Baikal IZH 46-M ... Need some input

Mass Shooter · Post by **Mass Shooter** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 2:34 pm

Hi all,

a fellow club member brought to our club swap meet a pristine Baikal IZH 46-M pellet pistol. I looked it over and it's el perfecto mint condition.
He is original owner and said not only a few tins of pellets were shot down the tube.

I don't have much knowledge on pellet pistols or how the Baikal IZH-46-M stacks up with the other brand names of target grade pellet pistols that are available however I see the "IZZY" name sometime come up on discussions, so I thought to post here to get a little info of pros - cons about it.

I thought it would be a nice pistol to practice with in my basement mainly to keep in good form for my regular .22 pistol shooting.

I know this particular club individual pretty good and know he likes quality and he mentioned he'd sell it to me for $250 ... I presume it's a pretty nice deal.

Any input would be appreciated.

paw080 · Post by **paw080** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 2:49 pm

Hi Mass, that is a fair price for a used IZH-46M. In the past, they sold new
from around $200 to the current $450 range. Why does he want to sell it?
It is very nose heavy, which some like and some hate.

I recommend that you put around 50-60 shots through it before you decide.

Tony

RandomShotz · Post by **RandomShotz** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 3:41 pm

Pyramidair.com currently has them for $480, so $250 for a mint used is definitely a bargain.

If you go over to their site, they have a long list of reviews from people who've bought them:

http://www.pyramydair.com/p/izh-46M-mat ... stol.shtml

I shot one for a while before I upgraded to a used Morini CM 162 EI. There was no way I was going to spend that much on a pistol until I knew that I would be serious, so it was a great entry model for me.

It will certainly shoot well enough to show you if you are doing it right - if you hit a 7 it's because you shot a 7 and not because the gun threw a flier. The trigger is excellent and easily adjustable for pull length, weight and crispness. Considering the cost of pellets vs. .22 ammo and the convenience of shooting in your basement, it is cheap practice even if you have no intention of ever competing in 10M AP.

There are a couple of possible downsides. You will most likely have to put some time in getting it to fit your hand. The grip is massive which means that you will have plenty of material to work with. As far as the front-heaviness is concerned, I didn't really notice it until I started to shoot the Morini but it may bother you depending on what you are shooting now. When I modified my grip, I removed a lot of material where the web between the thumb and forefinger fits and that extended my wrist and moved the gun back in my hand a bit so the front-heaviness was lessened somewhat.

With the caveat of the grip requiring work, if the owner will let you have a go with it before you buy you will know quickly whether it suits you.

Roger

Rover · Post by **Rover** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 4:20 pm

It's fine for what you want to do. Also, there are no comparable cheap options. Buy it.

Mass Shooter · Post by **Mass Shooter** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 5:20 pm

Some good advice and much appreciated. I'll ask to take it to the range for a tryout as I'm sure he will be fine for that.
Now, do shooters in the pellet arena shoot competitively more with dot sights or leave alone with open sights? ... The 46-M has rail on it to mount a dot sight. ...

I did a few searches and it sure seems like a good deal to pass up.

Looks like this will give me good excuse to clean my basement.

peterz · Post by **peterz** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 5:24 pm

You cannot use anything but open sights on a pistol in International-style competition, just as you have to shoot one-handed. My 46M does not have the rail.