Iain K D
20-05-2007, 01:53 PM
I’ve been using this gun for about 12 months now, prior to that I had been using a HW40 for 10m pistol shooting. However the opportunity to try another club member’s 5 shot Steyr made me realise what I was missing (literally) and that it was time to upgrade. Convenient as PCPs are, my preference was, and still is, for something completely self contained which narrows the field a bit.
Overall Appearance
The Izh-46 is a single stroke under lever pneumatic with the cylinder underneath the barrel, the pump lever pivoted at the front of the cylinder and running the length of the cylinder and then down the front of the pistol grip where it ends in a wooden grip. The barrel and cylinder are exposed and separate, resembling almost the typical PCP pistol, although there is a clamp near the muzzle linking the two. The barrel itself is quite plain, with no muzzle break or compensator.
The metalwork is a combination of matt black on the frame and pump lever, bluing on the barrel, cylinder and smaller parts. The grip is solid wood, not laminated, and in two halves with an adjustable palm rest. The fit of the two halves is not perfect, but there is no play. There is however no other adjustment, the grip is firmly bolted to the frame. The grip is quite large, particularly the front left edge where the tips of the fingers sit which is actually quite square, but I haven’t had to modify it yet. Modifying the grip is, apparently, quite common with this gun.
Cocking and Loading
The pump lever is swung forward to draw air into the cylinder, as the piston reaches the front of its travel it pulls forward a sliding cover over the breech. This releases a short cocking lever on the top of the gun, which must be pulled up and back to set the valve and trigger before the pump lever can be returned to make the compression stroke.
The cocking lever also carries a block which forms the transfer port between the frame and barrel, once raised the breech is exposed and a pellet can be loaded directly into the barrel before the cocking lever is returned. While the lever is raised the sight line is blocked, and the trigger is also disengaged for safety.
Sights and Trigger
The foresight is a metal blade mounted on a block fitting around the muzzle, three different widths are supplied. The rear sight element can also be removed by slackening two screws, each element has two different size notches (they fit in place either way up) and two different elements are supplied. The windage and elevation adjustments are clearly marked, in English, L/R and U/D.
The trigger is adjustable for length of first and second stages, overtravel and weight of pull. The trigger blade itself can also be moved longitudinally to adjust the reach, but is otherwise a fairly conventional, slightly curved plain steel blade.
Velocity and Accuracy
Typical muzzle velocities are in the range 370 - 400 fps with RWS Hobby, RWS R10 and Bisley Practice, depending on the weight. My current preference is for the 7.0 grain pistol version of the R10. This is a bit lower than the typical PCP match pistol, but coupled with the weight of the gun means there is very little flip on firing. The absence of a muzzle break is probably no great loss.
Accuracy is a bit harder to quantify - better than I can manage for certain - but looking at last year’s results I had a few 5 shot groups of 45,46,47, even a 49 once. For me, this is good. As for group sizes, the only practice card I’ve kept has 10 shots into about 20mm ctc, with 8 of them clustered into around half that.
Other Points
The instruction manual is relatively sparse, but on something which isn’t exactly Junior’s first gun that is probably acceptable. In addition to the sight elements, the gun also comes with the following accessories:
Brass cleaning rod
Spare piston and breech seals
A pin punch, should you want to dismantle the trigger mechanism
A combination screwdriver, intended for trigger adjustment but actually not very convenient to use.
What it does not come with is a plastic case - mine at least was just in a strong cardboard box. Nor is there any mention of additional balance weights being available.
There is also an Izh-46M which has a slightly longer compression cylinder, making it more powerful, but (AFAIK) it is otherwise identical and does not feature any improvements over the 46. The Baikal website does not make any other distinction between the two.
Summary
Overall, a very pleasant pistol to shoot and while it may not have the cachet of an impressive name, nonetheless a well made gun. Where it does suffer in comparison is in not having all the adjustments that top pistols have, although at approx £300 (now) it is significantly cheaper. In my view it certainly fills a gap between the likes of the HW40/Gamo Compact and the top end FWB/Steyrs. Some people will also appreciate it like me for being entirely self contained. To finish off where I began, I think it will take some convincing before I upgrade from this gun.
