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Yet another retest for an airgun I have already reviewed. But some airguns need another "shot"! Today I just kind of felt like shooting a springer and the Baikal MP-53M Break Barrel .177 Pellet Air Pistol came to mind. I'm not the best at shooting spring pistons airguns since they take a more softer relaxed grip and I tend to hold guns with a bit of a firmer grip.

If you're interested you can watch my previous Field Test Shooting Video for the Baikal MP-53M I performed a couple years back outside on my deck.

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As always in my new Sea Can Shipping Container I perform a Chronograph velocity test to see what the real world feet per second is and  then I perform a followup accuracy test shooting 10 rounds at a paper target 30 feet down range using a rested seated position. During the velocity Chrony test for the Baikal MP-53M Break Barrel .177 Pellet Air Pistol I was able to get an average of 405 fps which was much higher than my previous testing where I averaged 319 fps. I was using different 7 grain lead pellets but I don't think they where that much different in weigth since the Diabolo pellets should have been around 6-7 grain.

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Moving onto the accuracy portion of my Field Test review, this time around my shots stayed a little tighter than last time stretching out to about 2 inches but most of the 10 shots where all within 1 to 1.5 inches. The trigger on the Baikal MP-53M Break Barrel .177 Pellet Air Pistol is really great, super light with just a little take-up and virtually a hair trigger after that with zero friction.

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I also wanted to mention that cocking the Baikal MP-53M Break Barrel .177 Pellet Air Pistol is fairly easy and that I did find I needed to set the rear sigh to the all the way down position to get my shots to hit close to the bullseye as this gun seemed to like to shoot rather high out of the box.

Buy Baikal MP-53M Pellet Air Pistol

Make sure to checkout my Table Top Video and Written Review for the Baikal MP-53M Break Barrel .177 Pellet Air Pistol where I show you around this Russian made target pistol and go over its features and specifications.

This Video Review focuses on the shooting aspects of the Baikal MP-53M. I test it out to see what kind of velocity it can achieve and I also perform an accuracy test to see how straight and true it shoots.

My first test, the velocity test I performed using my Chronograph shooting 5 7 grain RWS lead pellets. the fps ranged from 303 to 341 fps with an average 5 shot reading of 319 feet per second. Keep in mind the Baikal MP-53M is strictly a target shooter and is not meant for pest control so these readings are perfectly adequate for this this pistols purposes. The lower velocity also makes for a nice easy cocking effort.

Moving on to the accuracy portion of this field test shooting review, I performed my usual 30 foot paper target test using a semi rested stance standing in the back with a sandbag up front to rest my hands on. This position is fairly stable but not perfect so there is always so human factor to consider and with a springer which I am not super proficient at so there where a couple of shot that I pulled. For the most part the majority of my shots with stayed within about a 1 inch grouping but I know with practice the Baikal MP-53M would shoot under a half inch for sure.

A couple of side notes about the Baikal MP-53M Break Barrel .177 Pellet Air Pistol... It has a super nice trigger which is very light and crisp which will aid in accuracy for sure. I did find that the rear sight moved around a little bit, it seemed to rise a bit and I had to press down on it just a little to keep my shots consistent. The spring is not terribly strong so recoil is minimal for a springer and it is very easy to cock.

All in all the Baikal MP-53M Break Barrel .177 Pellet Air Pistol is a well made and truly accurate target pellet pistol.

Buy the Baikal MP-53M Break Barrel .177 Pellet Air Pistol in Canada

In this "head to head to head" pistol shootout I compare three of my more powerful, or you could say effective air pistols against each other. Shooting at some pop cans from about 30 feet away to see how destructive each one is. I don't generally recommend air pistols for pest control simply because they tend to be less accurate and powerful than rifles, especially out at the longer ranges where a magnified scope is required and notably where the pesky vermin like to hang out.

I would have to say out of the three tested in this video comparison, the Webley Alecto in .22 caliber and the Modified Drozd Full Auto BB Gun would for sure get the job done at closer ranges. The Webley Alecto simply because it can hurl a heavy grain .22 caliber lead pellet right around the 500 fps mark which will take down small pests, again at close ranges.

