am not a good shot-always had bad eyes-born without depth perception and have refractive problems-and dry eye

I think that front GLOBE SIGHT-

It acts like a  sorta' a GIGANTIC PEEP SIGHT- 40 inches from my eye-my sight picture is better than it has ever been.

Never had-or even heard of a GLOBE sight before-but this cannon shoots great

DESPITE the handicap of 5.2 grain pellets-told they won't shoot as accurately because super sonic-then trans sonic

I suspect they might never actually drop below 1100 FPS at 10 meters

In any case it shoots great-

And I like the T06 trigger-I shoot better  with it  than with the smoother Record HW77K or record clone TX200 short barrel

I actually prefer more 2nd stage movement and resistance than the Record gives

I also prefer open sights-and only shoot standing freehand-no rests-despite my eye problems which are really helped by a scope-

I have a Diana Bullseye on the TX200 with a 20 year old Nikon scope-The Bullseye mount was modified by Hector-not sure what he did but it works great-and the $200(20 years ago)

Nikon hasn't broken.I have no idea if the nikon-plain Jane 3x9 40 mm is a "good scope" works ok-not fancy seems fine to me-but I have much fancier looking made in china GIANT

SCOPES that were $40 or so-they weigh a ton-I hate them-who needs a 100 lbs scope(actually 1.5 lbs-but too darned heavy-the TX 200 was  about 11 lbs with the big scope and

Bullseye mount-under 10.5 with Nikon
lbs
The NIKON not fancy but nice and clear

Luck

Charlie

[MDriskill]

I think you would need a pretty tall front sight with one of those 10M target sights.

Definitely something to check, but hopefully not needed. The Anschutz sights have a good range of vertical adjustment, and will go as low as the Williams FP-AG. I've used them on all sorts of sporters with no problems (but, again - have never put one on something like the 350).

[JNG]

Decided to go ahead with the peep instead of a scope. Actually found a retailer who had the Williams FP-AG-TK in stock. Will update when sight arrives.

[cw308]

JNG
     When your Williams FP AG TK arrives it will have a .093 aperture good for general use. You can look into the adjustable aperture , I tried the Merit but for alittle more the Gehmann adjustable iris is much better in my opinion. It's the Redfield/Parker Hale iris with a 7/32x40 thread for the Williams base. Most likely elevation will be at mid range setting with your front sight. I have it on my HW95 , rock solid. I shoot at 10 yards indoors and use it only for target shooting.

PS: You can call Williams and try the .050 Long Shank ghost ring aperture for target shooting at a lesser cost  You will have to remove the rear sight on your Giana , I just put a strip of black electrical tape to cover the holes.

Chris

[Yogi]

JNG
     When your Williams FP AG TK arrives it will have a .093 aperture good for general use. You can look into the adjustable aperture , I tried the Merit but for alittle more the Gehmann adjustable iris is much better in my opinion. It's the Redfield/Parker Hale iris with a 7/32x40 thread for the Williams base. Most likely elevation will be at mid range setting with your front sight. I have it on my HW95 , rock solid. I shoot at 10 yards indoors and use it only for target shooting.

PS: You can call Williams and try the .050 Long Shank ghost ring aperture for target shooting at a lesser cost  You will have to remove the rear sight on your Giana , I just put a strip of black electrical tape to cover the holes.

Chris

Great advice.   Depending on your budget and eyesight, I would suggest starting with the larger William rear ring.

-Y

[RedFeather]

A see if you can find a circle insert for the front, too.

Dang, I'm still resisting one of those 350's. Must....stay....strong...