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The DIANA 34 EMS (Easy Modular System).- Chap. 1

6/13/2021

22 Comments

 

A new breed of Break-Barrel Piston rifle

Back in 2016 (that is already 5 years ago!) When I met Tobias Schmidt for the second time at Pyramyd Air Cup, we started toying around with ideas for the future of DIANA.
During the long hours of talks and idea sharing, we developed a respect and friendship that I am glad to be able to say that has survived the changing circumstances of life.
In subsequent years, we attended several IWA's and PAC's and our long drives to and from those events were usually spent brainstorming about the products and the markets.
About 2018, when we drove from Maryland to Ohio together, we started discussing in earnest what the EMS COULD mean to the shooters. Before that, it had been mainly a manufacturing simplification system, where the products could be built using common parts and only some parts would differentiate the versions.
Through our conversations, Tobias saw the value that the system could bring to the market; specifically, the US market that has a long tradition of "home tinkering" and enjoys a freedom not granted to citizens of other countries to CREATE our own rifles.
And so the "Easy Manufacturing System" became the "Easy Modular System" with a focus more towards the user than to the maker.

Given the HUGE opportunity that designing a new platform brought, we looked at every detail and every nook and cranny of the rifle, from the sights to the butt plate.

And when we were almost ready to release the first pre-production steps (first one series of 10 rifles, then a series of a 100), to then go into production at full pace, CoViD struck.

This disease/pandemic has brought different responses from different countries. MOST have opted to limit people's mobility and contact, some have opted to do nothing beyond putting the responsibility in the citizen's shoulders. Others started with a lenient attitude only to go into panic when hospitals filled overnight.

But in all aspects, it has been mostly "social distancing" what has prevailed.

In a production environment, "social distancing" carries a lot of collateral effects.
Things don't get transferred as fast and as completely as when there is face to face contact.
Things take, at least, twice as long (if not four times as long).
There are more errors and more problems that could have been solved, but were not, because people are not REALLY working together.

All our plans to release the whole suite of parts and accessories simultaneously with the guns have gone out the window. Though SOME parts are ALREADY available. And the reason is simple:

EMS builds onto the excellent results of the NTec series by using the NTec piston and trigger block; and then enhancing the architecture of the gun completely.

There are three "reviews" of the EMS currently published:

https://hardairmagazine.com/reviews/ham-exclusive-first-diana-34-ems-test-review/ 

https://www.airgunsofarizona.com/blog/2021/02/theres-a-surprise-at-aoa-the-new-diana-34-ems.html 

https://airghandi.de/en/diana-34-ems-air-rifle-my-test-and-review/
This last review has a video (in German), that is quite understandable even if you do not speak German.

As good as the reviews are from a consumer perspective, there is a LOT more going on and I will try to touch on some points that seem to me to be of importance, yet ignored by the reviews in favour of velocity numbers and pellet tests. IF there is enough interest, perhaps we can post a complete analysis of the differences and the real advantages of the new architecture.

A typical complaint in the fora, usually by people who are "keyboard shooters" more than the real thing, has been that the parts to upgrade the guns are not yet available, but that is not completely true, and in this blog entry we will look into an upgrade that CAN be performed with a part in the current list of spares from DIANA.

From Steel to Gas Spring

As we have mentioned above, the EMS builds on the success of the NTec rifles (mainly the 340 NTec) by using the NTec piston (that is stemless), and the T-06 NTec trigger (different from the T-06 Stemmed piston trigger).

​But, let's get started:
Picture
This is a 0.22" cal 34 EMS as they come out of the box.
The "Classic" version of the stock is the one currently available. IF you compare it to an old 34 "Classic" you will see that this stock is slightly more slender, and that the comb is a bit higher
This puts the recoil more in line with the center/shoulder point of contact to the butt plate, and so, the shootability of the gun gains because there is less "jump" to the gun when the piston is released.
This is something that has already been identified by HAM's technical reviewer, my friend Eric Brewer.

