Legendary domestic vertical gun IZH-12

Caliber rating

There have been and will always be debates about which caliber is better.
There cannot be a consensus on this issue, since each hunter has his own personal preferences. Some people like time-tested hammer-fired 16-gauge shotguns, while others are more satisfied with the powerful 12-gauge.

12 gauge

The absolute leader in this trinity. Many hunters value it for its versatility and power.

However, the use of 12 gauge in hunting small fur-bearing animals is not always justified, since a large charge of shot spoils the valuable skin of the animal. In such situations, it is recommended to use choke tubes that increase dispersion.

It should be noted that 12-gauge shotguns are often purchased not for hunting, but for self-defense. Also, such weapons are actively used by private security structures. In many ways, it is these factors that determine the high demand for this caliber.

20 gauge

It can be considered the main competitor of the 12th.

20 gauge hunting rifles are lighter in weight and have less recoil when fired. At the same time, when hunting small and medium game, a 20-gauge weapon is practically in no way inferior to a 12-gauge weapon. Therefore, many hunters opt for it.

16 gauge

At one time it was not inferior to 12th in popularity, but over time it was pushed back to third place. However, many continue to use it, considering this caliber to be the golden mean between 12 and 20.

Despite the above, you should know that the effectiveness of a shot is influenced not so much by the caliber as by a number of other factors:

• the type of ammunition used and its correct selection for a specific game;
• drilling the barrel and used choke tubes;
• weapon quality;
• abilities of the hunter himself.

Specifications

The vertically paired barrels can accommodate a 12-gauge cartridge; the barrel length of this model is 730 mm and the weight is 3.2-3.5 kg. You can also use 16 gauge. Depending on the caliber, the characteristics of the weapon may change: a 16-gauge shotgun has a slightly shorter barrel - 720 mm, and weighs less - up to 3.3 kg.

The number of shots that an IZH hunting rifle can withstand, according to the passport, is 10 thousand shots, although in practice this number is much higher (up to 20 thousand). Accuracy when shooting depends on the filling of the cartridge and the material of the cartridge case, but among pros they reach 7% from an average distance (about 37-40 meters).

Also in this section:

Single-barreled smoothbore hunting shotgun model TK598 caliber 9.6/53 Lancaster

01.01.1970

Section: "Directory"

Excerpts from the passport of the gun model TK598 caliber 9.6/53 Lancaster

Read →

Bullets for the IZH-27 gun

When firing a bullet from an IZH-27 gun, be careful when using round bullets; the diameter of round bullets should be 0.2-0.3 mm less than the muzzle of the barrels. The easiest way to test such a bullet is to simply pass it through the barrel; it should pass through it freely.

When using bullets with belts, the diameter of the bullet body should be 0.8-1 mm smaller than the muzzle, and the diameter of the belts can be slightly larger than the muzzle by 0.5-1 mm.

You can also check such a bullet by passing it through the barrel; when such a bullet passes through the barrel, it should stop 1-2 cm from the muzzle of the barrel.

Trigger and safety

The trigger mechanism of the IZH-12 shotgun (12 gauge), the characteristics of which deserve respect, consists of: a base, a pair of sears and a pair of triggers. The gun is equipped with special devices - interceptors, which exclude the possibility of a shot in the event of the hammer being released from cocking without pressing the trigger. It is noteworthy that before IZH-12 such mechanisms could only be found on expensive guns. The fuse here is not automatic, but it does its job perfectly - it firmly locks the sear. By the way, in some cases automatic fuses were installed on the latest models of guns. The gun allows for a smooth release of the trigger/s.

24, 28, 32, 36 calibers

In addition to the widespread 12, 16 and 20, there are much less common calibers, these include 24, 28, as well as 32 and 36.

A 24-caliber weapon has a barrel bore of 14.7 mm, a 28-caliber weapon has a barrel bore of 13.8 mm. Shooting from such guns is carried out with cartridges containing small shot. The main hunting object for such guns are various species of small birds. Both of them require the shooter to have good shooting training and hunting experience.

