Post by twodoctors on Mar 9, 2022 23:57:36 GMT
I got lucky.
Most of you would have read about the purchase of this already. No drama fortunately. Just slow response from the seller. But I got lucky (again) with my purchase.
You know when the seller use that much duct tape, and send it by special delivery, (given the price I paid) I am going to be alright.
And the box is massive because...
Yes, the Flambeau case was included in the price... but I am buying a gun, not a case. Hopefully there's gun inside it!
Yes, the customary takedown shot! 🤣
Based on this site mine would be a Gen 3, the worst of the lot! 🤦🏻♂️ It's a 2007 vintage, with the newer magazine. The slide spring is still very heavy (although I have nothing to compare with). Mine has a black grip. Machining of the gun is supposed to be bad... I can't tell. It feels fine to me.
First impression then. Yes, very weighty. In fact, everything is weighty. The slide; the trigger; the hammer; the mag release; the slide lock... it's a very dry gun, and it needs some grease. It is a very rough gun however.
Let's start with the slide. As everyone has said, very heavy. You can see how thick gauge and long the spring is from the takedown shot. When I first tried to cock it, I thought I had a jam. No, I just have weak arms. It needed more force to pull the slide back and lock the hammer. No wonder it is a non-blowback! The CO2 ain't going to move that slide.
Slide lock open is done manually. No last shot hold open (as above) and the lock lever feels a bit rough. The ejection port is probably the correct size, but when the mag is in, kind of blocks the view. Or put it another way, that is where the bullet would have been before going into battery.
The magazine I got with this is the "newer" type. Nothing special, apart from the CO2 tab. Bothers me a little, but nothing an allen screw from eBay won't solve! There is a "lock" for the BB plunger to aid easy loading. 13 rounds capacity.
The trigger. My god it is terrible! 😅
So this can be shot in DA and SA.
In DA, if you are after accuracy, don't bother! It must be more than 12lb trigger pull (based on my experience). It's worse than the Artemis CP-400, and that was a 12lb trigger out of the box. After a bit of polish, I got it down to about 9lb and I can just about shoot it. The Baikal I am pretty sure will be more than 12lb. So unless you are plinking a watermelon at 5m one might struggle a bit. There is a fair bit of up take, 1st stage was heavy enough, but the break was too heavy, with a long over travel.
Resting
Slack
1st stage
Break and overtravel
And you can see the break and overtravel is about 1/3 of the trigger movement. You can probably appreciate that if you need >12lb to break the sear, you will have the same force to move your POA during overtravel. It's just terrible! 🤣
In SA however, things are a lot different. The gun is much manageable, and I think I might be able to get some sort of a group in weaver (which is how I shoot normally).
Hammer cocked
You can already see the trigger shoe is already done most of the travelling.
1st stage
A bit of travel to get there, but it's much better than in DA. Also notice the amount of travel there is left at the break compared to DA.
And the break.
It is lighter than in DA, and with less over travel, you can see how it would be much more manageable even in one handed shooting.
Sticking with shooting, the sight picture is not bad. The last owner had put some tipex on the front blade. That will be coming off soon! Someone said the rear sight can be drifted with the correct tools (which I probably have)
Other bits then. I haven't looked into how to take it apart completely. No obvious screws and pins, and I suspect it's all hidden under the grip, which is held on by a screw.
And the view from the magazine end. 2 lanyard loop... nah. Who would put a lanyard on the magazine?!
I gathered that the newer mag has a CO2 piercing lever, similar to the Umarex revolvermatics. I prefer screw type myself, as I haven't had the best experience with the Umarex interpretation!
And takedown.
Pull the trigger guard as below
The with a almighty force, keeping that lever down, pull the slide as far back as possible, then lift it off from the hammer end. (Picture below is with the slide spring removed)
And lift the slide off.
The machining looks alright to me inside. You can see the firing pin at the back.
Not much to say about the trigger mechanism, apart from the fact that it is very dry inside at the moment.
And yes, the barrel is rifled. Not the deepest grove I've seen, but it is rifled. No use for a BB gun, and I'm not going to restart the discussion on BB in a rifled barrel! Not today!
No time to shoot it as I'll be working for the next few days. I'll post some grouping shots when I get round to it.
Overall? As a target shooter, I don't think it is worth the £195/225 new asking price (plus RFD fees etc). It's not made for that market. To an airgun collector, knowing that it's mechanically very close to the real Makarov (same factory etc), it is definitely worth it. It does feel very substantive for a small gun, and despite the rough feel to it, looks rather nice. For what I've paid, I think I've done very well. If I had paid £140+ just for the gun, which is what they normally sell for, I would have been very upset with myself! 😉
Most of you would have read about the purchase of this already. No drama fortunately. Just slow response from the seller. But I got lucky (again) with my purchase.
