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Ammo IZH 60 Target Pro air rifle: Part 2

IZH 60 Target Pro air rifle: Part 2

by Tom Gaylord, a.k.a. B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

IZH 60 Target Pro air rifle right
The IZH 60 Target Pro now comes with target sights.

Today is velocity day for the IZH 60 Target Pro. Before we begin, there’s a surprise correction I need to make to Part 1. When I measured the length of pull, I didn’t mention that the adjustable stock can be lengthened an additional inch by relocating the anchor point of the adjustment screw.

Increased length of pull
Mac reads the blog sometimes, but he doesn’t comment very often but he loves the IZH 60/61 family of rifles. After reading Part 1, he called and reminded me of something I’d forgotten. If you pull the butt stock off its post, you’ll see a second spot for the screw anchor on the butt stock post. All you have to do is move the anchor from the first slot to the second, and you’ll add just over an inch to the length of pull on your rifle. I had reported a LOP range of 12 inches to 13.25 inches in Part 1. Now, I’ll revise that to a maximum of 14.5 inches. (Edith will amend the owner’s manual to show this info.)

IZH 60 Target Pro air rifle stock adjustment screw anchor
By moving the screw anchor from one slot to the other, the length of pull can be increased by more than an inch!

The importance of follow-through
We discussed the fact that this powerplant is not capable of producing a lot of velocity. There was a comment on Part 1 that low velocity makes you need to follow through all the more, but I want to address that. Low velocity is not why you must follow through when shooting a spring-piston airgun. Even a 1,300 f.p.s. springer requires follow-through because it has the same problem as the IZH 60. In a springer, the pellet does not begin moving until the piston has almost come to a complete stop. The gun is already vibrating and moving in recoil before the pellet starts its journey down the barrel. But if it takes an IZH 60 to drive that fact home, all the better, because the proper follow-through can do nothing but make you a better shot.

Velocity
As I explained in Part 1, Pyramyd AIR sent this rifle to me for this test. They were very confident this rifle would shoot accurately, and they even sent a tin of what they feel are the best pellets. Guess what they are? H&N Baracuda pellets! The website says these are supposed to weigh 10.65 grains, but I weighed the ones sent by Pyramyd AIR, and they weighed 10.4 grains. H&N Baracuda pellet weights have changed a lot over the past few years, and I would always recommend actually weighing them rather than accepting the description, because the weights seem to change a lot.

These pellets averaged 382 f.p.s. in the test rifle. The range of velocity went from 371 to 389 f.p.s. At the average velocity, they generate 3.37 foot-pounds of muzzle energy. They will be the first pellets I test for accuracy; but since they’re domed pellets, they cannot be used in a formal target match due to the difficulty of scoring the holes. I’ll also test some wadcutter pellets — both target and general sporting types.

The second pellet I tested was a target wadcutter — the H&N Match Pistol pellet. This 7.56-grain wadcutter is a good general target pellet that costs less than H&N’s Finale Match pellet line. As a pistol pellet, it weighs less than 8 grains, making it appropriate to the IZH 60 powerplant.

This pellet averaged 485 f.p.s. and ranged from 481 to 490 f.p.s. At the average velocity, they generated 3.95 foot-pounds at the muzzle. This is the velocity I expected from this rifle.

Next I tried the H&N Baracuda Green — the lead-free pellet that’s performed so well in a number of lower-powered airguns. This time, though, the performance wasn’t as good. The average velocity was 425 f.p.s., despite the fact that the pellet weighs just 6.48 grains. It must be the harder alloy that causes excessive friction with the rifling, because the range for this pellet was from a low of 367 f.p.s. to a high of 489! At the average velocity, the muzzle energy was 2.60 foot-pounds. Even at just 10 meters, a velocity variation this large will cause the group to grow, so I don’t think I’ll test this one for accuracy.

The last pellet I tested was the RWS R-10 Match Pistol pellet. At just 7 grains, this pellet was the lightest of the lead pellets used in this test. It averaged 525 f.p.s. with a range from 507 to 534 f.p.s. The low shot was an exception and loaded very hard. The next-slowest pellet went 516 f.p.s. At the average velocity, this pellet produced 4.29 foot-pounds of energy.

Overall the rifle performed better than I expected. There’s some buzzing in the firing cycle, but it’s not objectionable — probably because of the low power of the rifle. A “beer-can” tune would probably do wonders for it.

The trigger is light enough, if not very positive. It breaks at 1 lb., 7 oz. consistently. I did try adjusting it, but it was set as light as it would go when I received the rifle, so there was no improvement.