Picture
The front sight is a modern unit with fiber optic "pipe". It is held in place with the traditional grub screw from the top and a nut at the front. And NO the synthetic cover is NOT the holding nut, it is a threaded cover and thread protector of the ½"-20 UNF thread at the barrel's muzzle.
Picture
This is the real nut. Steel. It takes a 15 mm's slim wrench to losen it properly.
Picture
The rear sight is an interesting element.
With dual fiber optic pipes, it is adjustable for both windage and elevation and the screws have re-assuring "clicks" that tell you that the screws will not move on their own, as well as allowing to count the variation you are incorporating in the LOS.
You can also appreciate here the fork adjustment screw and nut, they both take a 5 mm's Allen wrench. Screw is on the left hand side, nut is on the right, and underneath are real nord-loc washers. IF your forks are "Too tight" shoot the gun at least 100 shots before deciding to losen the arrangement. In any case, you do not need to take the stock out to adjust the breech-block to fork tension.
Another thing to note is that all 34 EMS's are issued with the Serial Number in TWO locations: at the fork as you can see from the picture, but also in the barrel, so that people can know if a gun is keeping its original barrel or not.

Picture
As you can see, the sight picture is quite usable. Shooting with both eyes open is possible and reasonably accurate.
Picture
With the sights removed, now we can remove the stock and put the gun in the spring compressor.
Picture
To remove the stock there are two forearm screws and a trigger guard/block screw. In the picture above, you can see that the forearm screws are ANGLED into the compression tube finishing block. Something that is shared with some of the best airguns in history.
For the savvy shooter, this allows some degree of "tuning" because the tension between stock and action can be regulated in a solid manner. This could also be done with the "old" 34, but now the degree of adjustment is one degree of freedom better.

Picture
The EMS has a compound cocking linkage, which was first used in the 350 Magnum, the compound linkage reduces the Peak Cocking Force (PCF), AND allows an easier disassembly/piston extraction for maintenance or upgrade purposes.
Picture
This is what you find in the underbelly
Picture
This is how the linkage pops-up
Picture
And you simply remove the linkage from the piston. That allows the piston to be removed without having to disassemble the whole linkage from the barrel, as used to be the case with the "old" 34.
Picture
This is the T06NTec trigger block. You can clearly see the steel main spring and the rear guide inside the main tube.
The T06Ntec trigger is an interference trigger. Meaning that there is a ramp that rises and locks into the slot at the skirt of the piston. When the trigger is released, the ramp "falls" out of the way.
It is an incredibly fast trigger, especially useful for offhand shots.
Picture
Once the rear dust cover is removed, and the compressor has taken all the stress from the closing pins, the dummy pins can be inserted and the trigger unit can be slid back to reveal the spring,  and the rear guide.
Removing the whole spring lets you access the front guide.
Picture
This is what you have to get out of the gun, from left to right: Front guide, spring, rear guide.
The front guide is a solid piece of steel, and adds considerable weight to the piston. Once that guide is removed the gun's power plant is "skewed" towards lighter pellets.
This front guide can be replaced with an Anti-Bounce unit, but that is a custom project we may talk about in a future entry.
In the trigger you will find a simple allen headed screw that needs to be removed.
Picture
Here you can see the screw that acts as solid support for the rear guide. You can also see in the bottom of the trigger unit the "ramp" that locks into the piston slot, when that ramp falls, the piston flies forward.
Picture
Once that screw is out, you can then simply screw the NTec gas spring into the trigger unit.
I would STRONGLY recommend using Vibra Tite by applying to the thread and then letting it dry. THEN assembling the NTec gas spring to the T06NTec trigger block.
Picture
The "button" at the end of the stem in the gas spring needs to fit into this recess in the piston's head.
Picture
And you need to ensure that everything is properly aligned.
When everything is a go, you simply insert the trigger/gas spring assembly, properly seated into the piston, into the gun. I STRONGLY recommend using shim material to prevent the cuts in the mechanisms tube from scoring/cutting/hurting the piston seal.
​
Picture
If you want to de-burr the edges prior to assembly, do use the "quintessential" tool of rifle-making. It's called a "riffler file" and nowadays the diamond versions are not that expensive. Get a proper one and learn to use it (rifflers are used by pulling, as opposed to files that are used by both pushing and pulling). It will save you a lot of headaches.
Picture
Put everything in, pop the cocking linkage in its place, put the gun in the spring compressor, compress the gas spring, put in the action closing pins, put the dust cover.
Assemble the stock to the gun, taking care to glue some flat washers to the bottom of the recesses so as to protect the wood from the star washer chewing the stock to death.
​
​And test.
Picture
With the NTec gas spring, it takes a meager 30½ lbs of PCF to fully cock the gun.
Testing different pellets at short range will give you an idea of which pellets to try at long range.
Picture
The three pellets that are outstanding in this particular example are the JSB's 16's, the 14.3's and the GTO's at 11.75 grs.
The Crosman, FTT's,  and other pellets simply did not "jive" with this barrel. Perhaps in the future, once the full 500 shots "running in" has been accomplished things may change a little.
Picture
While the JSB 16's behaved better, the GTO's perhaps need more work.
The JSB's yielded 15 ft-lbs, while the GTO's yielded upwards of 17 ft-lbs
Picture
So, for "real-life" (meaning lead) pellets the conversion complies with the catalog specs, using the GTO's (which are not bad as a hunting pellet out to about 40 yards), it easily exceeds the catalog specs.
This rifle is now equipped with a fixed shroud that still allows the tuning of the muzzle harmonics, so once the user defines exactly what he wants to do with the gun, some fine tuning is possible to achieve the best accuracy with the pellet he chooses.
Picture
While the rifle may seem a bit too long, remember that there will be short barrels available in the future.
In our tests, the length of the barrel is not as crucial to the energy delivered to the pellet as in the PCP's.