Overall Appearance
The Izh-46 is a single stroke under lever pneumatic with the cylinder underneath the barrel, the pump lever pivoted at the front of the cylinder and running the length of the cylinder and then down the front of the pistol grip where it ends in a wooden grip. The barrel and cylinder are exposed and separate, resembling almost the typical PCP pistol, although there is a clamp near the muzzle linking the two. The barrel itself is quite plain, with no muzzle break or compensator.
The metalwork is a combination of matt black on the frame and pump lever, bluing on the barrel, cylinder and smaller parts. The grip is solid wood, not laminated, and in two halves with an adjustable palm rest. The fit of the two halves is not perfect, but there is no play. There is however no other adjustment, the grip is firmly bolted to the frame. The grip is quite large, particularly the front left edge where the tips of the fingers sit which is actually quite square, but I haven’t had to modify it yet. Modifying the grip is, apparently, quite common with this gun.
Cocking and Loading
The pump lever is swung forward to draw air into the cylinder, as the piston reaches the front of its travel it pulls forward a sliding cover over the breech. This releases a short cocking lever on the top of the gun, which must be pulled up and back to set the valve and trigger before the pump lever can be returned to make the compression stroke.
The cocking lever also carries a block which forms the transfer port between the frame and barrel, once raised the breech is exposed and a pellet can be loaded directly into the barrel before the cocking lever is returned. While the lever is raised the sight line is blocked, and the trigger is also disengaged for safety.
Sights and Trigger
The foresight is a metal blade mounted on a block fitting around the muzzle, three different widths are supplied. The rear sight element can also be removed by slackening two screws, each element has two different size notches (they fit in place either way up) and two different elements are supplied. The windage and elevation adjustments are clearly marked, in English, L/R and U/D.
The trigger is adjustable for length of first and second stages, overtravel and weight of pull. The trigger blade itself can also be moved longitudinally to adjust the reach, but is otherwise a fairly conventional, slightly curved plain steel blade.
Velocity and Accuracy
Typical muzzle velocities are in the range 370 - 400 fps with RWS Hobby, RWS R10 and Bisley Practice, depending on the weight. My current preference is for the 7.0 grain pistol version of the R10. This is a bit lower than the typical PCP match pistol, but coupled with the weight of the gun means there is very little flip on firing. The absence of a muzzle break is probably no great loss.
Accuracy is a bit harder to quantify - better than I can manage for certain - but looking at last year’s results I had a few 5 shot groups of 45,46,47, even a 49 once. For me, this is good. As for group sizes, the only practice card I’ve kept has 10 shots into about 20mm ctc, with 8 of them clustered into around half that.
Other Points
The instruction manual is relatively sparse, but on something which isn’t exactly Junior’s first gun that is probably acceptable. In addition to the sight elements, the gun also comes with the following accessories:
Brass cleaning rod
Spare piston and breech seals
A pin punch, should you want to dismantle the trigger mechanism
A combination screwdriver, intended for trigger adjustment but actually not very convenient to use.
What it does not come with is a plastic case - mine at least was just in a strong cardboard box. Nor is there any mention of additional balance weights being available.
There is also an Izh-46M which has a slightly longer compression cylinder, making it more powerful, but (AFAIK) it is otherwise identical and does not feature any improvements over the 46. The Baikal website does not make any other distinction between the two.
Summary
Overall, a very pleasant pistol to shoot and while it may not have the cachet of an impressive name, nonetheless a well made gun. Where it does suffer in comparison is in not having all the adjustments that top pistols have, although at approx £300 (now) it is significantly cheaper. In my view it certainly fills a gap between the likes of the HW40/Gamo Compact and the top end FWB/Steyrs. Some people will also appreciate it like me for being entirely self contained. To finish off where I began, I think it will take some convincing before I upgrade from this gun.