TargetTalk

Anyone have experience with these pistols? Good and bad please.

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Russ

Perhaps the question refered to the pistol itself rather than how well one can shoot with it.

Are they reliable?

Are there any common faults?

Do seals fail often?

etc.

j-team wrote:Russ

Perhaps the question refered to the pistol itself rather than how well one can shoot with it.

Are they reliable?

Are there any common faults?

Do seals fail often?

etc.

Yes indeed. Whether, Russ or anyone else shot 580+ with it is is irrelevant.

For what it's worth I've heard good comments on it and I think one of my friends may have recently switched to it from the morini. I'll ask him to confirm and post up some thoughts...

Rob.

It's all relative, isn't it. I understand that there are some 580's that were shot with a Baikal IZH 46 --a few years back.

Oz

Sorry guys - I did not mean to be vague.

Russ - 580 is impressive and I am impressed. But, I am much closer to being a novice. My last score in a 10M was 479. Do you shoot one of these pistols? Did you shoot the 580 with the Benelli?

j-team - Yes. I am questioning the quality, reliability, maintenance issues, adjustment issues, etc.

Rob - Switched from a Morini to a Benelli; that's interesting. I would like to hear more please.

Oz - I am currently shooting an IZZY. However, I am finding the front-heavy balance to be more and more objectionable (especially to my lower left-side back) and I'm wanting to take a step up in equipment.

Thanks for replying!

sbtzc, have you customized the grip of your Izzy to fit your hand? I don't quite mind the front-heavy balance of my Izzy, but my hand gets tired and hurts a little after about 30 shots. I haven't done anything to my grip, except very light sanding at the front-left edge. I feel a grip that fits my hand better would help me a lot at maintaining a consistent grip pressure while cutting down the fatigue/discomfort in my hand and upper arm. If you've decided that you want a better pistol, by all means get one that satisfies you. If you are still on the fence, getting/making a customized grip might be a low cost/risk alternative to try first.

Does this help?
Balance is fairly neutral and weight about average with the full size Kite. The short (young) version is quite light and balances just forward of the trigger.

Sights and trigger are very good; the Nill grip is IMO the best factory-installed grip in the business.

Build quality is excellent. Seals seem to last about forever. The only problem I ever had was the screw that serves as the pivot for the dryfire lever backed out with predictable results. Ten minutes to snug it and the locking screw up and a drop of clear fingernail polish on the threads and all is good for the next millennium.

A full cylinder is good for 2 full matches and sighters with room to spare.

The only 99 I've ever shot was with a Kite Young.

I'm also shooting an Izzy. I've been gleaning inisght from one of the top shooters in the region. I told him that my goal was to hit 550 and then I would upgrade.

His comment to me was that I should consider upgrading after I hit 525. He said you could train and acheive a 550 on an Izzy, but it will require a lot of extra work.

I'm happy to say that I passed 525 a while ago. But I haven't upgraded mostly because of cash issues. I also figure that once I hit 550 (4-6 weeks I believe?) that upgrading to a new pistol will be an automatic extra few points ;)

I know that the allure of a compressed air or CO2 pistol is strong. There's also a perceived stigma associated with pump pistols being for beginners. And for good reason. People learn if they are going to do this sport before investing a lot of money. But the Izzy will take you to the 550's and beyond and that's what really counts.

Plus, how cool would it be to shoot a 550 with an Izzy and beat a bunch of guys shooting $2000 big-name pistols at the next match!

If customizing the grip and altering your body position can't help and is causing back issues, there's no question. But I would think that some posture changes and grip mods might just do the trick as mentioned earlier.

Of course, if you have extra cash and you KNOW that you're going to do this for many years to come, do it up! Just don't feel bad if some guy beats you with his Izzy ;)

Oz

Oz, nice shooting with the Izzy. Did you modify your grip to get to your level? I think the grip is one of the things that is limiting my shooting, but can't decide if it is too early for me to bring a dremel to it.