It is almost impossible to find 24 and 28 caliber shotguns in our stores; they can only be purchased through advertisements.

There are smoothbore weapons of 32 and 36 calibers. The bore diameter of the 32 is 12.7 mm, and that of the 36 is 10.2 mm. The 32 caliber is based on the .50 caliber rifle cartridge. 36 caliber, better known as .410, appeared in Russia with the start of production of the Saiga smoothbore carbine.

Both of these calibers are not intended for hunting, but are used for recreational shooting and self-defense purposes.

Disadvantages of the IZH-12 gun

The main drawback of the gun is the solid sighting rib, which makes the barrel heavier. And in the summer heat it heats up and causes vibrations of hot air above it, which prevents the shooter from aiming. The handguard sometimes cracks due to overload. But this is normal for guns that have a solid groove-shaped fore-end.

Now let's briefly look at other famous 12-gauge models from the Izhevsk plant.

What calibers are there?

For a person who is first interested in hunting weapons, it may seem strange that the larger the number indicating the caliber, the smaller the diameter of its barrel. This confusion is explained by a not very simple determination system, in which the caliber of a smoothbore weapon is equal to the number of corresponding spherical bullets made from one pound of pure lead (about 450 g).

It is not difficult to guess that the smaller the cast bullets, the more of them were produced, and, accordingly, the larger the caliber assigned to the weapon.

Calibers and corresponding barrel diameters in millimeters:

• 10 – 19,7;
• 12 – 18,5;
• 16 – 16,8;
• 20 – 15,6;
• 24 – 14,7;
• 28 – 13,8;
• 32 – 13,4;
• 410 – 10,2.

In addition to the above calibers, there are also others, but in our country they are extremely rare.

Shotguns: over-and-under IZH

Shotguns with vertical barrels, so-called over-and-unders, are quite common in the world. True, domestic arms factories paid less attention to them than to guns with horizontal barrels. However, among the products of the Izhevsk Arms Plant there are interesting models.

IZH 59 "Sputnik"

The first model of the IZH over-and-under shotgun in our country was the IZH 59 “Sputnik” shotgun. It was developed under the leadership of the head of the double-barreled shotgun design bureau A. A. Klimov and produced by Izhmekh in 1959-1961. The barrels of the vertical IZH 59 are not soldered, but connected by couplings. The barrel channels and chambers are chrome-plated, the channel diameter is 18.5. The length of the barrels is 750 mm, the length of the chambers is 70 mm. The muzzle constrictions are 0.5 mm and 1 mm at the lower and upper barrels. Single locking, with a wide wedge on the breech coupling hook. Caliber 12.

The trigger mechanism of the IZH 59 shotgun is mounted on a separate base. The triggers are made separately from the strikers, with a release. Mainsprings are twisted. The fuse is non-automatic and locks the sear. There is a smooth descent. The stock is walnut or beech, straight or pistol, the forend is detachable. A total of 21,218 guns of this model were produced.

The IZH-59 was a very beautiful gun, but during its operation a significant drawback was revealed, generally inherent in guns with unsoldered barrels. This model exhibited intersecting scree centers. Therefore, it was decided to modernize the gun in order to eliminate this shortcoming and generally improve the design.

IZH-12

In 1962, the IZH-12 shotgun replaced the Sputnik. In addition to the welded barrels, this model differed from the prototype in having a smaller barrel bore diameter (18.2 mm), interceptors and an all-removable forend were installed. The length of the trunks was reduced to 720-730 mm. Shotguns were produced in 12 and 16 gauges until 1974. The weight of the gun is 3-3.5 kg for 12 gauge and 3.1-3.2 for 16 gauge. The IZH-12 has a survivability of at least 10 thousand rounds. A total of 311,633 guns were produced, of which almost 129 thousand were exported. IZH-12 were extremely durable and reliable. And if IZH-54 marked the beginning of the reputation of Izhevsk “working” guns, then IZH-12 confirmed this reputation and transferred it to the over-and-under guns of its production.