The conversion itself took all of 20 minutes to do and I think it is achievable by anyone that can change a spring or a piston seal. I do believe that it complies with the "design intent" when we set-out to make a gun that was easy to be "converted" to what each shooter wanted.

As this pandemic eases and we learn to live in the "new normal", I hope that more and more of the planned accessories and tuning elements will become available.
For the time being, I have secured 8 gas springs to do this conversion, if you are interested, drop me a line through the contact page.

Keep well and shoot straight!





HM
22 Comments
Thomas Marshall
6/16/2021 02:06:43

Thanks for putting this together. I still have a few things to learn about the EMS. The changes are much deeper than adapting the NTEC trigger and piston to the old 34 Classic and assigning the new suffix of EMS.

Reply
Hector Medina
6/16/2021 10:24:03

My pleasure Tom!

Yes, as you are well aware, being an experienced airgunner, SMALL things make BIG changes.



HM

Reply
Bill H
6/19/2021 22:43:09

It would appear that the piston doesn’t have to be removed to do the conversion? I say this from the point of view of saving the OEM piston seal from re-insertion damage. On that subject, what are you using for the shim material that you mentioned to protect the piston seal during the replacement?

Reply
Hector Medina
6/20/2021 15:55:44

Bill;
Thanks for reading!

You are right, there is no need to remove the piston for the conversion.
Just make sure that the "button" at the end of the gas spring stem is centered in the piston when you assemble the gun.
If you don't, the first cocking will be a little harder and a loud click will tell you that the button has dropped into its place.

You can use something like this:

https://www.msdiscounttool.com/catalog/product_info.php?csv=gg&products_id=105406

To cut a 20 mm's wide, 25 cms long piece to which you can add a wooden handle that leaves 20 cms useful length.

Keep well and shoot straight!




HM

Reply
Drew Simpson
6/22/2021 17:11:43

I have a liking for Diana 34's and picked up a EMS's in each calibre fairly recently. The smoothness upon cocking is very noticeable vs the older models and the firing cycle is as good as a well sorted older 34 but with a slight increase in noise both internally and at the muzzle.
Im not at all sure what the benefits of the very long front guide is and would be keen to know. It seems to mimic the rod of the gas strut and I'd imagine its smaller diameter allows it to push into the rear guide to an extent when the gun is cocked. Im running mine standard at present but the front guide will go at some point as I suspect the gun will be quieter with just a steel top hat in its place. To be clear I cannot feel any resonance in the guns but my ears seem to be picking up something in there.
By the way, Im in the UK and my EMS's are running 10.5 and 11.2 fpe in .177 and .22 respectively.

