The Airgun Letter (ежемесячное издание для пользователей и коллекционеров пневматического оружия) в разделе лучшие приобретения (The Best Deals!):
ИЖ-60
Пластиковая винтовка выглядит не очень привлекательно, но мы нашли ее чрезвычайно точной! Эта винтовка продавалась компанией Big Bear Arms более чем год назад, и была доступна по сравнительно низкой цене с тех пор. Но популярность спортивного пистолета ИЖ-46 затмила ее. Наши тесты показали, что ижевская винтовка обладает такой же точностью, как целевая спортивная винтовка. Приложив немного усилий, можно получить великолепную винтовку для тренировок. Мы заплатили $90 в компании Precision Pellet (airgunshop@aol.com или 410-679-8179). Также эту винтовку можно заказать у дилеров в KY Imports in Louisville, KY (800-718-3643, orders only).
The IZH 60 - an overlooked Russian air rifle by Tom Gaylord
After the sell-off of Russian airguns by Big Bear in 1995, there was a lot of commotion about the very accurate IZH 46 10-meter pistol; and deservedly so, for it is still a very fine target pistol. But, with all the furor, the less-expensive Russian IZH 60 spring rifle went unnoticed.
A few of our readers wrote and told us what wonderful little guns they were, but we had also been warned that they were trash - by people in the business who should know. Those folks said the guns were accurate, but they criticized the construction and the materials, comparing them to the early Chinese guns of 15 years ago. We don't need to go back to THAT again.
But still, the letters came in urging us to at least give the little black rifle a try. Well, after all, we DID test a Chinese TS-45. We even tuned it! Why discriminate against this one?
The retail price established by Big Bear in 1994 was $130, but that met with zero interest in the marketplace. Although they are always in search of new toys, airgunners are a very conservative lot when it comes to accepting new brands, and the IZH is from Russia - a fact that Big Bear not only didn't try to downplay, they emphasized it by prominently displaying a red Russian flag in their ads. Americans know very little of Russian products, so the attitude was one of "wait and see."
But after Big Bear unloaded them, these same rifles began appearing for under $60 in places like "Shotgun News," and that fact sparked some interest. So much interest, apparently, that the initial low price was adjusted upward within a few months.
At the Mid-Atlantic Airgun show in August, we found Precision Pellet was selling them for under $90, so we bought one. They are the strangest-looking air rifles ever seen - sort of like an M16 made up for a 'toon. I'm sure the designers were going for "way cool," but I think they took a detour to "far out," instead.
The thing I noticed immediately about the gun is that it is definitely NOT a cheap design! Once again, I had been misled by the experts. This rifle screams quality and innovation at almost every turn. It's a pity it's so weird, for the heart of the gun is a right decent 10-meter training rifle, in my humble opinion. Let's see why.
First, there's the barrel. It's straight, sized correctly and well-rifled. Ten-meter groups can be as tight as those from a German target rifle of 30 years ago, and that's saying a lot! Five target-grade wadcutters go into a group measuring less than 0.16-inches center-to-center at 33 feet.
The sights on the gun are semi-crude. The front globe is target-grade, accepting inserts just like an Anschutz. It comes with a post installed and a replacement annular sight packed with the kit of spares accompanying the rifle. I much prefer the annular insert for the extra precision it gives with bullseye targets. The globe base is not removable, which means that scope users will either have to sight through it or cut it off.
The rear sight is a simple leaf with a square notch - or so it seems at first. It adjusts for both windage and elevation, but only with screws - no detents. And it's held on its base by a friction-fit dovetail/jamb screw combination, so slipping seems quite possible. On the other hand, this same rear sight also converts to a diopter for target shooting. A round plate with a fixed-diameter hole is simply screwed onto the rear sight base in place of the blade. You will find this aperture plate in the kit of spares, as well.
For this test, I removed the rear sight and installed a Beeman sport aperture sight on the dovetails that are machined on top of the receiver. This mounting gives me longer eye relief and greater precision when adjusting than the factory rear sight converted to aperture use.
