IZH-35M, what happened?

[Wiley-X]

The frequent mention of the IZH-35M makes me wonder what happened to it. Low interest? Production problems?

I bought mine new and it was less than $400, quite a deal for a bullseye pistol.

Is it that too few Americans are looking for a bullseye .22? Or was there not enough advertising for it?

[paulo]

Many people have mentioned lack of support and lack of spare parts.
Great gun, I have been waiting for the substitute http://www.demyan.info/eng/sp-08.html not certain it will arrive in these new economic times.

[Wiley-X]

Many people have mentioned lack of support and lack of spare parts.

That's today. What was it like 10 or 12 years ago when the gun was fairly new?

[Guest]

The frequent mention of the IZH-35M makes me wonder what happened to it. Low interest? Production problems?..

The initial run of them had soft metal. That may have been part or all of the reason for their headspace and slam-fire troubles. I doubt it was a CNC pistol, the ones I fired were sloppy loose. QC and fit and finish were not a positive feature of the Izzy 35M. They are accurate enough if you have the patience to keep them operational, but are not a good investment.

[Fred Mannis]

The frequent mention of the IZH-35M makes me wonder what happened to it. Low interest? Production problems?..

The initial run of them had soft metal. That may have been part or all of the reason for their headspace and slam-fire troubles. I doubt it was a CNC pistol, the ones I fired were sloppy loose. QC and fit and finish were not a positive feature of the Izzy 35M. They are accurate enough if you have the patience to keep them operational, but are not a good investment.

I agree. That's why Don Nygord finally stopped selling them. I have one of his early selected and tuned IZH's and have never had a problem with it. I have a 115 gm weight on mine and the muzzle rise is very small.

[Bruce Martindale]

There were some business deal for other Baikal products. That is the timeframe that the pistol disappeared. Magazines were hard to get.

Yes on the headspace and slamfires with greater use.

They were, and are, a good pistol but I had heard manufacture was a 2 stage process. Baikal made them and Russian teams finished them up.

I was also under the impression that Walthers entry with the dressed up model plus general import of the raw stock gun prompted Don to abandon them. I believe I was emailing him on the topic but my memory is uncertain at this point.

best regards

[Wiley-X]

The initial run of them had soft metal.

Okay for the initial run but what about subsequent runs?

[Alexander]

I was now able to see and handle the successor of the IZH-35 on the IWA.
http://www.targettalk.org/viewtopic.php?t=25096

My impression: It is basically the same old gun, with a few additional minor frills and gimmicks. A very fragile-looking added contraption (a pivoting lever from above) is intended to improve feeding security and to avoid a bullet nose hang-up on the upper rim of the chamber. Also explained here:
http://imzcorp.com/res_en/0_hfile_393_1.pdf

I would hope that the reprise of production might also lead to a re-availability of spare parts, since it is basically the same gun.

Alexander

[paulo]

Can't wait for the spare parts, it will justify getting a back up.