IZH-27

At the end of the 60s, work began on modernizing the IZH-12, and in 1973 production of the IZH-27 , and in 1976 - the IZH-27E . They differ from the IZH-12 in the slightly modified shape of the stock and forend, the presence of a ventilated strap and a switchable ejector in the IZH-27E. Their weight for 12 gauge is no more than 3.4 kg, and for 16 gauge - no more than 3.3 kg.

Since 1977, the IZH-27E-1S with one trigger has been manufactured. In the sport-hunting version, it is produced with two pairs of barrels: a long one of 750 mm and a short one of 675 mm. These guns do not have a smooth trigger.

Technical characteristics of other modifications IZH-27M, IZH-27EM, IZH-27EM-K-M: calibers 12.16 and 20. Barrel length 725 mm, chamber length 70 and 76 mm, barrel choke 1.0-0.5 mm . Vertical arrangement of trunks. The stock is made of walnut or beech. The weight of the guns is no more than 3.4 kg.

IZH-25

Izhevsk shotguns occupy a special place among over-and-unders - for sport shooting on a bench. Their production began in 1969 with the IZH-25 model, created on the basis of the IZH-12 and differing from it only in the trigger mechanism with one trigger. It was produced only in 12 gauge in two modifications - IZH-25ST for a trench stand with a barrel length of 750 mm and IZH-25SK for a round one with a barrel length of 650 mm. It was produced in 1969-1981, and a total of 2914 pieces were made.

IZH-39

In 1975, the plant began producing the IZH-39 shotgun. This was due to a change in the base model. New guns were developed based on the IZH-27. They are produced in 4 versions: IZH-39K and IZH-39T for a round and trench stand without an ejector, IZH-39EK and IZH-39ET - with it. Compared to the prototype, these IZh over-and-under shotguns have made the necessary improvements that meet the conditions of use of the weapon.

Technical characteristics of IZH-39, IZH-39E:

Modifications of the IZH-39 gun are IZH-44 and IZH-44E with a removable percussion mechanism. Sporting shotguns are optimized for very specific skeet shooting tasks and cannot be recommended as hunting weapons.

Characteristic

The single-barreled hunting rifle has a rich and glorious history. It was this type that could most often be found in the arsenal of the Soviet hunter at the beginning and middle of the 20th century. The hammer-fired guns IZH 5 and IZhK, as well as the hammerless gun ZK, were in greatest demand. No less popular were Berdankas converted to use a hunting cartridge.

But time passed, and single-barreled guns were replaced by double-barreled guns. Hunters appreciated the ability to load weapons with two cartridges of different types at once. In addition, drilling the barrels of double-barreled shotguns, as a rule, is not identical. This design allows the hunter to use one or another barrel depending on the circumstances. And, of course, in terms of its rate of fire, a double-barreled shotgun is superior to a single-barreled, single-shot shotgun.

However, among hunting enthusiasts there are still those who prefer single-barreled shotguns to double-barreled ones. Moreover, these days, single-barrel does not always mean single-shot.

History of the IZH-27 (MR-27) gun

IZH-27 is a double-barreled hunting rifle with a vertical barrel arrangement, intended for both commercial and amateur hunting.

The IZH-27 shotgun has been mass-produced at the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant since 1973 and is the most popular shotgun in Russia among hunters. Taking into account all possible modifications of the IZH-27 (MR-27), more than 1.6 million units were produced and sold.

In the 90s of the last century, the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant decided to enter the international weapons market and new weapon models began to be designated by the abbreviation in Latin letters MP, which stands for Mechanical Plant. Since 2008, the plant decided to completely bring the weapon designation system to a single form and all models began to have the MP designation in their name. Thus, the IZH-18, IZH-43 and IZH-27 guns began to be designated MP-18, MP-43 and MP-27.

