Baikal IZH-46M Review

Overall Rating

Awesome accuracy out of the box
Great price for a match pistol of its capabilities
Easy to cock, compared to some other springer pistols
No recoil
Good trigger action
Adjustable sights
Multiple sized iron sight options come in the box!
Has a replacement set of seals supplied in the box!
Metal parts are finished nicely, if a little clunky looking

Uncomfortable to hold in its basic form
A bit heavy

The Baikal IZH-46M is a great pistol to introduce a shooter into the world of match shooting.

Out of the box this pistol shot better than any other pistol I've used so far. With targets ranging from 10M out to 35M I was able to hit all my plinking cans and steel targets with a double handed hold time after time. The largest target is a 3 inch diameter plate out at about 30 yards. Pretty impressive for such a low cost pistol.

Cocking the pistol seems a bit strange the first couple of times, but you then realise you have to push the cocking lever all the way forward, past what appears to be the end of travel, it clicks, you pull it back with only about half the effort needed to cock a Webley Tempest, insert the pellet and bring the lever back to the closed position. I have not pinched a finger or trapped flesh with this gun as I have with other models, a nice change. A couple of hour session is possible with this gun without feeling like you've been to the gym for a workout!

Trigger action is light, and crisp. Without any recoil you can concentrate on the trigger squeeze. The gun is so accurate at 10M that if you miss or pull a shot it's almost certainly your fault. With the gun rested it puts pellets through the same fuzzy hole, pretty impressive stuff. Makes some of my 22LR match firings look bad.

The sights are adjustable in elevation and windage with a finger click adjustment. It's not something that you have to tinker with all the time, but handy that you don't have to grab a screw driver to make an adjustment. Front and rear iron sights can be removed and changed for other widths. They supply you with alternative iron inserts in the box, which is a nice touch.

I've put about 1000 rounds through it so far, and have had no issues at all. I shoot it with either Crosman Hyper-velocity "plinker, or Target" pellets and have been happy with the results, other than this brand will leave you with black fingers. Don't lick your fingers! Other pellets seem to work well, even some of the heavy magnums that I use with my rifle. When changing brands of pellet I've not observed large shifts of point of impact, other than increasing pellet drop with heavier pellets. I'll be trying to find some super-light pellets for indoor 10M paper target work this winter.

All in all I'm delighted with the pistol. My family has enjoyed using it. I'll be modifying the hand grips with a rasp to take off the sharp edges and give some additional finger wrap comfort. It gets a 9 overall, only because I will have to do a bit of sanding work on the hand grips.
Go buy one you'll love it too!