Diana 350 arrived! And trouble...

[AG72]

Today she arrived, my 350 in 177 cal, first impression: she is a tall girl! But nice to hug, trigger is fantastic, one of the best i have feldt, non of my weihrauches come close, the fwb300 is better but this come second. But i found a problem right away, atleast i think it is a problem, the pellets doesn't seat, half the skirt stick out of the breech, atleast the RWS superdomes do,JSB not so much but litle anyway, and when i close the barrel and open again there is a mark on the pellet and it looks bendt a bit, i have mailed the seller and wait for a answer but what do you guys think?  I have not shot and see how accurasy is, just shot in the safetybox, could this be adressed with a file or is it to much wrong?  Pictures of pellet before and after the barrel is closed

[Roadworthy]

Some guys use a AA battery to seat the pellet.  I used an old toothbrush and some #10 solid wire to create a pellet seating tool as some of my guns do have tight breeches.

[AG72]

God idea! The seller contacted me and said it was a common "problem" with the 350 and he used a pen to seat the pellets that are a bit harder built

[mpbby]

I have exactly the same trouble with a 350 .22, but only when I use the heavier pellets JSB Monster 5.52 and Straton 5.51, both 25.39 gr.  No problems with HN FTT 5.53 14.66 gr or HN Baracuda Match 5.51 21 gr.

As I rarely use the heavier ones, also for a few shots, I improvised a "plastic tip", and give a very tiny tap, to push them entirely. Maybe it's time to an improvement with the toothbrush..

[Roadworthy]

For those wanting to try the toothbrush seater - I make them by the pellet I plan to use.  The wire pushes on the center of the pellet.  I figure the height so the toothbrush body stops when it hits the breech.  In that way I seat in to the depth I wish every time.
Note - different brands and types of pellets do not have the same depth from skirt end to internal body. 

I forgot to mention, my seater works on fixed barrel guns, too.  That's why I put the curve at the end.

[Gertrude]

Here's another option you might find useful.

[Xraycer]

Can't seem to find them any more, but I have a Beeman steel pellet seater, which works very well in seating pellets into the breech. I'm thinking that a ball-end hex wrench, of appropriate size, would also work well.

[Jeff Marshall]

Using an object to seat pellets requires an extra step, and requires one to have to handle an extra object, it is not handy and slows down the entire loading procedure.

I recommend chamferring (sp?) the breech opening with small conical rotary grinding stones like comes with a dremel type tool.

Select a small one that has a diameter slightly bigger than the bore size. chuck it into a cordless drill that will operate at a really slow speed.

Insert the conical portion into the breech opening and make sure to hold it straight in relation to the bore.

The conical stone will remove material from the whole circumference of the breech, but operate it in such a way that it favors removal from the top of the breech opening.  The face of the breech block is slanted and that is why there is a problem with pellet seating all the way. Don't use heavy pressure, and don't use high speed.

Then select a very small spherical rotary grinding stone, and open it up a bit more with that.

With both stones, moving the drill in a circular manner, will make your grinding stones last longer, it spreads out the wear on the stone instead of
immediately grooving it. The stones will do a few breeches, and then need to be trashed or maybe reshaped.

This allows full seating with your finger with no added tool, and with no pellet skirt damage.

Don't damage the breech seal, and it may be a good idea to run a patch through the bore to remove grinding residue.

This operation is very easy to do, works great and does not reduce accuracy. It only takes a few minutes.

It works with any type breech that may be accessed, but particularly well with
slanted breech block guns like Diana's.

I hope this helps and makes sense.   

[Louis Loria II]

I made a pellet seater from brass 8-32 hardware and the middle of a turnbuckle. It works well for fixed barrel.

[AG72]

Great idéas!

[WolfyW]

Had the same problem on a .22 cal D34, plus an uneven breech chamfer. Went with the above mentioned chamfer process and moved on to shoot good groups.

[UlteriorModem]

I just use an old ball point pen, with the ink tube removed.

Careful though push too hard and it will run up the barrel a little 

With practice you can get a feel for it and seat all purdy!

I don't have to do it 'every' pellet that comes out of the pellet pen. But for those that do not seat well...

[Yogi]

Yes the chamfer on the breech block, plus a tight leede, often leaves the bottom part of the pellet skirt exposed.
I use a brass bore brush and some non-embedding JB bore paste to open up the leede a little.  Now all my pellets sit flush at the bottom of their skirts and a mm deep at the top part of their skirt.  Much easier that trying to ram all the pellets home....

-Y

[makarov76]

I didn’t read all the posts but my 34 did this I had to chamfer it to my liking’
I do this to all my breeches to make a smooth pop or flow into the lands-n-grooves & polish with 1000 grit to a mirror shine’

[AG72]

First pellet testing done, 15 meters only cause it was stormy weather today so going to do some longer distance test later, JSB 10.34 was the winner and rws superdomes second, Crosman pellets shot about the same, 1 inch pattern

[Jeff Marshall]

Yes the chamfer on the breech block, plus a tight leede, often leaves the bottom part of the pellet skirt exposed.
I use a brass bore brush and some non-embedding JB bore paste to open up the leede a little.  Now all my pellets sit flush at the bottom of their skirts and a mm deep at the top part of their skirt.  Much easier that trying to ram all the pellets home....

-Y

Hi Yogi,
Please go into more detail about this JB/brush method.

I had a cheap .22 caliber B2 air rifle that had a tight spot in the bore, and the breech was also tight.

I was able to correct this by using a very tight patch
on a cleaning rod and aggressive valve grinding compound; it took a lot of elbow grease.
After correcting the barrel and going through the rest of the gun it became a fine shooter. Really surprised me!

Now regarding your method; I thought JB bore paste was gentle and removed little metal?
I have never used it, but have used similar products, and even toothpaste.
 I thought that bore brushes were never to be pushed partly through the bore
and then reversed; and that doing so causes them to become jammed or stuck in the bore or cause damage to the brush?
It seems that this method would be very time consuming.

I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this process, maybe there's something I'm missing.

Thanks!

[Yogi]

soft brass brush.  I had one with a cheap cleaning kit.  JB non-Embedding, load it up, scrub away at the leede(opening in breech bloch were you put in the pellet).  Scrub at an app. 45 degree angle to opening.  In and out, all around, repeat.  Think of it as valve lapping on a car engine.

Like I said when finished, bottom of skirt is flush with breech face, top of skirt is 1mm deepset.  Why Diana's have a negatively canted brick block face I do not know.

As it sounds like you have done:  push a pellet through your barrel.  I use a thin wooden bowl for this.  Then do the same thing at the tight spots.  Or break barrels you can go back and forth, on side cockers and under levers you can only go forth.
Hope this helps,

Yogi

[Extreme]

First pellet testing done, 15 meters only cause it was stormy weather today so going to do some longer distance test later, JSB 10.34 was the winner and rws superdomes second, Crosman pellets shot about the same, 1 inch pattern

   That's good shooting open sites with a magnum springer.

Good Shooting Brother Man

[AG72]

First pellet testing done, 15 meters only cause it was stormy weather today so going to do some longer distance test later, JSB 10.34 was the winner and rws superdomes second, Crosman pellets shot about the same, 1 inch pattern

   That's good shooting open sites with a magnum springer.

Good Shooting Brother Man

Thank you! The trigger on it is perfect so it doesn't feel like shooting a magnum springer, there is recoil but i am used to shoot with the Hatsan 125 so that helps with that

[dwalk]

all good  ideas...

i constructed one similar to the one made by Louis Loria II