"New" IZH 60 - still a good purchase?

[haertig]

The old metal IZH 60's had a good reputation.  Then they disappeared and all's you could find (if you were lucky) was the IZH 61, which used lots of plastic and a multi-pellet holder that appeared prone to problems.

Now Pyramyd is advertising that the IZH  60 will be available again soon.  I assume it will be a newer plastic-heavy model like the 61.  Anyone have one of these new 60's?  Are they worth it any more?  I don't care about the sights so much as I would probably put a small 4x32 scope on it.  I have no planned uses for an air rifle like this other than inexpensive, fun plinking.

[daved]

I owned one of the steel receiver 60' and a newer plastic 61.  The steel receivers are by far superior, but the plastic ones are fine.  Still extremely accurate, and with an excellent trigger, they're great little plinkers and good trainers.  Just resist the urge to get "just a little more power", it ain't gonna happen :-).  A lube tune is worth while, and there are a couple of very minor tweaks that can be done.  There's an article written by Russ Best still floating around, I have a copy on my computer, so if you'd like it, let me know and I'll email it to you.  Other than feel, the only down side to the plastic receiver was the scope rails, not only are they short, but on my 61, they were a little twisted front to back, which made scoping it a bit of a challenge.  I got a Bug Buster for mine with a set of BKL offset mounts.  It was a great fit, but the optics on the BB sucked.  From the reviews I've been seeing, they must have improved.  Either that, or everyone that has reviewed them is blind ;-).  I liked having a diopter sight on it better, and turned the front hood into an aperture with some fine wire.  That was a lot of fun shooting at 10M.  Later.

Dave

[ac12basis]

I have the 2nd version of the 60 with the plastic receiver.
It seems to work just fine.  IZH incorporated one of the fixes that Russ Best recommeded be done to the steel receiver version, this was to put an O-ring on the bolt.  So now you don't have to do that mod, the factory did it for you.

I use a red-dot on mine.  The short sight rail is a problem when trying to install a red-dot.  I have a Tasco mini-mag on it.  It is the only red-dot that I have that will mount onto the short sight rail.  One thing to be aware of is, with the 60 you have to get your fingers into the receiver to load the pellets.  With a scope or red-dot over the loading port, this can become VERY difficult.  I had to use a short red-dot (the Tasco mini-mag) and mount it rearwards to leave the loading port clear.

[intelll]

My IZH has plastic magazines and its most frustrated rifle that i own.   Every magazine is different all new one are made of plastic vs. metal.  My IZH 61 shoots all over Gamo paper target in 10meter distance.  Tried red dot, different scope, bipod same inaccurate results. I think my izh has problem with receiver.  Would not recommend to a friend.

[daved]

All late model IZH 61's use a plastic stick magazine.  There have been occasional reports of problems with them but that's usually that the pellets fall out.  Accuracy issues with these guns is rare, in fact their reputation is exactly the opposite.  Sounds like yours might well have a mechanical problem with the mag system, causing the pellets to get damaged on loading.  I'd suggest returning it for a replacement.  Couple of questions first, though.

Have you or anyone else taken it apart?  There are several small parts that can get lost or reinstalled wrong that would cause some of the problems you're talking about.

What pellets are you using?  This thing is really designed for light weight match pellets, although I had good luck with JSB S100 Match pellets at 8.26 gr.  It also liked JSB Expresses.  Heavy pellets are non starters in the 60/61.

What about shooting position?  This is designed to be a 10M trainer, so it's designed to be shot primarily off hand, and works very well that way, although some extra weight up front makes a huge difference.  You mentioned a bipod, this is not a rifle that responds well to being shot rested.  If you must shoot it rested, keep your hand between the rest and the fore arm, and don't use a rear bag.

Finally, how much experience do you have shooting springers?  If this is your first, check out some of the articles in the Library about springer or artillery hold, there is a specific technique to shooting any springer.  These guns are fairly forgiving because of the low power, but that's offset somewhat by the very light weight.  Later.

Dave

[onemountain]

someone just posted an "all metal" IZH 61 over in the classifieds, might be worth a look to you.