The IZH-27 (MR-27) shotgun was created on the basis of the IZH-12 shotgun, one of the first models of shotguns from the Izhevsk plant with a vertical barrel arrangement. Many changes were made to the design of the IZH-27: the shape of the stock and forend was changed, a rubber shock absorber appeared on the stock , a ventilated sighting rail began to be installed on the gun, an automatic safety, interceptors, an ejector appeared on the gun, and the shape of the receiver at the junction with the gun stock was also significantly changed.

Currently, the IZH-27 (MR-27) gun is produced in various modifications, different calibers, with different barrel lengths, and different artistic designs. Each hunter can choose a gun according to his needs, budget and taste.

History of the creation of IZH-12

The Izhevsk Mechanical Plant, which in 1975 was renamed IZHMASH, and in 2013 became the Kalashnikov Concern, gave Soviet and Russian hunters many excellent hunting rifles. Most novice Soviet hunters first became acquainted with the products of this plant.

Even now, when the Kalashnikov Concern produces a wide range of new hunting shotguns and rifles, the old models are highly valued by experienced hunters. For example, the IZH-12 hunting rifle is still considered the best over-and-under in the entire history of the Izhevsk plant. Every hunter who started hunting back in the 70-80s remembers with warmth such a wonderful weapon as the IZH-12. Even many young hunters who managed to shoot with the IZH-12 gun are surprised by its accuracy and reliability.

The Izh-12 double-barreled shotgun with vertically positioned barrels traces its ancestry to the IZH-59 Sputnik shotgun, which even many old hunters do not remember. The IZH-59 was produced for only 2 or 4 years (different sources say differently), and soon this gun was replaced by a new development, which became the IZH-12 gun. The second vertical line of the Izhevsk plant was devoid of many of the shortcomings of its predecessor.

The Soviet designer Klimov managed to create a new model that was suitable not only for hunting, but also for sport shooting. What distinguished the IZH-59 from most other models of guns that were used for sport shooting was its light weight. In addition, the connections of the barrels on the IZH-59 are made using couplings, which almost completely eliminates the possibility of deformation of the barrel block when the barrels are heated during intense fire (even if the barrels are heated unevenly, the barrel block is not deformed). Due to this, the designer managed to create a fairly light gun, which had excellent combat and accuracy.

Currently, there is an opinion that the connection on the couplings does not ensure combat accuracy, it is for this reason that the IZH-59 was replaced by the more advanced model IZH-12, but the majority of IZH-59 owners, of whom there are few left, prove in practice that their The guns shoot quite accurately. Most likely, problems with accuracy arose after using more powerful cartridges, for which this gun was clearly not designed.

The IZH-12 model, which appeared in 1962, quickly gained enormous popularity among domestic hunters throughout the entire Soviet Union. Moreover, this gun is still popular today. IZH-12 is a cheap and reliable double-barreled shotgun, which is characterized by excellent firing and accuracy. The gun barrels were shortened slightly, now their length was 730 mm. The composite forend, which was installed on the IZH-59, was replaced with a solid one. This design decision was clearly unsuccessful, since the forend became very brittle. The design of the IZH-12 included trigger interceptors, which the IZH-59 lacked.

The Izh-12 shotgun is perfect for hunting, both for beginners and for experienced hunters. Since in the 60s in the USSR much attention was paid to the quality of manufacturing of hunting weapons, the IZH-12 is distinguished by high-quality execution and assembly. The gun barrels are made of high quality weapon steel, and the hardening of the barrel is uniform along the entire length. Unfortunately, in modern guns the hardening is often extremely uneven.

Interesting fact. During this period, the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant produced 311,633 units of IZH-12, which is an impressive figure. In 1965, the cost of this hunting rifle was:

• for serial models - 158 rubles;
• for piece models - 250–270 rubles.