There is a repeater version of the IZH 60 - the IZH 61 - which uses a 5 shot clip, but I decided to go with the one shot IZH 60 because the clip operation of the 61 model was reported to be a bit finicky.
Operation
The IZH 60 is a spring piston rifle, but while most spring piston rifles use a break barrel mechanism, this Baikal model uses a side lever. This side lever is normally locked against the rifle body and needs to first be released by pressing a rod under its handle - this releases the lever, which can now be pulled to compress the spring - this movement will also release the bolt, exposing the breech for loading a pellet. Once the spring is cocked, the lever can be brought back along the side of the rifle to be locked. Not getting the side lever locked will prevent the bolt action from staying closed, so you need to push the lever against the rifle body to engage its lock. Next step is to load a pellet into the breech and close the bolt - the gun is now ready to fire; like the 53M, it has no safety.
I was confused at first by which steps are required to operate this rifle, so I will repeat them again:
- Unlock the side lever by pressing the rod under its handle
- Pull back the side lever to compress the spring (the bolt will open automatically)
- Bring back the side lever, making sure to get it locked
- Place a pellet into the breech
- Close the bolt action - the rifle is ready to fire
Package and Build
Like the IZH 53M, the IZH 60 came in a cardboard box sealed in thick plastic. The rifle is wrapped in a piece of special paper that appears to be lightly oiled. The other contents are the manual, a cleaning rod, and a few spare pieces (a seal, a washer, and a small spring) that are wrapped in a tiny piece of paper and are attached by a small staple to the packaging of the cleaning rod - this small package is very easy to miss, so look out for it. I have not yet figured out where the spare pieces can be used, but it is nice to see them included.
BTW, additional spare parts can be found separately. Spare main springs can be purchased - these seem to have the same coiling as the spares for the IZH 53M pistol, but they are slightly shorter. However, one of the spares I acquired for the IZH 53M is exactly the same length as the spares for the IZH 60! I believe a spring from the IZH 53M could very well work in the IZH 60, but it would produce slightly less power, if it is of the shorter variety.
The Baikal model 60 is built from a combination of metal and plastic. Like in the case of model 53M, all pieces under stress are built out of metal. The trigger piece is plastic, but the trigger mechanism is metal. I have no concern about the durability of this rifle. Furthermore, the plastic used here is of higher quality than the one used for the stock of the IZH 53M - it has no blemishes and is very nicely textured. The rifle barrel is metal forged, as all Baikal barrels appear to be. The lever seemed a bit frail - it is basically a thin metallic U frame - but I do not see any signs that it cannot fulfill its job.
At 33" long, the IZH 60 is also one of the shortest adult rifles available on the market. I liked its style in pictures and in real life it looks even better. Both the pistol grip and the forward grip are nicely shaped and very comfortable to hold.
There is one big problem and it took me a while to notice it and to get certain that I am not imagining things: the barrel is not mounted parallel to the stock - it is slanted towards the right. This is an assembly issue and based on other reviews complaining about the rifle shooting to the right, I suspect that this is a general manufacturing issue.
A couple more issues are related to the shape of the rod that needs to be pushed to release the side lever and to the shape of the bolt handle. The side lever release rod is a bit harsh on the fingers - a flatter surface would help there. The bolt handle is too thin and is lacking the classical round end. I got used with both these aspects after a while, but they are worth mentioning.
Adjustable settings
The two main adjustable settings are the rear sight and the shoulder stock length.
The rear sight can be adjusted for both elevation and windage. Elevation can be adjusted very conveniently and precisely by rotating a wheel, but windage adjustment is less elegant and requires loosening two screws to move the sight laterally.
The degree of freedom for the windage adjustment is insufficient to allow compensating for the degree of barrel slant - I have it set all the way to the left and the rifle still shoots a bit to the right. The rear sight also has a weird design: there is a fixed post on the rifle that has two elongated holes through which two screws go into the moving sight piece. The holes in the fixed post determine the degree of adjustment of the sight piece and they cannot be enlarged further. If the elongated holes would have been on the sight piece and the screws would have went into the post piece, I could have built a new sight piece easily, but as it is, I need to not only drill holes into a replacement sight but I also need to get them threaded for the size of the screws.
Adjusting the stock is very easy - loosen a screw at the bottom of the stock and then pull the stock back. If you want more length, you need to completely remove the screw, pull out the stock, and then move the piece into which the screw engages into a second slot away from the gun, then screw the stock back against that - this will give you an extra inch over the factory setting. I pulled the stock all the way back at the first setting and that works great for me - it is nice to know that it can still go either way.
Performance
The IZH 60 is a very accurate rifle and, as a result, I use it as the standard against which I judge other airguns. This rifle is also rather silent, just like its relative, the IZH 53M pistol. Power is excellent for target shooting, maybe even a bit too strong for that. However, among airgun rifles, the IZH 60 probably has the lowest power, so keep my previous comment in the context of target shooting. There are pistols that have more power than this rifle (the Crosman 1377C is one of them), but they also require more force (to pump or to compress the spring piston), so when it comes to target shooting, my Gamo pellet trap feels the difference.
The sights work very well (with some caveats I mentioned earlier) - the distance between the front and rear sights also helps with accuracy. The trigger is crisp - it has little travel, requires an adequate amount of force, and then breaks quickly - I might criticize it a bit on a pistol, but it feels right for a rifle that is easier to hold steady. So far, I did not see the degradation in performance that I noticed in the IZH 53M trigger.
There is nothing not to like about the performance of the IZH 60 - this is a very well designed rifle.
Conclusion
What I like the most about the IZH 60 is how reliable its accuracy is. Together with the Crosman 1377C, this is one of my most reliable airguns. The style of the rifle also makes it very attractive and pleasant to use.
The only significant negative is the assembly quality, which for my sample resulted in a barrel that is slanted against the stock of the rifle. But even this drawback does not remove much from my enjoyment of this nice rifle.
