Little Russian Rifle IJ-22

[Rickenbacker]

I've been advised by ggggr that my little gun is worth a thread in the Gentleman's corner, so here goes:

Baikal (or is it Vostok?) IJ-22

I knew nothing about this rust pitted and scruffy old junior-sized airgun. But the breech bolt with set screw, barrel latch, grip cap, and white line spacers, hinted at quality. While the plastic medalions embeded in the stock said 'Made in USSR' ... I was interested enough to start a light restoration, rather than putting it in the back of the gun cupboard next to the similarly sad Meteor and Diana 27 ...

Research:

Didn't seem much info about the rifle online, but after a while I found this:
http://anotherairgunblog.blogspot.co...mbly-part.html

Which linked to this Russian forum thread, where the chap has posted scans of the original Soviet documents and some stripdown photos:
http://forum.guns.ru/forummessage/96/187920.html
As you scroll further down that post, the photos become a bit wierd, mind what the heck is he up to!?

Finally, this is the front cover of the handbook. So I'm hoping one of our Soviet experts can say if its made by Baikal or Vostok?
http://i2.guns.ru/forums/icons/forum...557/557855.jpg


If you can be bothered to read any further - Restoration:

I didn't take pictures before I started, but it was speckled with rust spots all over, barrel pitted to hell, and the (original?) finish on the stock looked like a 1/8th inch thick layer of cherry-red boot polish, that was significantly chipped off in many places.

Here are some photos taken today. Which I guess is about half way through the re-furb:
http://s662.photobucket.com/albums/uu350/pmb_01/IJ-22/

Stock:
After 'hours' with a pot of mild chemical paint stripper and very little sanding after, the wood came up looking like orangy pine! Still, at least there was some grain.

Next I decided to add some colour ... I wanted to go with the 'red' theme, because 1) It was very red originally. 2) The plastic trigger guard, grip cap and butt plate are also red. The cap and plate being a kind of 'red marble effect' plastic.

I went with CCL water based walnut stain, knowing that CCL is red. I mean rediculously red. I've not used the stuff since I ruined the look of a HW80 with it years ago. So I diluted it 50%, used an artist paint brush, and stopped doing it soon as the colour looked even and there seemed a good contrast to the grain.

As you see it now - it's had around 6 helpings of good ole Tru Oil on top, 0000 grade wire wool between coats, and it is finally building up quite nicely ...

Action:
Stripping it apart was a pleasure! Nothing was broken, the cylinder end block / spring guide is a wonderfully simple bayonet fit with a pin to secure, and it removes as a unit complete with the trigger assembly. Very ahead of it's time IMHO. As is the trigger lock that doesn't allow you to fire unless the barrel is shut.

Piston head is leather (as is the breech washer). I'm soaking the piston's end in oil to swell the leather. It was all extremely dry inside the gun, and the leather has worn at it's 6 o clock. I'm hoping it will seal ok, as I've no experience with making replacments out of leather ...

The little mainspring was as dry as a bone, but amazingly it is straight as a die, with no distortion. I suppose it may not be the original spring, but there are no signs that the 40 year old gun has ever been apart before.

The sears look in very good condition. The only sign of wear (other than the piston head) is slight play in the barrel lockup. But I suppose that could be a manufacturing tolerance issue.

Metal finishing - I'm using BC chemicals to cold-blue the parts (barrel, breech and rear sight done in the pictures). I know cold-blue can be tricky, and many people have poor results, but I have a system of many coats to get a decent finish. Using water and fine wire wool between coats.

It is funny stuff though. Sometimes a coat just rubs off for no aparent reason when I dry it after wetting ... seeming to take 2 or 3 previous coats with it! But if I keep going, it eventually gets darker and better...

I'm not over-preping the metal either ... I've not seen a Russian gun with much of a polish to the steel, so I've stopped at 800 grit sanded radially around the barrel and cylinder ... looks aweful in the white, but once blued it looks pretty good to me. Certainly a finer finish than modern Baikals I've seen ... my IZH61 looked like it was 'finished' with 120 grit emery cloth!