One final thought. I went through the box the rifle came in and found a target that proves this rifle can shoot a tight group at 10 meters. It’s shot on a Shoot-N-C target, so measurement is impossible because of the paint flaking off, but it does look like a quarter-inch group. However, it’s only 5 shots and the standard is 10, so that hat is still on the line!

author avatar
Tom Gaylord (B.B. Pelletier)
Tom Gaylord, also known as B.B. Pelletier, provides expert insights to airgunners all over the world on behalf of Pyramyd AIR. He has earned the title The Godfather of Airguns™ for his contributions to the industry, spending many years with AirForce Airguns and starting magazines dedicated to the sport such as Airgun Illustrated.

30 thoughts on “IZH 60 Target Pro air rifle: Part 2”

  1. I noticed the length of pull thing two days after you posted the blog so I decided to wait until the next installment but Mac was quicker than me…
    Mine with the newly installed gas piston is getting smoother with every shot. It’s still shooting a little too fast for my taste and I’m still smelling a bit of oil with each shot so I’m confident it will keep on going down and will continue to smooth out over time.

    J-F

    • Greetings, J-F. This is one rifle I think has to grow on you. At first glance four years ago, it looked utterly ridiculous to me. However, after hearing you and a number of others, including B.B. sing it’s praises, I am taking a closer look. One query I have for you. I was curious to understand why you replaced the original spring with a gas piston. From my readings on this blog, I understand that this rifle is easy to cock, as well as having a very smooth cycle with the original spring. From reading your blog comments, I understand you do not have a PAL, and have to abide by the same 500fps. rule as me. So it can’t be for a velocity increase. Please don’t take my curiosity as criticism. I am interested to understand what it is you are hoping to gain. If it is for the challenge of doing something different, I admire your ingenuity. I also see you are a late night reader too. Must be a Canuck thing. By the way, what type of gas piston did you use? I see only one place up here that sells them, and they are for Crosman. Good night to you J-F, and all the other late night bloggers.
      Caio Titus

      • Hey Titus. First let me say I always liked this rifle but like Tom mentionned today there is a bit of spring buzz. I think the material and light weight of the rifle makes you notice it more than with a wood stocked rifle. That’s the first thing that made me want a gas ram. I mean the firing cycle on the detuned Benjamin Trail NP we have for sale here is soooo smooth I had to try it with the IZH. With light weight pellets it started at 585 fps. It’s now in the 520 fps neigbhorhood. Right on our 500fps and 4,2 fpe with 7 grains pellets.

        I bought the gas ram straight from Russia, someone came on the CAF (you do go on the CAF right?) advertising gas rams for different rifles including the IZH. We made a group buy because the shipping was extremely expensive. So if I’m not mistaken there’s 4 rifles like that in Canada.

        I was trying to fix something that wasn’t broken. At first I was deceived by the result, it was harder to cock and the firing cycle was very harsh but after 50 shots it’s starting to smooth out hopefully by the time I reach over 100 pellets it will be a bit smoother. The delivery of power is nothing like the spring. It’s faster and more linear but a little harsher.

        J-F

        • Hey J-F. Thanks for replying to my query. I do go on the CAF, but only occasionally. I’m glad to hear you are aware of the 4.2 fpe part of the law. I have talked to quite a few people, including people in the industry who should know these things, who are aware of the 500 fps part only. This is such a scam. I was trying out the Field Target Trophy Green at 5.56 gr. in my HW50, and got an average of 550 fps. Now a few of these people would say my rifle was over the limit and illegal. However, I was getting only 3.7 fps. Very legal. I guess we should talk of such things on the CAF, however I am aware of a few Canucks who read B.B.’s blog daily. Perhaps this information could be of benefit to a few of them. Thanks for your explanation of why you are using a gas piston. Must take our new puppy to dog training.
          Caio Titus

  2. Based on the recent blog on this airgun, I dusted off my 61 this weekend to give it another chance. I haven’t been too satisfied with the accuracy of the gun, so I tried a couple different pellets in it to see if it had any redeeming social value. I set up on my outdoor measured 10 meter course, the wind was calm to maybe 5 mph and put the gun through it’s paces once more. I grabbed a new clip out of my collection and went to work.

    I selected the standard Gamo target ( /product/gamo-paper-targets-100-pack?a=147 ) and set it up in my Champion Trap ( /product/champion-heavy-duty-metal-trap?a=1026 ).

    Using the RWS R-10 7.0 grain Match Pistol pellet ( /product/rws-r-10-match-pistol-177-cal-7-0-grains-wadcutter-500ct?p=215 ) and was able to shoot out the center hole on the target in 10 shots. No flyers, no strays.

    My 61 has an older Leapers 3-9X Bugbuster on it with the thick reticule.

    My gun has redeemed itself and and moved up to become a regular shooter.

  3. BB, I have had a bunch of the old steel receiver IZH 60s and 61s. I found that you have to move your forward hand back to the trigger guard to get good accuracy. I don’t know if that will be true of the current guns with plastic receivers but it is something you will want to watch for.