You know when the seller use that much duct tape, and send it by special delivery, (given the price I paid) I am going to be alright.
And the box is massive because...
Yes, the Flambeau case was included in the price... but I am buying a gun, not a case. Hopefully there's gun inside it!
Yes, the customary takedown shot! 🤣
Based on this site mine would be a Gen 3, the worst of the lot! 🤦🏻♂️ It's a 2007 vintage, with the newer magazine. The slide spring is still very heavy (although I have nothing to compare with). Mine has a black grip. Machining of the gun is supposed to be bad... I can't tell. It feels fine to me.
First impression then. Yes, very weighty. In fact, everything is weighty. The slide; the trigger; the hammer; the mag release; the slide lock... it's a very dry gun, and it needs some grease. It is a very rough gun however.
Let's start with the slide. As everyone has said, very heavy. You can see how thick gauge and long the spring is from the takedown shot. When I first tried to cock it, I thought I had a jam. No, I just have weak arms. It needed more force to pull the slide back and lock the hammer. No wonder it is a non-blowback! The CO2 ain't going to move that slide.
Slide lock open is done manually. No last shot hold open (as above) and the lock lever feels a bit rough. The ejection port is probably the correct size, but when the mag is in, kind of blocks the view. Or put it another way, that is where the bullet would have been before going into battery.
The magazine I got with this is the "newer" type. Nothing special, apart from the CO2 tab. Bothers me a little, but nothing an allen screw from eBay won't solve! There is a "lock" for the BB plunger to aid easy loading. 13 rounds capacity.
The trigger. My god it is terrible! 😅
So this can be shot in DA and SA.
In DA, if you are after accuracy, don't bother! It must be more than 12lb trigger pull (based on my experience). It's worse than the Artemis CP-400, and that was a 12lb trigger out of the box. After a bit of polish, I got it down to about 9lb and I can just about shoot it. The Baikal I am pretty sure will be more than 12lb. So unless you are plinking a watermelon at 5m one might struggle a bit. There is a fair bit of up take, 1st stage was heavy enough, but the break was too heavy, with a long over travel.
Resting
Slack
1st stage
Break and overtravel
And you can see the break and overtravel is about 1/3 of the trigger movement. You can probably appreciate that if you need >12lb to break the sear, you will have the same force to move your POA during overtravel. It's just terrible! 🤣
In SA however, things are a lot different. The gun is much manageable, and I think I might be able to get some sort of a group in weaver (which is how I shoot normally).
Hammer cocked
You can already see the trigger shoe is already done most of the travelling.
1st stage
A bit of travel to get there, but it's much better than in DA. Also notice the amount of travel there is left at the break compared to DA.
And the break.
It is lighter than in DA, and with less over travel, you can see how it would be much more manageable even in one handed shooting.
Sticking with shooting, the sight picture is not bad. The last owner had put some tipex on the front blade. That will be coming off soon! Someone said the rear sight can be drifted with the correct tools (which I probably have)
Other bits then. I haven't looked into how to take it apart completely. No obvious screws and pins, and I suspect it's all hidden under the grip, which is held on by a screw.
And the view from the magazine end. 2 lanyard loop... nah. Who would put a lanyard on the magazine?!
I gathered that the newer mag has a CO2 piercing lever, similar to the Umarex revolvermatics. I prefer screw type myself, as I haven't had the best experience with the Umarex interpretation!
And takedown.
Pull the trigger guard as below
The with a almighty force, keeping that lever down, pull the slide as far back as possible, then lift it off from the hammer end. (Picture below is with the slide spring removed)
And lift the slide off.
The machining looks alright to me inside. You can see the firing pin at the back.
Not much to say about the trigger mechanism, apart from the fact that it is very dry inside at the moment.
And yes, the barrel is rifled. Not the deepest grove I've seen, but it is rifled. No use for a BB gun, and I'm not going to restart the discussion on BB in a rifled barrel! Not today!
No time to shoot it as I'll be working for the next few days. I'll post some grouping shots when I get round to it.
Overall? As a target shooter, I don't think it is worth the £195/225 new asking price (plus RFD fees etc). It's not made for that market. To an airgun collector, knowing that it's mechanically very close to the real Makarov (same factory etc), it is definitely worth it. It does feel very substantive for a small gun, and despite the rough feel to it, looks rather nice. For what I've paid, I think I've done very well. If I had paid £140+ just for the gun, which is what they normally sell for, I would have been very upset with myself! 😉
