doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Baikal IJ 58 Series SxS's

Hi all, I'm curious on this series of SxS's, I'm not well versed on USSR/Russian shotguns. So looking to expand my knowledge a little.

Can anyone shed some light the various models of the IJ 58's and how they compare with the current Russian SxS's being offered.

Any info on reliability, good points and bad points would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much!

Greg

Too bad Geno is no longer here, he was a great source for that information.

Humpty Dumpty says
Functuonally, there's not much difference. Both would weigh about 3.2 kg, have 725 mm barrels choked (unless a rare special order) half and full, not usable for steel, double trigger, ejectors and extractors. I'm talking 12 gauge, but 58 also came in 16 and 20. Technically, though, they are very different. Izh 26 is the classic Anson&Deeley design, with color case hardening and everything, better looks, a bit better balanced. Izh 58 is more modern, actually, it's the same design as the currently produced Izh 43 (Spr 2xx) with top fastener, and many parts would fit; it's a bit stronger than 26, but not as refined.

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=264728

Not much experience with IHZ shotguns. Let us go to Mike George and The Shotgun Handbook (ISBN 1 861261578). "The Russian-built Baikal is one to the working horses of British shooting. It is cheap and cheerful as well as being efficient and long-lived..."though the steel is quite basic it is very strong. The original factory woodwork is often rather short in the stock for British tastes and most stockers ay it cannot be bent....The main enemy of the Baikal is dirt, which may make triggers and ejection sluggish. There are no particular mechanical drawbacks, although some older guns have rather greyish blacking.

Best Buys
All the guns are strong and long-lived, although the machining on some models may be somewhat rough. Favorites are late-model, single trigger Model 27Es with the Italian (wanlnut) woodwork."

I don't have any of the Baikal SxSs, but I do have several of their IZH-94 series of O/U combination rifles.

So maybe this is a little OT, but I'd assume that the fit & finish are probably similar across all their models.

The .22/.410 is pretty much junk. Awful regulation, poorly placed controls, poor sight picture.

The .22/20gas are the nicest /rimfire/ combination guns I've had.

The centerfire/12gas are alright, probably the second nicest non-antique /centerfire/ combinations I've had. They have a (primitive) mechanism to adjust the regulation, which is nice. The Valmet 412 is a far better gun though, is easier to find, and doesn't cost all that much more.

All of them were very very tight when new, to the point of having to be broken open over one's knee. A little polishing of the bearing surfaces and then some break-in fixes that, though.

The wood is surprisingly decent on all of them but the .22/.410. Walnut, with actual cut checkering. All (that I own) but the .22/.410 have a bit of cast-off for right handed shooters, but the amount seems to vary slightly.

All have a very unfortunate rear sight. On the ones I use, I remove it and cut a crossways dovetail in the scope rail to accept the aperture bit of a Williams unit. I screw in an aperture when hunting, and then remove it and use the body as a ghost ring when shooting clays or the occasional duck.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that one model of their SxSs (I don't remember which one ) use the same receiver as the SxS double rifles, so that could make for some interesting options with barrel sets. The SxS double rifle barrels had a jack screw to adjust the regulation, something I wish they'd carried over to the IZH-94.

All of these guns were banned from import to the US, though, due to being a subsidiary of the Kalashnikov concern. The IZH-94s are really hard to find now, and I assume that parts will eventually be a problem for the other guns, even though they are still a little easier to find.

In summary: Typically Russian. Rough and heavy, but built like a brick outhouse. Russian engineer: "Ez beeg. Ez ugly. Ez gud!"

IJ58 and the later IJ43 ara about indentical.

One feature that I (as a European) thought would make them popular with US buyers is the copying of the Winchester 21 action. Oddly it is almost never mentioned. Maybe most people do not know how different a Mod 21 action is from the traditional Anson-Deeley and assume that all boxlocks are the same internally.

Both the 58 and 43 are plain (being polite) but durable doubles. Some friends own them and have used them hard for decades without problems. I wonder if the durability is due to the coil sprung action borrowed from the MOd 21, or maybe it is the steel grade used, because it definitely is not due to refinement in finishing.

A gunsmith friend rebuilds both the IJ43 and the IJ27 OU, turning them into ribless bespoke doubles weighing 6 lbs or so and very handy.

My first double was an old pre-WWI J Stevens Arms & Tool Co gun, I seem to recall it as being a model 325. It had coil springs & cocking rods very similar to the W 21, Reckon maybe Winchester copied their action from the Stevens. The Stevens had the same Cigar Box shaped frame as the 21, looked like a flat sided 21. It did have the same type of side swinging wedge bolt engaging a straight rib extension, same as later Stevens & Savage built doubles rather than an underbolt as the 21 had. This gave it better mechanical leverage actually. I bought it late 1954 & it still bolted up tight.