My second choice or even first choice depending on how active the pest are would be my modified full auto 1200 rounds per minute Drozd that hurls 4.5mm Steel BB's at over 500 fps (under 4.2 foot pounds) at a rate of 20 BB's per second! A 4.5mm Steel BB traveling at 500 fps will penetrate fur and feathers very well and with most of the 20 BB's hitting a target in a matter of 1 second, that is going to humanly put a small to even medium sized pest down for sure. And yes the Drozd becomes a pistol when yuo take the rear stock off ;)

My last choice for the job is the Xisico XSP180 in .177 caliber since like the Webley Alecto it is only a single shot, so you got to make it count and being that it has less overall energy than the Webley Alecto again I would prefer the Alecto over the XSP180.

Watch my "head to head to head" Vimeo video to see how these three pellet pistols compare:

Type: Pellet air rifle.
Manufacturer: Baikal.
Model: IZH MP-61.
Materials: Metal & plastic.
Weight: 4.3 pounds.
Barrel: 18.5 inches, metal-rifled.
Propulsion: Spring piston.
Action: Repeater.
Ammunition Type: .177 caliber pellets.
Ammunition Capacity: 5 rounds.
FPS: 490.
Trigger Pull: The trigger pull on the IZH MP-61 is a nice light 1.4 pounds and the release stage is also adjustable, you actually need to be careful of accidental shots as the trigger is light enough to go off before you are ready to shoot.
Accuracy: Very good, I was not so sure when first using the IZH-61 with my initial scope and pellet setup but my second open sight test with different pellets yielded a very tight 1 inch group from 30 feet out in a standing unrested position.

Build Quality: This is a no-nonsense gun made Russian style, it is built to be cost effective so there are parts that could be made with metal that are plastic but there isn't anything on this gun that feels cheap or poorly built. Baikal also doesn't cheap out on the plastic as not all plastic is the same. I actually dropped the IZH MP-61 right on the front hooded sight without any adverse effects, cheap plastic would have cracked and broken.
Realism: Since the Baikal IZH-61 is not a replica gun, I can not really compare it to any existing one rifle out there, but it does look very tactical in design, much more so then your standard spring piston air rifle.
Purchased this rifle from: The Replica Airguns Store.

Pros:

• Inexpensive spring piston rifle.
• Very unique looking air rifle.
• Side pull lever design.
• 5 round magazine/clip.
• Right on the money with FPS.
• Adjustable Stock.
• Adjustable Trigger.
• 11mm dovetail rail mount for scopes.
• Very light weigh and easy to cock.
• Made in Russia

Cons:

• Plastic stock seems to mark up easy - kind of part of the utilitarian look.
• Mechanics takes a bit of getting use to.
• Scope rail mount is a bit short.

Comments:
The Baikal IZH MP-61 is a really nice low cost yet full featured air riffle! You really get a lot of rifle for your money: You get an efficient side lever design with a 5 shot magazines for quick repeat shots, a very light weight and adjustable trigger, an adjustable stock, a rail mount for a scope and one of the more tactical looking air rifles available on the market. The Baikal MP-61 also takes the FPS right up to the limit without going over so no license or PAL is required to own this one in Canada. This air rifle is designed for target shooting but could also be used for small pest control if your marksmanship is good enough to hit the vital kill zones of your prey.

My YouTube Video Review for this Russian made Air rifle:

Buy this rifle in Canada   -   Buy this rifle in the US

Another new product arrives at the

Replica Airguns Store

The Baikal IZH-61 has a very interesting style and design, it is compact, lightweight and a truly affordable air rifles that offers a unique blend of attributes inherent in hi-class sporting weapons such as a five way adjustable trigger, an adjustable stock,an adjustable rear sight and fully hooded front sight. The Baikal IZH-61 also has provisions to mount a scope or red dot sight.

Some other interesting design element are a fixed barrel with a heavy duty side cocking lever and a 5 shot pellet magazine fed into the barrel by a slide feeder ensuring high pattern results.

• .177 caliber pellets
• 5 round magazine
• Sidelever Spring-piston
• 10.5 pounds cocking effort
• Up to 490 fps
• 4.3 pounds
• 18.5 inch rifled barrel
• 33 inches total length
• 1.4 pound trigger pull
• Adjustable rear sight
• 11mm dovetail scope mount
• Made in Russia

Buy Baikal IZH MP-61 5 in Canada