I'm wanting to get back into air gunning again. Can I ask for some advice please? I've got an old rifle that I'd like to try and sell to put towards a more modern one. It's called an Original 35 .22 Made in Germany and there is a very small 05 77 which I think might be the date of manufacture as I've had it since about mid 80's. Are these old guns worth anything or have they been superseded now by the new gas piston designs?

I had one of those in the 1960's - superb springers.  I think they were made by Milbro (?) until Diana got the Trademark back after WWII....  something like that anyway!  

Shot many a woodpigeon in England with that rifle!  Might be worth a good service (by Ron Young?) and perhaps a keeper?

If you're looking for a new Springer, I highly recommend the Weihrauch models:  HW77, HW95, HW97 or HW98 are all brilliant.

Or are you considering a PCP?

Hi Andy, 

Welcome to the forum - you will find many friendly and knowledgable people here who will willingly share their experiences with air guns.   Doing a quick google search for "original 35 air rifle" turned up a bunch of links that indicate you may have a fine old air gun that with a bit of TLC will be a good as many "modern" guns.

At the end of the day, I guess it comes down to what you want from an air gun.  If you are a bit of a tinkerer like many forum members, you may enjoy taking this gun apart, cleaning, lubricating and reassembling it and getting it to work as well as it can.

There are numerous videos on YouTube covering the processes involved.  A good starting point  is the TbT channel which is run by a guy that makes and sells tuning kits for spring powered air guns.  He can waffle on a bit and covers much more than just tuning air guns but he is very knowledgable about spring powered air guns, and does respond quickly to questions via  email.

There is also Canuck Air - which focuses mostly on servicing spring powered air guns including doing full restorations of neglected guns.   

There are many other YouTube channels, covering most aspects of air gun shooting, but a few of the servicing videos from the two I've mentioned will give a good idea of what is involved so you can decide if you want to go down this path.  Also there are quite a few forum members who service their springers and will share their experiences with you.

On a slightly different tack, some of the forum members are having social weekend near Taumaranui on the 20th-23rd March.  Short notice I know, but I'm sure you would find it very useful to get a good idea of the scope of air gun activities available for you to explore.   More info can be found in the SFW (Social Forum Weekend)  topic in the events forum.

The others have said what I would have said. I would give your gun a good clean, make sure it's firing smoothly, then start putting some pellets through it and familiarise yourself with the feel of it again. You'll then have a good idea of how it's performing. A chrony is a good monitor, but not everyone has one.

I reckon if it groups well at 20 m it must be in reasonably good condition.

But we are all keen to see photos and any mods/work you do on it.

Cheers

Paul.

If I remember correctly "Original" was the name used by the original Diana manufacturer after WW2 when their name and designs were being produced by Milbro in the UK as part of the post-war reparations.  The company was eventually able to buy back the Diana name when Milbro went into liquidation.  Unfortunately their current product is nothing like their old stuff.

I imagine it's a cracking gun that will be far superior in quality to most of what's available these days and my recommendation is also that you send it to Ron at Youngs Airguns for a full service as the seal at least may have have badly deteriorated since it was last used.  It would be a shame to use it as it is and risk damaging the internals. The cost won't be terribly expensive as Ron is very reasonable with his charging and he has many years of experience.

Just a quick history, it came from the UK had it since I was about 15 years old when we lived there in the 80's. Great info KIWITR6 I always wondered why it was called Original and that helps explain it.

I've decided to send it to Rons Airguns as you have said but I contacted him and this is what he told me:

"You will need to courier the air rifle through your local sports store to us.

We will service it and send back the same way"

By sports store does he mean a gun shop that sells airguns?

The only gun shops near me that I know of are Hunting fishing Otaki & Palmy and Gun City Palmy.

I'm guessing these shops will want to charge for their time as well as the courier fee? Tor those who have done this before what did it end up costing you?

Hi Andy,

Some registered firearms dealers will only send or accept guns via another firearms dealer. Some will do this for little or no cost over and above the courier fee while others will charge a "handling fee".   There probably is  firearms dealer in Levin who may be able to help and possibly will be more accommodating than either Gun city or Hunting and Fishing, so worth asking around.

Coming from the UK it is most likely a sub 12 foot pound gun which may sound underpowered compared to many new spring powered air guns in NZ where there is no power limit for spring (or gas ram) powered air guns you an own without requiring a firearms licence.   However there is nothing wrong with an accurate sub 12  air gun.   Power means nothing if you can't consistency hit what you are aiming at.

Here's an idea Andy.  Take it to Keiran at Turners Sports in Feilding - he can send it to Ron and receive it when Ron has serviced it fully for you.

Then when you come up to collect it, you can pop in to my place and we'll put my Chroney on it,  try different pellets in the barrel and get it shooting beautifully. And you can try my Weihrauchs at the same time.... I have ranges here on my lifestyle block.

If that helps, I'll send you a private message (PM) with my contact details, address, etc.?.

I was tempted to put it in a box and courier it myself to AKL but I might end up looking pretty stupid if he doesn't accept it...