The fore stock and butt are both injection-molded plastic, and are very futuristic in appearance. All I have to say about that is that anyone who slams this airgun for its stock had better never praise an M16/AR15, for the stocks on this Russian airgun are denser that those on the American service rifle and look like they will take more abuse. I don't care for synthetic stocks, but the proof of any gun is in the shooting - not the appearance. The butt is adjustable for length, which adult shooters will require since the pull is rather short in the collapsed position. A simple knurled jamb nut controls the length.
The rifle cocks easily with a light tug on the sidelever. That's one of the things I like about it; it's a dandy light-action spring gun. To unlock the lever requires a backwards push on a locking detent, which younger shooters will find a bit stiff. Adults and teens should have no problem.
When returning the lever to the forward stored position, the cocking shoe drags on the spring coils something fierce in our rifle, so I put some moly grease on the coils through the cocking slot with a Q-tip. That made things better, but the drag is still pretty bad. Also, the sidelever locking pin on the receiver requires a sharp slap of the hand against the forward portion of the lever to fully lock it in place.
The sidelever has both a ratchet safety, in case your hand slips off midway through the backstroke and also a very nice anti-beartrap mechanism, so there's no firing with the lever in the open position. Of course these two things mean you must fire the gun if you start to cock it; there is no possibility of uncocking, as there is with many spring guns. On the other hand, that's a small price to pay for the safety it provides. Fingers can't get pinched in the cocking mechanism.
The gun loads from a deep bolt trough. The semi-automatic bolt opens when the sidelever is withdrawn and is closed manually after the pellet has been inserted. This is another safety feature since fingers are never in harm's way, like they are on an HW 77 or TX 200. Once the pellet is correctly oriented in the trough, the bolt forces it smoothly into the barrel for firing.
The trigger is another example of the designers' attempt to make this a target rifle. It's a multi-lever design; and although it has lots of creep, it does pull off fairly light. I believe a bit of attention could improve it significantly. It's adjustable for pull weight, first and second stage travel (which the owner's manual incorrectly calls creep), and the trigger position.
With the rifle, you also get an owner's manual, a spare mainspring, a spare piston seal, an annular front sight insert, a cleaning rod and a diopter replacement for the rear sight. Seeing all this extra stuff packed with the gun will gladden the heart of many airgunners, because it's so rare to encounter such a total system-approach today. For whatever reason they do it, the Russians are ahead of all other airgun manufacturers in this department. They're harking back to the way business used to be conducted in the 1920s, and it's very welcome in today's marketplace.
The owner's manual is a faulty translation into English - fun to read but not especially helpful. However, the little rifle is so straightforward that instructions shouldn't be required for the average airgunner, especially a person who has spent any time with other spring rifles and pistols. The manual does have detailed schematics, however, which include a parts listing, details of the trigger parts, and a clear exploded view of the entire rifle. This information should be enough for a competent airgunsmith to make any necessary repairs.
After shooting a few hundred break-in rounds, we put it over the chronograph and observed the following results.
IZH 60
72° F Point Blank
10 shots
RWS Hobby (6.9 grains)
Max - 490
Min - 458
Avg - 480
Spread - 32
SD - 11
ME - 3.53 ft. lbs.
H&N Match (8.3 grains)
Max - 449
Min - 422
Avg - 433
Spread - 27
SD - 10
ME - 3.47 ft. lbs.
Crosman Premier (7.9 grains)
Max - 453
Min - 447
Avg - 450
Spread - 6
SD - 2
ME - 3.55 ft. lbs.
The shot cycle feels smooth, although the light weight of the rifle, perhaps coupled with its short length, conspire to allow more muzzle climb than I would like to see. The sight picture remains clear through a small amount of recoil, allowing this observation to be made.
The light weight and easy cocking effort make this a perfect choice for smaller shooters, but the accuracy makes it interesting to the experienced person as well. It's the delightful kind of airgun that you can shoot for long periods and not tire of. I think it's an excellent buy at anything less than $100. It's too much value to overlook, in spite of its far-out appearance. If you are faced with training a youngster to shoot, the IZH 60 would be a good choice to consider.
Text & Pictures Copyright 1997 © The Airgun Letter