Reply
Hector Medina
6/23/2021 11:43:33

Hello Drew;

Thanks for reading.

Yes the metal inner guide "telescopes" into the plastic rear guide.

For the US market, the benefit is that you can use much heavier pellets at higher MV's. So the very high powers obtainable from the "normal" spring-piston airguns with ultra-light pellets is no longer a reality. The guns skew their performance curve to the heavier pellets.

I am not so sure that you will get good results with only the rear guide, as the rear guide will tend to flex, fatigue and break. BUT you could have a "light" front guide made of a different material and installed to tune to the weight of pellet you are more used to.

Yes, I can see how, at low powers, the front guide could develop a "ring" of its own.

For 12 ft-lbs I am working on an Anti-Bounce Unit" (ABU) that will replace the guides and provide a smooth shot cycle and increased efficiency to the cocking cycle. It's something I use in the Walther LGV's and it works very well.

Again, thanks for reading, keep well and shoot straight!




HM

Reply
Drew Simpson
6/26/2021 09:47:09

H M,
I'd be very interested to see your Anti Bounce Unit as I am completely in the dark regarding that concept or term.
I must say that I have found Diana spring guides very reliable and they seem to fit the factory springs better than many of their competitors efforts.
The Cometa 400 is another gun that has quite an unusual front and rear guide set up, different to the EMS but the results are excellent in my opinion.
By the way, my EMS are not at all pellet fussy although I have only carried out extensive tests on the .177 example so far. The lightweight RWS Geco are excellent in it, although I must admit that I seldom shoot beyond 30yds. Both EMS were well lubricated from the factory which is a rare for Diana and both became noticeably smoother during the run in period.
One thing I wanted to ask you is conformation that Diana have switched to a straight transfer port with the EMS? I may be mistaken but it seems that they have..

Regards,
Drew

Robert
1/25/2022 08:15:03

Thank you for great article!
I bought Diana 34 EMS Synthetic cal.22. in 15fpe (20J) power range. It is nice, well built and accurate gun. I am also getting quite a lot of internal noise compared to my Slavia 631 in .177. Will lubrication and spring ends polishing make gun quieter?

RidgeRunner
6/26/2021 09:55:50

Hector,

I have been quite curious about this particular sproinger. I really do like that you can change it easily from a spring to a piston. I know I am one of the "few and far betweens", but I would really like to see this offered with the N-Tec Luxus stock and peep sights.

P.S. I do not like that pistol grip stock, at all. Synthetic is fine, but not that.

Reply
Hector Medina
7/1/2021 12:14:28

Beauty is . . .

I hope that in the near future, once the CoViD backlog has been solved, this will be offered.

Patience, my dear Grasshopper . . .





HM

Reply
Hector Medina
7/1/2021 12:13:14

@ Drew S:

You can see an ABP in the LGV entry:
https://www.ctcustomairguns.com/hectors-airgun-blog/the-walther-lgv-pushing-the-power-limits

There is nothing to see because everything happens inside,'
;-)
In the end, what it does is to provide a dynamic mass that retains the piston at the bottom end. That dynamic mass is a non-newtonian fluid, so sometimes it behaves like a solid, sometimes it behaves like a fluid.

No magic, just solid materials science.

And yes the TP of the EMS is straight, short and offset from the center of the compression chamber, in line with the bore.

HTH






HM

Reply
Phil
12/13/2021 20:39:57

Hello, Do i need the gas-ram out of a 350 N-tec marked 750 N or the one out of a 340 N-tec marked 650N? I think it is the last one? Thanks

Reply
Hector Medina
12/14/2021 11:59:17

You should use the 650N for High Output, or the 295N for "Pentagon F" guns.

The 750N is NOT recommended for the 34 sized platform.

HTH




HM

Reply
Hector Medina
1/25/2022 15:25:53

@ Robert;

The 34 EMS can be "noisy", specially for those shooters with a hint of "tinnitus". And especially in the case of the synthetic stock.
IF it is the stock the one that is creating the problems, you can open the rear and stuff some crumpled PE bags, this will not add too much weight and will kill most resonance.
A better fitting front guide can do wonders. Because the piston is "guided" and non-rotating, poliishing the ends of the springs MAY help a little, but it would not be my first line of action.

