From the vault: Our review of the Baikal IZH-46M air pistol, specifically as an air gun for home training. As published in the January 2010 issue of Shooting Sports USA.
The Baikal 46M Pistol
By NRA Staff
For our pistol selection, we followed the advice of several youth shooting coaches, discussions at last year’s coach training school held at Camp Perry and input from Pilkguns’ Target-Talk forum, all of whom rate the Baikal IZH-46M as a gun with an impressively high accuracy-to-cost ratio. The IZH-46M is Baikal’s single-stroke pneumatic model that retails in the $350-$495 range, depending on sights and case selection. The Baikal catalog also lists the Model 672, which is the pre-charged gas version, with an estimated MSRP of $800. At press time, however, the 672 had been in prototyping for three years with no announced delivery date.
The Baikal IZH-46M is built with a hammer-forged barrel, two-stage trigger, adjustable for over travel and pull weight, with dry-fire option. We fired the gun at the NRA test range and had a hard time putting it down because of the fun we were having.
John Rickards: NRA National Matches Pistol Phase Chief Range Officer and President, Metropolitan Pistol League, Fairfax, Virginia. “I found the Baikal to be an excellent entry-level air pistol suitable for serious competition. It was clearly capable of 10-ring accuracy in the right hands. As tested with the included large, red-dot sight, it was barrel heavy and, if intended for conventional pistol practice, would benefit from a smaller and lighter red-dot sight for better balance. Because there is no feed ramp at the breech, first-time loading of pellets was difficult except for Beeman’s Silver Jet pellets with their pointed tips. The ease of loading improved with practice, even with flat match pellets. The effort required to cock the Baikal was acceptable, but might be tiring for a junior shooter over the length of a match. As with many pumps, the gun required re-positioning of the grip between shots. Testing showed a definite preference for some brands and weights of .177-caliber pellets over others. The trigger weight was quite good for air pistol matches, but would need to be increased for conventional pistol practice. My overall rating is that this airgun would be a good choice for a relatively inexpensive match-grade air pistol.”
Stanton Wormley: NRA field editor and author of several NRA textbooks, including the newest NRA “Guide to the Basics of Pistol Shooting.” “Below is the chronograph data for the Baikal IZH 46M, using Crosman, Gamo, RWS Meisterkugeln, RWS 10 and H&N Finale Match pellets. I fired 10 rounds of each pellet type to capture the chronograph data. With the Crosman and Gamo pellets, I had one anomalous reading each, consisting of a pellet whose velocity was far off the average at several times the extreme spread. In both cases, I could feel the pellet go into the chamber differently. I suspect that a damaged skirt or variation in pellet diameter was to blame. I did not include the anomalous readings in my averages because competitors typically sort pellets before a match and eliminate those that are out of spec. Pellet weights were determined by averaging the weights of 10 pellets.”
Additional Notes: Pyramyd Air provided the Baikal pistol, scope and case. They also stock Air Arms, Beeman, Benjamin, Beretta, Crosman, Daisy, Evanix, Gamo, Hämmerli, Makarov, Norica, Remington, Ruger, RWS, Savage, Sheridan, Walther, Winchester and other guns from .177 to .50 caliber. From Red Ryders to exotic guns made for field target, 10-meter competition, hunting or eliminating pests, Pyramyd Air has a gun for you. Go to pyramydair.com.
The stocks used in the review are made by Woods and Water Outdoors exclusively for Airguns of Arizona—importer, distributor and retailer of top-level air guns. While Airguns of Arizona supplies products ranging from entry-level to competition-grade, they specialize in making available many of the best sporting-grade products in the world. Whether in the market for a pistol for plinking, a quiet urban hunting air rifle or a field competition rifle, Airguns of Arizona has a large selection of high-quality adult air guns. Go to airgunsofarizona.com.
