For your information.
Several people at RimfireCentral.com Forums - http://rimfirecentral.com/forums/index.php have been trying to contact him by phone and e-mail - including myself.
You'll find a lot of information on the IZH 35M if you search this forum.
Frankly there isn't much support, in the way of parts and services, for these in the US. The last I'd heard was that even EAA, the original distributor, is discontinuing parts support. I don't know whether IZH has a Canadian distributor, but I haven't found one.
It may be that EAA stands in the way of a third-party offering parts services and importation of these pistols - e.g. Larry Carter, or another competent match gunsmith. You'd think that there's enough of a market to make it worth their while.
It's my impression that much of EAA's motivation for discontinuing the IZH 35M stemmed from the support obligation. Match pistol owners are probably more demanding than your average pistol buyer, and the 35 are known to have a high incidence of lemons, especially among the earlier models.
I believe Don has been out of town for the last few weeks. He hasn't been at the local range here in Arlington Heights. He is supposed to be back shortly. Be patient. He does excellent work.
While I'm not an expert on the AW 93, it's my understanding that these pistols were designed by the same individual, but that the AW 93 is not actually based on the IZH 35. IIRC there was a discussion of the fundamental differences on this forum, perhaps someone more knowledgeable will chime-in.
.... but that the AW 93 is not actually based on the IZH 35....
Is the AW 93 related to the IJ36? Perhaps.
Is the IZH-35 related to the IJ36? Definitely
I guess, "based upon" maybe too definitive.
"Inspired by" might be more like it.
Semantics.
In the 60s the Russians had a very highly thought of pistol called an IJ35.We rarely saw them out here except in the hands of Russian team members. A few Australian team members managed to get them through Taransky, an ex-Russian living out here. I doubt any went to the US. They were roughly made but a brilliant design. Until the Domino 602 came on the scene in the mid 70s they swept all before them, here at least.
As the IJ was a limited run made for mainly the elite shooters they are quite uncommon. Many years later Baikal decided to reinvent the wheel and brought out the IZH35, a less sophisticated version of the IJ, but still a very good target pistol.A little rough around the edges, and the grip is fairly forgettable. Brilliant value for money.
Walther has been looking to bring out a budget beginners standard gun for some time. Their KSP200 is actually an IZH35 with a couple of modifications. The basic pistol is still made by Baikal. New features are a push button slide stop and a fancy blue laminated grip. I don't know about in the States, but here you're paying big bucks for those two upgrades and the Walther logo.
The AW93 is interesting. It was delayed in its release for a couple of years as the designer's widow tried to get more money out of FWB for using the design. It is an IJ35 given the once-over by German designers. Meaning they have made it more complicated of course. It has a much more refined trigger and better grip than either Russian pistol. Beautifully made, which I expect explains the price tag. They have just stopped making the nickel finish, I believe all in the future will be blue.
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You don't mention that the AW-93 also has a special Recoil damping mechanism, that is/was unique to that pistol.
I migh't not want to admit that the AW-93 is based on the IZH35m/Baikal IJ35 (Still sells as the IJ35 when using the Baikal brand in Denmark) design. But when looking at exploded drawings of the IZH35m I can easily see that they look a lot like each other.
The AW93 is interesting. It was delayed in its release for a couple of years as the designer's widow tried to get more money out of FWB for using the design. It is an IJ35 given the once-over by German designers.
Not true, the AW93 is based on the Izh KhR 30, not the Izh35.
I believe they are designed by different people, the KhR designation would suggest this. I'm pretty sure Alex Taransky has told me the history but I can't remember the Russian names.
Nope - this is a myth (in part perpetuated by an error in a posting which Peter Brunelli compiled together to create a "scrapbook" on his excellent website about theIZH35 at http://izh.petebrunelli.com/).
Gentlemen,
Thank you, one and all, for the IZH-35 lesson.
Your input is greatly and humbly appreciated. Models Based on the IZH-35, has been corrected.
Fortitudo Dei: Have you given any thought to Mr. Brunelli's standing offer - at least long enough to correct the record?
If there is an IZH user that wants to take this page and its contents over, drop me an email and we can arrange it. - http://izh.petebrunelli.com/
aom22 wrote: Fortitudo Dei: Have you given any thought to Mr. Brunelli's standing offer - at least long enough to correct the record?
I'm not an IZH-35 owner so I don't feel qualified. However I did have one in my safe for a couple of months which belonged to a fellow club member while he sorted out his own security arrangements. As soon as I had my hands on it, I was pulling the thing to pieces alongside my AW93 :)
You raise a good point though - is there an Izzy owner / fan out there who would be willing to develop and maintain Pete Bruneli's IZH35 website?
It's apparent that Mr. Brunelli continues to maintain the site, but he no longer updates it. The last entries appear to be from 2002.
Perhaps this information could be adapted to a wiki so as facilitate revisions and new submissions. If it were simply a matter of hosting these resources, then my company can likely be of assistance, but I haven't the time to maintain a website.
There are only few people that had the privilege of handling the XP-86 (transliterated HR, stands for Haidurov-Razorenov, if I remember correctly; Haidurov being the designed of TOZ-35).
From what I hear the similarity to AW-93 is only cosmetic. The internals of XR-86 are simpler but much superior, easily making XP-86 the best standard pistol that never got to see the light of day.
Again, not my words - take with sodium chloride.
The AW93 is interesting. It was delayed in its release for a couple of years as the designer's widow tried to get more money out of FWB for using the design. It is an IJ35 given the once-over by German designers.
Not true, the AW93 is based on the Izh KhR 30, not the Izh35.
I believe they are designed by different people, the KhR designation would suggest this. I'm pretty sure Alex Taransky has told me the history but I can't remember the Russian names.
... The subsequent history of XP-64 is similar to a detective.
In 1991, the license for the pistol was sold to German company Feinwerkbau, which branded AW 93 releases it from 1996 to the present day.
Who exactly has sold and who received money for his pistol, still not clear, we only know that neither Haydurov nor Razorenov not received a penny from the deal....
dino911 wrote:DJ Precision still trading ? sent an email recently and no reply as yet...
I have e-mailed several times over the last couple for years for some custom parts for my IZH-35M and no reply. The Web site seems to change with new products, so it appears they are still in business.