Anonymous wrote:Oz, nice shooting with the Izzy. Did you modify your grip to get to your level? I think the grip is one of the things that is limiting my shooting, but can't decide if it is too early for me to bring a dremel to it.

Oh thanks. I picked the Izzy up and started shooting about 5 weeks ago. It's been quite a journey. (To be honest, I did shoot about 10 years ago as well... for a little while.)

In my recent opinion, the grip is one of the biggest keys to precision shooting. It didn't click and I didn't "feel" my grip until I was shooting a 500. After that point, I can now easily tell the difference between a good grip on the handle and a not-so-good grip. I find myself re-gripping several times if I had to set the pistol down before I shoot. I used to roll my eyes when I would see people doing that, but know I understand ;)

The key point from which I began on the Izzy was the palm shelf. If this isn't positioned properly (comfortably squeezing my hand) I couldn't even shoot a 475. With that shelf adjusted for me, the Izzy is pretty much holding itself into position with hardly any hand gripping strength. I can keep my fingers unwrapped from the grip and the pistol will NOT fall out.

Since my hands are a little larger, I did have to remove some material in the slots to allow the palm shelf to go low enough. Then I had to angle the back of the shelf up relatively high to cinch my hand in place. Other than some filing on the front of the shelf to avoid the lever making contact with the front of the shelf, I haven't had to do any further mods, but I am itching to do so and see a few places where some changes would be useful.

BUT - I wouldn't suggest any grip mods until you have put a LOT of pulls on the trigger. I've been doing 350+ shots and at least 100 dry-fire pulls per week for the last 6 weeks and I'm still not 100% sure where the grip mods need to happen. And I'm a bit scared to make them.

I would say, mess with the Izzy's palm plate first and ensure that it's good. Then make sure that you're gripping the Izzy well and that it's beginning to feel like a natural extension of your arm.

Sorry... the thread has been hijacked! To get back on topic... maybe extensive grip mods should be left to a higher-quality pistol like a Benelli. Max out the Izzy in nearly stock form (also better resale), hit your plateau with it and then buy the pistol that you plan on using for the next few years. That could very well be why sbtzc is looking at this Benelli. If he has maxed out his potential with the Izzy, the Benelli would certainly be a big step up.

Then if a grip needs to be highly modded to fit, buying the Benelli, getting a good feel for it and modifying the grips would make a lot more sense then spending a lot of time modding the Izzy knowing that you WILL be stepping up at a certain point in the near future.

Oz

I know of two shooters who often shot over 570 with their IZH46Ms

Both have now changed to compressed air pistols and neither shoot any better that they did with the IZZY!

William - Yes! That helps! Thank you sir.

FYI for the IZZY fans - I have carved the grip of the IZZY for a good fit. I have spend many hours trying different stances and grips. The pain in my back persists,... and my scores have decreased. (Probably from all the fiddling around - LOL)

sbtzc wrote:Anyone have experience with these pistols? Good and bad please.

A good one, not necessarily the best. It is an improvement of the FAS air pistol. It seems not so heavy but a bit 'nosy'. The trigger collapses so much (but there is a trigger-stop). It does not have the absorber (good!) nevertheless it remains completely still during the shot (incredible!). Many good Italian shooters go to Pesaro (Benelli factory) and ask for some specific tuning of the trigger, etc. That is all I can say. Regards, S.

j-team wrote:I know of two shooters who often shot over 570 with their IZH46Ms

Both have now changed to compressed air pistols and neither shoot any better that they did with the IZZY!

That's awesome ;)

sbtzc wrote:[...]I have carved the grip of the IZZY for a good fit. I have spend many hours trying different stances and grips. The pain in my back persists,... and my scores have decreased. (Probably from all the fiddling around - LOL)

That certainly sounds like it's time to move on. I'm curious if the Benelli with the mention of being slightly 'nosey' might continue the Izzy issues. It's too bad there isn't one in your area you could test. Have you see other Benelli's at any matches?

Oz