    David Enoch

  4. Yiiiii, the IZH 61 returns. Good man, Mac, to support the gun and show a very high level of discrimination in the process. That test with the steel receiver will be most interesting. I maintain that the plastic receiver may be a little more demanding of technique but that the rifle will deliver. It’s nice that they have a receiver sight that actually works. I was a complete failure with the Beeman and Mendoza sights although the Leapers scope probably works better than they would have. As for domed pellets, they have the advantage of looking small. I’ll also say that the IZH 61 is not a competition rifle. What it excels at is throwing immense amounts of lead downrange with great convenience and providing a challenge to your technique. My last count shows about 90,000 rounds and with RWS Hobbys, so they might be a pellet to try.

    Wulfraed, no the comparison between the AR-15 and the AK 47 is not a fair one for one handed shooting, but nobody says the battlefield is fair. This is one area where the AR-15 excels. If you want the power of the AK 47 which I would, this is an area where you have to give ground. I’ve heard that the low recoil of the AR-15 is also due to some sort of recoil buffer in the buttstock. Chuck, the Navy Seal was about 5′ 11″ and not especially bulky in the pictures. Well, he’s a Navy Seal. He laid out quite a few people in the battle. But there was one guy who popped up with his AK 47. Our man came across with his Sig-Sauer 9mm and squeezed off the shot. After thousands of training sessions on that very type of shot, what does he do but rush the shot and miss! And the guy almost takes his leg off. So, there are no guarantees even for the best.

    Kevin, thanks. It sounds like Miracle glue was not designed originally for a medical purpose. How about that? I thought all that glue was toxic. Anyway, that was exactly what I needed. I’m healed up now but will definitely keep that in mind for future.

    Matt61

  5. H&N Barracudas, huh? I’ve found recently that my HW30S in .177, a slightly more powerful rifle than the IZH-61, seems to perform best with Air Arms Diabolo Field Heavies at 10.3 gr. When I asked about this on one of the forums I received a few prophecies of doom and destruction upon my rifle for abusing it with heavy pellets. I figured the spring would wear slightly quicker but with no obvious signs of detonation I was happy to trade slightly shorter spring life for increased accuracy.

    What do you think? Is a 10 gr pellet in an IZH-61 or HW30S/R7 asking for trouble? Now that I see it mentioned here I’m going to try the Barracudas in my own IZH-61. I haven’t tried anything heavier than 8 gr in it up to now.

    BTW, I’m really looking forward to the rest of this review!

    Jerry

    • In terms of wear&tear — I’d think too light (or loose) fitting pellets would be the more dangerous; they’d be close to dry-firing, no back-pressure to cushion the piston.

      Heavy/tight pellets have the problem of being less efficient in energy transfer (when you chronograph and compute muzzle energy on a spring-piston gun, there will be a range of weights that tend to produce equivalent energies, and then you hit a weight where there is a significant drop in energy). Hypothetically, with a heavy enough pellet, the piston might rebound (the pressure builds up enough to hold the piston from the front of the chamber) some before the pellet is fully accelerated, reducing peak acceleration on the pellet.

  6. B.B. Could you provide a link or tell me which scale i can purchase to weigh my pellets accurately. Also what do you use to measure pellet head diameter? I’ve been told a digital caliper is not consistant enough unless you place the pellet in the exact same spot every time. Your recommendations on the best tools to you use would be highly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

    • Sleeper,M,

      Any digital reloading scale is perfect for weighing pellets. They are not cheap, but they last forever.

      I use a standard analog micrometer to measure pellet heads. It requires practice to use any measuring tool this accurate and I don’t think a digital mike or caliper is any more accurate. It just give you a number out to one more decimal place, though my mike measures to the ten-thousandth.

      B.B.

  7. Last summer I picked up an AWS GPR-20 Gemini Pro “Mini Jewelry Scale”. It reads out in gram, pennyweight, caret weight, and grains. Capacity is 308.64 grain (100.00 cwt). Resolution is 0.02grain (0.005 cwt), tolerance of +/-0.06grain {it is marked that it is not legal for commercial trade usage}.

    Manual says the 10 & 20 gram calibration weights are not included, but mine has two 10gram weights fitted into the top panel… Came with tweezers for handling the weights.

    https://www.amazon.com/American-Weigh-GPR-20-Gemini-PRO-Milligram/dp/B003STEJD4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347998814&sr=8-1&keywords=AMERICAN+WEIGH+SCALES+GPR20+Aws+Geminipro+20+X+.001G+Diamond+Scale

    • ACK!

      That’s supposed to be a reply to /blog/2012/09/izh-60-target-pro-air-rifle-part-2/#comment-57387

      As for measuring sizes… A micrometer with a friction thimble might be most reliable (my vernier and dial calipers claim to measure to the same precision as my micrometers, but the friction thimble of the latter means a consistent pressure is applied to the object under measure).

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