Details of IZH Baikal 46M Stupid moves and questions

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drmarkway
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 11:18 am
Location: Puget Sound

Details of IZH Baikal 46M Stupid moves and questions

Post by drmarkway »

I received a n IZH Baikal 46M for Christmas and have been wringing the beast out. Pyramid air got some in aroung the middle of Oct I believe. There is good information that the distributor is having severe money problems, so the future supply of this very high quality firearm is in doubt.

Upfront; I have not been able to fully appreciate the accuracy of this pistol. The quality is very evident; very like an older American rifle in quality and finish.

The grip is not really finished, nor is it intended to be. Before you use this pistol you will have to do some carving. Happily, the grip, which is in 2 pieces, comes off with three machine screws.

The major drawback to the unfinished grip is that you are driven to manipulate the action before you are able to get the feel of it and the owner's manual is horrible. ( Any company that can make this gun could make a better manual.)

The action is deceptively simple. It sounds simple but there are nuances that need to be learned to fire and operate this gun properly. First; the cocking arm that arches across the bottom of the pistol MUST be moved forwards until the breech pops open. Strictly speaking this arm does not cock the piece but instead charges the pneumatic chamber. Next, close the arm until it clicks shut. Now, insert the pellet head foremost of course.

Next comes cocking the pistol. This is done by drawing the hinged breach to the rear until it clicks. Now it is cocked,and when in place and fired air moves through this piece at a 90 degree angle and into the barrel. But first you must close and lock the breech arm. Move the breech arm to the closed position and squeeze it downwards into the body/frame of the gun until a piece, a sort of breech cover slides rearwards and locks into the breech arm. You are now ready to fire. For dry shooting, shoot the gun but do not re-pressurize the gun. Draw back the breech arm until it clicks and then forward until it locks. You may have to move the breech cover back to the breech arm to get them to lock properly. If they do not lock properly when the gun is under pressure one of the seals in the breech arm may pop out, but if you are careful it can be pushed back into it's cavity.

Now, MY screw-up. I was trying to shoot in my oversized garage. I have 30 feet to shoot in, but the 46M shot high at this range. I began raising the rear sight and this is a pleasure. There is a nice convenient knob for this in english, but when I moved it up all the way, well, there is nothing to stop going past all the way. The cool little click-stop is a spring in a cavity in the gun's chassis with a ball bearing on top of it. What keeps it inside of the tube, cavity whatever is the pressure against the knob. I got the knob too high and the Ball bearing went into the puckerbrush, and since I estimate the diameter of the bb at something between 1 & 1.5 mm od I didn't expect to find it.

So, you shooters of this pistola, should it be adjustable at 30meters? If not do you recommend grinding down one of the extra foresights or redrilling the extra rear sight? I really don't want a red dot sight, too much weight.
Pat McCoy
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Joined: Tue Mar 02, 2004 1:34 pm
Location: White Sulphur Springs, MT, USA

Post by Pat McCoy »

The IZZY Is adjustable at thirty feet (not meters), and if you were shooting high, you should have been lowering (not raiding) the rear sight. Always move the rear sight the direction you want the shots to go on the target (but I haven't yet figured out how to "shrink" the rear sight and the group :))
Gwhite
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Joined: Sat Sep 04, 2004 6:04 pm
Location: Massachusetts

Post by Gwhite »

If you want to find the ball bearing, find the biggest magnet you can & play mine sweeper. You'll be amazed at how much you'll pick up. An old speaker magnet works well. If you don't want to crawl around on the floor, attach it to a stick. It will be easier to clean off if you put the magnet inside a zip lock bag.

They actually sell magnetic sweepers commercially. Very handy.
oldcaster
Posts: 617
Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:09 pm
Location: Chesterfield Missouri

small ball bearings

Post by oldcaster »

If you can't easily get another ball, find a surplus electronics place, and look for bearings that might have the right size balls in them. Wrap them in cloth and squeeze in a vice to break the outer ring.
drmarkway
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 11:18 am
Location: Puget Sound

Braindead

Post by drmarkway »

Don't mess with my brain! Okay, sort of kidding. But I am ambidextrous and things like left-right up-down can confuse me. (Try suddenly realizing that you're writing mirror image from right to left for the last 20 minutes and see what it does for you)

I just checked again and "Down" on the knob moves the rear sight down. This will move line of sight up, not down. Just to be sure I'd take a large box and just move the adjustment both directions just to check my sanity. Some sights "Up" means shot up while others mean sight up. I think that this means sight up. Not to doubt, but are all of the comentators speaking from experience with the 46m?

My understanding is that 30 meters is a standard distance for air gun competition so 30 feet should be within what it's designed to do, or so I thought. The do it yourself grip and extra parts makes me wonder if this isn't something that is customizable as well.

