Feinwerkbau P34
This is my second play with a P34. I bought one first when it was released a few years ago and had moderate success with it but found the grip and the sights were not to my liking. I decided that after a few years to give it another test to see if any improvements had been made. The first noticeable thing was ......It came in a CASE....No more stupid cardboard boxes that have been the norm from this company. How can anybody sell a £700.00 pistol in a cardboard box...The case is quite good with plenty of storage sections and places for the tools. The second thing was it was in BLUE ..Yes another colour apart from Red, but why the white lines which look a bit out of place (reminiscent of the Go Faster stripes of the old days !!) Finally the "Jewel in the crown" a real Morini grip. This is what I thought would make the pistol different and I was not wrong. It is fitted to the pistol in their usual way with a single Allen bolt from beneath and allows adjustment in most directions. It seems to be able to set more rake than before ,so that keeps me happy! The general shape of it though seems to fill the hand better with less gaps than I remember.
The trigger was set up from the factory at about 530 grams which is fine and it had a good let off. The mechanical noise when it releases sounds like there is a very heavy spring in there somewhere, but the lock time seems very short. The trigger shoe has the usual range of movement, but I would prefer it if they allowed you to lengthen it as with the grip angled down the trigger finger almost hits the bottom edge of it. (Steyr have the same problem with the LP10).
You get with the pistol 2 air tanks with integral gauges which work fine apart from the threading which can bind in the frame as it seems that they are both ally, steel would have been better.
The balance is good with enough weight in the grip and barrel to make it stable. The barrel weights were not supplied here in the UK although the grey imports include these.
It shoots extremely well with the trigger being slightly creepy. I am not a fan of triggers like this but I was shooting some good scores with it. The electric trigger on the Morini is still the one to beat. Pellet loading is simple with a straight drop-in required. The anti recoil mechanism works well but the adjustment instructions seem not to make much sense so I left it as set.
Finally the sights. I am not a fan here as the fore sight is not really as standard wide enough for me. I like 5.0 mm which unfortunately is an extra.....The rear sight does need some major rethinking. The notch is way too shallow and the elevation adjustment runs out way too early as I like to see plenty of white on the target and the front edge of the sight fowls the frame at the highest point. The sight line is very low which is ideal.
Well there you go ..You pays your money and takes your choice. The competition is quite fierce out there so I think that they have done well in upgrading the pistol. A few extra bits would really take it in to top echelon for me, but try it as I do not think you will be disappointed.