With the colder months coming here in the mountain, I was searching for an inexpensive indoor plinker that was accurate and reasonably easy to shoot indoors. I had read much about the IZH 61 and decided to give it a try.
For starters, the IZH 61 is a rather odd looking spring piston, side lever, multi shot airgun. With its futuristic looks, it looks more like an Airsoft gun than a regular airgun. While not ugly, per say, it does have a distinct look about it that one must get past to enjoy this gun for what it is.
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The IZH-61 comes equipped with a scope rail, but I have chosen not to use it as it is synthetic and the only mount I can see fitting it would be a BKL Cantilever mount. The magazine release prohibits the use of many mounts on this gun. I would have preferred a metal receiver with a longer scope rail to accommodate more mounts and scoping options.
Initial observations upon opening the box was that the gun was far smaller than I had first thought. With it’s light 4.30lb frame, and short length, it appeared at first glance to be too small for any normal sized adult. I later learned that the stock is adjustable for length of pull, thus making it much more comfortable to use. The gun was wrapped in some sort of paper wrapper that left paper fuzz over most of the gun and I still haven’t gotten all of it off. The build quality looked great for any gun, especially a sub $100 plinker. The parts moved freely with no grinding or catching. The gun was shipped with an extra 5 shot magazine, a spare spring, cleaning rod, and a couple of extra piston seals. The open sights are acceptable for informal target use and plinking. I have heard of a peep sight being shipped with some guns, but mine contained no such option.
Operating the gun showed a very light cocking effort, about 10lb according to the manufacturer. The trigger is 5 way adjustable and is one of the nicest triggers I’ve seen on any airgun, especially a cheap gun. Mine is set at approximately 2lbs, and can be adjusted down from there. Recoil is minimal on the gun and hold sensitivity isn’t bad at all, even for a light-weight airgun. There is no twang to speak of, but a slight buzz is noticeable upon firing. A quick look inside the gun while cocking it showed no noticeable lubrication inside. Perhaps a teardown and tune is in order for this gun, although looking at schematics for it, it appears to be no easy task.
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The 5 shot magazine performed flawlessly for me using a variety of dome and wadcutter pellets. Loading the magazine is as easy as popping in the pellets and inserting the clip into the gun. After that, each pull of the side lever cocks the gun and indexes the magazine, chambering another pellet into the barrel. I would have liked to have seen a stop of some kind on this gun that would disallow cocking once the magazine is empty as I have already had one dry fire due to not keeping proper count of pellets while shooting.
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My IZH-61 chronied out at approximately 480fps using mid weight pellets. While certainly not a hunting airgun, it has plenty of power for plinking and target use.
The IZH showed good accuracy, and I suspect that I am not shooting at a level to show the true capabilities of this little gun as I have seen far better groups posted on the IZH. Be that as it may, using open sights at a range of 12 yards, I managed the following groups offhand standing.
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I then shot a group at the same range FT seated and came up with the following group. Both groups were using RWS Meisterkuglen pellets at 8.2gr. Even at the short 12 yard distance, the tiny dots on the target were all but impossible to see. I may look into giving another attempt at scoping this gun to get a better idea of its true potential.
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The IZH is a fun gun for me. It is an inexpensive plinker with target potential in an interesting looking package. The 5 shot magazine adds to the fun factor immensely as I can cycle the next shot without the butt leaving my shoulder if I choose. Indoors, it is a good trainer target gun and outdoors, a superb plinker and possible short range pest bird or rodent gun. With my recent affinity for lower powered airguns, the IZH 61 is a welcome addition to my collection.