Unfortunately I went outside for better light when I adjusted the sight and that bearing went into the grass or wherever. I found a science supply place that sold me 10 for a buck, bearings at 1.5 mm, but I'm guessing at the diameter.
oldcaster
Posts: 617
Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:09 pm
Location: Chesterfield Missouri

Ball size Baikal sight

Post by oldcaster »

If the bearings you just bought don't work, someone here may be willing to measure their's so you know what size to look for.
Dehouser
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2009 11:10 pm
Location: Canada

Post by Dehouser »

Glad to hear you may have found some bearings. There may be air gun competitions shot at 30 meters (a derivative of FT, perhaps?), but air pistol is not one of them. 10 meters (33 feet) is the standard distance for AP, and your Baikal was designed with that distance in mind. Enjoy.
Pat McCoy
Posts: 806
Joined: Tue Mar 02, 2004 1:34 pm
Location: White Sulphur Springs, MT, USA

Post by Pat McCoy »

Moving the rear sight down will cause you to shoot lower (as you must then lower the front sight to get it back in line with the rear sight).
drmarkway
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 11:18 am
Location: Puget Sound

Post by drmarkway »

This rear sight adjustment thing is new to me. Weird to say for someone who has shot competition for many years and hunted. HUnting I use a scope. When you move up or down who knows what goes on inside of there?

My pistol shooting, well I am a gifted point shooter. I can keep a can in the air at 75 feet using standard loads and a .44 mag Anaconda. i guess, thinking back, until the pellet gun thing which is recent for me I never adjusted my rear iron sights. I know that if the gun remains stationary the rear sights must be raised to lower strike picturel. But with a handgun you raise the gun to the sight picture.

Curently am struggling to install a very small bearing 1/64th I believe that I found yesterday at a local hardware store. Not easy To remove the rear sight knob you have to remove a recessesed "c" clip. One hopes for a tube with a rear threaded plug; ( run the knob down, open the tube, drop out the spring, insert the bearing and then the spring, then rethread the plug. No dice.)

I am with child to try out the "new advice" on the sighting. It's embarassing after shooting for 40 years but I'm not proud. As I've said many times detailed basic instructions are rarely a mistake. It's a good lesson about how many skills we learn by "show and do". If I find some easy way to get this bearing in I'll tell you.
paw080
Posts: 258
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 6:30 pm
Location: Corona, California

Post by paw080 »

Hi Drmarkway, ONE more time...Move the rear sight Down to move the
pellet impact point DOWN! (not sorry for the shouting!) The official ISSF
air pistol competition distance is 10 meters. I know that you'll learn to have
great fun with your Izzy. If you draw a crude representation of a barrel and
front and rear sights on a piece of paper; then draw a line touching the top of the sights,
and then vary each sight dimension, redraw the line of sight
and you'll immediately see the adjustment relationship......Just trying to help
you here....

Tony G
paulo
Posts: 338
Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2009 10:11 pm

Hope this is helpful

Post by paulo »

Hope this is helpful
Attachments
Sights vs point of impact
Sights vs point of impact
drmarkway
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 11:18 am
Location: Puget Sound

Post by drmarkway »

Thank you very much. Your post of some days ago jogged my mind into motion. You have no idea how humbling this is for a man with a Phd, 25 yrs as a hands on electrical contractor and service person, three inventions, almost my whole life exposed to firearms, able to perform tricks with pistol point shooting and to not know this thing, well, it's incredible.

Most powder/conventional firearms use either a scope or opeate at quite close range. Most real pistol work takes place at 30 feet. The sights are essentiall fixed. Adjustment of a pistol's sights is possible but really long distance shooting is done with a rifle and a rifle means a scope, or quite frankly, point shooting. The trouble with being good with a hammer is that most problems begin to look like nails.

The graph is very like the one I would have used to prove to you that the rear sights must be moved UP to lower point of impact. If you treat the gun as a picture you can easily see that the front sight being constant, raising the rear sight shoots your line below the horizon line. That's the problem with a diagram. What is absolutely essential to remember or notice, MY huge mistake was in forgetting that the gun MOVES. That being the case, lowering the rear sight causes the shooter to raise the rear of the firearm, lowering point of impact. I stand under correction, but moving the rear sight to the left moves the barrel to the right, right?

Some teachable skills demand an instructor. My father died without teaching me fishing. My son and and I have spent many enjoyable but frustrating years learning those tricks, tricks that would have taken minutes if taught.