If you've read this far - Well done! Thanks for looking. Its now time for a cup 'o tea

Phil

[Tantomurata]

Now I need a cup of tea!

I looked at the Russian info and your picture of the guns 'passport' and with the help of Google I think it's correctly speaking the 'Izhevsk Mechanical Plant', which exported arms under the Baikal name. (Not the same company as Izhmash)
See the wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izhevsk_Mechanical_Plant and note the trade mark of a vertical arrow in a shield, and the cyrillic spelling of the company name Ижевский Mеханический Завод which appears as the first, forth, fifth words on the 'passport' cover. (I don't read Russian so can't tell you what the second and third words are)
The factory history is here, http://imzcorp.com/en/info/history.html

Edit; Additional info.
'Vostok' simply means 'east' and the Vostok pistols are actually the Margolin design MCM target pistols that are still made by 'Baikal', so it appears that Vostok and Baikal are brand names of the same company.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MCM_pistol
http://imzcorp.com/en/company/125.html

[I. J.]

Anything with 'I J' on it must be a good un.

The club has one of these rifles and we removed the front sight and used it many times in a fun side shoots were it performed faultlessly.

ATB
Ian

[MattyBoy]

That is bloody funny

http://i2.guns.ru/forums/icons/forum...558/558139.jpg

Caption competition time?

Matty

[I. J.]

Caption competition time?

Cant see the point !

ATB
Ian

[johnbaz]

Hi Rick

I used to have an IJ22 years ago, it was a very solid little rifle that I bought from a bootsale for £25, I kept it for a while then sold it for a five pound loss

Some pretty rubbish pics

Pic 1

Second from left




Cheers, John

[Rickenbacker]

Now I need a cup of tea!

Facinating links and info Need to be careful here, I could easilly get a bit hooked on Russian guns ... For starters - Whos selling a MP 46M ??

Anything with 'I J' on it must be a good un.

I heard that Baikal named the 'IJ' export models after your good self

That is bloody funny

http://i2.guns.ru/forums/icons/forum...558/558139.jpg

Caption competition time?

Matty

LOL, Caption: "Oh yes, and I've also fitted a knuckle duster to the Wife's hair drier "

[Rickenbacker]

Hi Rick

I used to have an IJ22 years ago, it was a very solid little rifle that I bought from a bootsale for £25, I kept it for a while then sold it for a five pound loss

Some pretty rubbish pics

Pic 1

Second from left




Cheers, John

Hi John, Yours looks a lot nicer than mine did! I fully expect mine to be worth about 15 quid when I've spent another 20 hours on it ... ...

[sd5782]

Th IJ-22 seems to be a fun little gun, and is very easy to work on. I got a lot of 3 non working guns on an auction site for $20 + $18 shipping. I had a grand time learning about tuning with them. I got 2 useful guns from the 3. One barrel is plugged with an obstruction that is probably steel. I used an HW 30 spring in one with good results, and a Macarri mini spring in another. I learned how to make a leather piston seal along the way.
One gun does lock up properly, while no combination of the others gets rid of that very minute wiggle. They are also good looking and sturdy feeling. Here in the US they were also imported under the HyScore brand name as the 870. I am not sure, but I believe the IZH 38 that followed it is of similar construction. I have an IZH- Baikai 512M from around 2000 that also is very similar. I think that the piston would even work in either model. The 512 has a longer receiver tube and a safety, but the trigger, and sear look the same. If it isn't broke don't fix it I guess.
Have fun. I guess from the pics you already are.

[Rickenbacker]

Thanks SD.

Here are some pics of the gun all finished, and next to a 1970s HW35 for scale.

As shown, she is actually quite long for such a slim and lightweight gun.

And I think the European influence is there to see, along with the Russian-ness

http://i662.photobucket.com/albums/u...1/P1010604.jpg
http://i662.photobucket.com/albums/u...1/P1010608.jpg
http://i662.photobucket.com/albums/u...1/P1010609.jpg
http://i662.photobucket.com/albums/u...1/P1010610.jpg