Baikal lz40

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Billy n
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Joined:Fri Jan 10, 2014 8:46 am
Baikal lz40

Post by Billy n » Sun Jan 26, 2014 9:04 am

Does any one have any info on this pistol .i have a mint boxed one from 1990 but carnt seem to find much info on it .The more modern pistols aren't really my cup of tea( no offence) That in mind 1990 is ancient to some .kind regards bill

Certus
Sharpshooter
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Re: Baikal lz40

Post by Certus » Sun Jan 26, 2014 11:55 am

Billy n wrote:Does any one have any info on this pistol .i have a mint boxed one from 1990 but carnt seem to find much info on it .The more modern pistols aren't really my cup of tea( no offence) That in mind 1990 is ancient to some .kind regards bill
Hello Bill,

The IZ40 sometimes referred to as the IJ40 in some countries, is the first of a series of very similar pistols with fairly minor cosmetic changes identified as the IZ53, IZ53M, IZH53 and IZH53M.

All these pistols comprise a conventional break-barrel cocking system, with a black or dark brown plastic grip frame, blued air chamber and black enamelled barrel (blued in the case of the IZ40) smoothbore or rifled in .177 only.

The pistols were made by Izhevskii Oruzheinyii Zavod (Russion State Arms Factory). The IZ40 was first introduced in the late 1980s with the first models and examples appearing in the the UK around 1990. The IZ53 followed in 1991. The IZ53M appeared in the UK around about 2003 and were still commercially available up until 2006.

Baikal is the trademark for Izhevskii Oruzheinyii Zavod which was founded in 1942 and is most famous for its manufacture of the Kalashnikov AK47 Assault Rifle. Izhevsk is a city in Russia located in the western Urals. Baikal is apparently the name of a Siberian lake, and was first used as a trademark for the companies shotguns.

The Baikal guns appear to be the only Russian made spring air pistols to become commercially available, and as there are only a few variants in the series can be quite challenging to find. The IZ53M is the most commonly seen. The IZ40 and IZ53 are long discontinued and consequently only obtainable second hand. The IZ40 is the much rarer of the two, and so is more desirable. It was briefly imported into Canada and marketed by Marathon as the Marathon IJ-40.

The above information is largely taken from the excellent 'Encyclopedia of Spring Air Pistols' by John Griffiths, now sadly out of publication.

Hope this provides you with a bit more background to your pistol.

Regards

Brian

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pmh
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Re: Baikal lz40

Post by pmh » Sun Jan 26, 2014 12:03 pm

As well as producing good quality target periods, they also produced some good quality budget springers.

Despite their basic design, and cheap build, they do perform remarkably well.

The latest offering is the IZ-53M. these can be bought new for around the £55 mark.

Remarkably little information comes back on a Google search, with most of the information coming from European Web sites.

As such, it is difficult to comment on price. Given the condition it must be worth £30 to £40 but, if they are quite rare in this Country and there is a collector after it, then it may be worth more.

Unfortunately, there are no examples out there to set the standard.

Kind regards,



Phil
M0KPH
I now have so many airguns I've had to make a list, which is >>HERE<<
>>North Manchester Target Club<<

Billy n
Posts:27
Joined:Fri Jan 10, 2014 8:46 am

Re: Baikal lz40

Post by Billy n » Sun Jan 26, 2014 1:04 pm

Thanks Brian & phill lots of information il try and post a pic it's condition is mint .And iam ashamed to say not even shot with it yet!! :oops: kind regards bill

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