In other news, the bearing has been replaced (no easy way). I removed the grips to give my huge hands access. I raised the rearsight up as far as it would go, but bad engineering, the first found. The elevation knob is prevented from complete removal by a "C" clip on the bottom of the threaded shaft which terminates inside of a recessed hole. Why poor engineering? If the clip had been placed higher the bearing would not have been able to shoot out. I used a 1/16" bearing. The 1.5 mm that I first guessed at came (after I had done the install-could not wait to try out the revelation of the sight thing) is only about .08 mm larger than the 1/16". It still clicks but not quite as silkily. I would guess that the 1.5 mm is the correct size. To get it in I applied some purple paste glue to a fine and thin violin knife, placed it on top of the springe, pushed down and then carefully, (after 10 attempts) to screw the knob over the bearing to hold it in place.

Again thanks for the info, really. Since I launched into this pellet gun hobby I have been frustrated by the sights.
drmarkway
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 11:18 am
Location: Puget Sound

Re: Hope this is helpful

Post by drmarkway »

paulo wrote:Hope this is helpful
Notice that is you follow the purple gizmo the line descends below the horizon DOWN. If you forget that the gun moves raising the rear sight gives you a SIGHT PICTURE that is lower. What it does NOT do is lower the point of impact.
frog5215
Posts: 72
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 7:20 pm

Post by frog5215 »

A little grease is better than glue in this application, like peas and mashed potatoes on your knife.

It's generally better if you own several guns to note the threads and which direction knobs move the sights.

Most American equipment moves the point of impact higher if turned toward the "H", or to the right if moved toward the "R", but some German and Russian sights mean turn toward"H" if it's already hitting too high, or toward "R" if hitting too far right. I 'bout lost my mind with a Schmidt und Bender variable on a very expensive Hornet before I figured that out.

If you just watch which way the REAR sight moves, you're fine, regardless of how it's marked.

Front sights are exactly opposite.
drmarkway
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 11:18 am
Location: Puget Sound

Post by drmarkway »

I was totally wrong and was not defending that incorrect position. I was showing you how I fell into error! I am totally grateful for your information and feel the need to reiterate the benefits of having an instructor who really knows the mechanics of what is going on, and who can say, "Whatever the adjustment knob says, the sight has to go THIS way."

Reminds me very much of a conversation I had with my son over cell phones. HE says that they are easy and any moron should be ableto figure one out. I have two MA's and one PhD, and used to own a Motorola "Brick", own an Apple Ipod, and say "No."

He says that if you know what you want to do on these phones and where to look for it, it's a snap. He's almost certainly correct. The important point is knowing what you want the thing to do and knowing too what it's capable of.

I used the diagram not to prove that I was right (Heaven forbid), but how I went wrong. Raise the rear sight the line goes down, ergo raise the rear sight. Absolutely wrong, but that's how I interpreted it. Windage instructions ARE opposite. Move the sights left and point of impact moves to the right. More confusion, unless you know how it works.

As Frog pointed out these controls are not universal, which adds to the confusion. Be honest because I want to know; did you figure the whole thing out on your own or did someone instruct you?
Finprof
Posts: 44
Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2009 4:46 pm
Location: Princeton Junction, NJ

Post by Finprof »

drmarkway wrote:I Windage instructions ARE opposite. Move the sights left and point of impact moves to the right. More confusion, unless you know how it works.
Sorry, windage adjustments are the same. The rear sight always moves in the direction of point of impact whether it is for elevation or windage. You move the rear sight left and the point of impact moves left. Move the rear sight right and the point of impact moves to the righth.
User avatar
Tolkach
Posts: 44
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2008 2:14 pm
Location: No. Virginia

Izh-46 sights

Post by Tolkach »

Don't the Izh-46 sights follow the right hand rule?
joseywales
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2010 8:02 pm

Post by joseywales »

Oh for the love of God, just lower the darn target stand!!

Or would you raise it???

sorry...I couldn't resist.
BorzoiDad
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2010 12:47 pm
Location: Richmond, Virginia

46M Cocking

Post by BorzoiDad »

I got a 46M just before Christmas. Actually the lever will cock the pistol but you have to exhert sufficient force.

As you move the lever you reach a stop that is the limit required to charge the air cyliner. If you push past this point the lever will cock the pistol.

I have been loading using the method you described (moving the level to the first stop and then manually cocking) as this takes less effort during a match.

I have used both methods during practice and there is no change in accuracy, so I see no reason to expend the additional effort.

As for dailing in the sights, I am still working on that too.
BorzoiDad
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2010 12:47 pm
Location: Richmond, Virginia

46M Cocking

Post by BorzoiDad »

I got a 46M just before Christmas. Actually the lever will cock the pistol but you have to exhert sufficient force.

As you move the lever you reach a stop that is the limit required to charge the air cyliner. If you push past this point the lever will cock the pistol.

I have been loading using the method you described (moving the level to the first stop and then manually cocking) as this takes less effort during a match.

I have used both methods during practice and there is no change in accuracy, so I see no reason to expend the additional effort.

As for dailing in the sights, I am still working on that too.
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