"Ringing" is also something that is closely inked to power and weight of pellet. If it is ringing like a bell, you are probably using too light a pellet. The LIGHTEST I would go in a 0.22" cal EMS would be 11.75 grains (Non-Lead GTO's).

You also need to remember that you ARE comparing oranges to mandarins. A Slavia in 0.177" will not generate the power of a 0.22" cal EMS.

;-)

Thanks for purchasing a DIANA airgun!

Keep well and shoot straight!





HM

Reply
Craig Evans
4/3/2022 17:07:06

Very interesting article/comments. I just got the Lawrence of Arabia Diana 34 EMS from Midway at an unbelievable price. So far, I’m quite pleased although I don’t have a lot of experience with a piston (spring OR gas ram). I’d be interested to know what you recommend about replacing the spring with appropriate gas ram and what that might cost. I will be using a Discovery 5-20x50 scope so I don’t feel inclined to swap out sights. And if you think it’s best to go a while with the spring before changing, that’s reasonable to me. Thanks for your thoughts. Say hi to Veronika please.

Reply
Hello Craig!
4/3/2022 17:48:20

Long time no see.

I would shoot it a little with the steel spring, if you become weary, then we change to an NTec unit (DIANA's gas spring). It is not adjustable, but it works well.
The NTec unit itself is $80 + Sh & Ins.

I am seeing around 800 fps with JSB Exacts once the guns settle.

I am also seeing some preference for Non-Lead pellets. Which may be interesting.

Discovery scopes are good, but I always recommend a ZR mount to protect scopes.

Keep well and shoot straight!




HM

Roni says Hi back.;-)

Reply
Carrie Owens
6/16/2022 11:08:33

Very interested in having my diama 34 ems 177 caliber switched to a gas ram &also in a barrel swap to 22caliber,do you offer gas ram installation

Reply
Hector Medina
6/16/2022 11:33:36

Yes we do offer the gas ram installation. We can also install the "Premium Korn" if you want to get rid of the fiber optic front sight.

Barrel swap may be a possibility, but I would have to confer with DIANA, please send me contact data through my contact page:

https://www.ctcustomairguns.com/contact-us.html

THANKS!




HM

Reply
Carrie Owens
6/16/2022 11:57:58

The midway sale was way to good to pass up,super accurate, thank u for such a fast reply

Atta link
1/19/2023 12:40:07

SEND ME ITS TRIGER ASEMBELY OF DIANA 34 EMS ITS BROKEN FROM ME PLEASE SEND ME I WILL THANK FULL OF YOU

Reply
Atta
1/19/2023 13:17:11

PLEASE PLEASE SEND ME DIANA 34 EMS TRIGER ASEMBLY IT WAS BROKEN WITH ME I WILL THANK FULL OF YOU FROM PAKISTAN

Reply
Hector Medina
1/19/2023 17:16:27

Atta,

please contact me with full details through my contact page:

https://www.ctcustomairguns.com/contact-us.html

THANKS!





HM

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Hector Medina

    2012 US National WFTF Spring Piston Champion
    2012 WFTF Spring Piston Grand Prix Winner
    2013 World's WFTF Spring Piston 7th place
    2014 Texas State WFTF Piston Champion
    2014 World's WFTF Spring Piston 5th place.
    2015 Maine State Champion WFTF Piston
    2015 Massachusetts State Champion WFTF Piston
    2015 New York State Champion WFTF Piston
    2015 US National WFTF Piston 2nd Place
    2016 Canadian WFTF Piston Champion
    2016 Pyramyd Air Cup WFTF Piston 1st Place
    2017 US Nationals Open Piston 3rd Place
    2018 WFTC's Member of Team USA Champion Springers
    2018 WFTC's 4th place Veteran Springer
    2020 Puerto Rico GP Piston First Place
    2020 NC State Championships 1st Place Piston
    2022 Maryland State Champion WFTF 
    2022 WFTC's Italy Member of TEAM USA 2nd place Springers
    2022 WFTC's Italy
    2nd Place Veteran Springers

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