Among domestic hunters, the IZH-12 double-barreled shotgun of 12 or 16 caliber is the undisputed legendary shotgun. This vertical rifle has a classic design, it is perfect for hunting animals or birds, and for sport shooting. At the moment, the IZH-12 gun has already been discontinued, therefore, if you want to get a similar weapon for use, you will have to turn to the services of the secondary market.
Even now, the IZH-12 with restored barrels is perfect for novice hunters to master the intricacies of the hunting craft. The gun is reliable, unpretentious and highly accurate.
IZH-12 is an old representative of domestic shotguns; its production began in 1962 and ended in 1972.
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.
Design Features
IZH-12 is a fairly old representative of Soviet hunting and sporting rifles; these weapons were produced from 1962 to 1974. This weapon is one of the first serial Soviet-made sideflints, and, perhaps, one of the best to this day, if we talk about mass-produced inexpensive domestic double-barreled over-and-unders.
In terms of layout, the IZH-12 shotgun is a double-barreled, internally triggered, smoothbore shotgun with vertically paired barrels.
Shotguns of the IZH-12 model are designed for shooting shotguns in amateur and commercial hunting conditions and are characterized by the following design features:
The barrels are detachable, located in a vertical plane, connected using a breech coupling and inter-barrel strips. The bores are chrome plated. The forend is detachable and secured with a lever-type latch. The locking of the barrels in the block is single and is carried out on the hook of the barrels with a wide locking bar. In the open position of the barrels, the locking lever is held by a special lock, which automatically releases the lever when the barrels are closed.
The trigger mechanism is located in the block and on a separate base (cylinder), the return triggers (“with release”) are made separately from the firing pins. Mainsprings are cylindrical spiral.
The hammers are cocked and the main springs are compressed by means of a hinge, cocking levers and rods when opening the barrels. The safety is automatic and locks the sear directly only when the triggers are cocked. When the triggers are released, the safety button operates idle, i.e., when the safety is turned on (the button is in the rear position), the safety flags do not lock the sear. When the triggers are subsequently cocked (by opening the barrels), the safety flags automatically lock the sear.
The design of the IZH-12 safety ensures the possibility of shockless release of the triggers from combat cocking. To do this, with the barrels fully open and the safety button turned off (front position), press both triggers and smoothly close the barrels.
The presence of an automatic fuse eliminates the possibility of firing when the barrels are open.
To increase the operational safety of the gun, in order to prevent shots when the hammers are accidentally released from the cocking position (without pressing the trigger), the trigger mechanism is equipped with trigger interceptors (interceptors).
It must be remembered that any firearm, despite the presence of various safety devices in it, poses a known danger to the life and health of people if it is handled frivolously. Therefore, even if the gun has trigger interceptors, you need to take all precautions and remember that neglecting safety rules can lead to tragic consequences.
The design of the trigger and safety mechanisms is convenient for inspection, cleaning and repair. Disassembling and assembling the gun mechanisms is simple and does not require the use of special tools.
The gun is suitable for firing smoky and smokeless (nitro) powders. Drilling bores provides the best results when shooting with paper cartridges. It is possible to shoot from a gun using metal cartridges, but in this case the accuracy of the fire may be lower than the accuracy indicated in the gun's passport.
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.
Ammunition
Engineers designed over-and-under barrels for the use of cartridges with folder sleeves. It is also acceptable to use charges with plastic sleeves, but maximum efficiency will be achieved with “paper” sleeves.
Metal sleeves are not recommended. The use of such cartridges reduces the accuracy and speed of fire. Such ammunition increases recoil, which means you have to spend extra time aiming before the second shot.
Technical characteristics of IZH-12
The performance characteristics of the IZH-12 shotgun can be viewed in the comparison table.
| Caliber | 12 | 16 |
| Gun weight, kg | no more than 3.3 | no more than 3.2 |
| Steel | High-quality barrel 50PA heat-treated Yield strength no less than 50 kgf/mm 2 Tensile strength no less than 75 kgf/mm 2 | |
| External covering | Chemical dyeing | |
| Inner coating | Channels and chambers are chrome plated | |
| Barrel length, mm | 725÷730 | 725÷730 |
| Chamber length, mm | 70 | 70 |
| Channel diameter, mm | 18.2 | 17 |
| Muzzle constriction of the upper barrel, mm | 1 | 1 |
| Muzzle constriction of the lower barrel, mm | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Stock and forend | Wood - walnut, beech | |
It should be noted that the performance characteristics (TTX) of this double-barreled shotgun were calculated for a cartridge with a folder or paper sleeve. It is acceptable to use cartridges with a plastic sleeve, but metal ones are not suitable. They significantly increase recoil, reduce combat accuracy and increase reload time. Also, the use of metal cartridges, due to their significant mass, accelerates the wear of the weapon. In addition, metal wads have a diameter larger than the caliber of this gun, which also negatively affects accuracy.
The use of paper cartridges makes it possible to increase the accuracy when shooting with shot, depending on the shot numbers, to 7%. Professional shooters can use IZH-12 to hit targets at a distance of up to 70 m, including moving ones.
For shooting, shot numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 or bullets for smooth-bore weapons are used. You can use your own ammunition, but you must take into account that no more than 33 g of shot numbers 0, 1 or 2 are used, and 2.5 g of gunpowder is used for the same amount. This weapon does not like excessive charge amplification; the combat range will not increase when adding gunpowder, and the likelihood of the weapon failing will increase.
Also in this section:
Pneumatic gas pistol MR-661K "Drozd"
01.01.1970
Section: "Directory"
The pneumatic gas pistol model MP-661K is intended for training and amateur shooting with spherical steel bullets for pneumatic weapons of 4.5 mm caliber.
Read →
Advantages and disadvantages of the IZH-12 gun
The production quality of IZH-12 hunting rifles is significantly superior to modern products from IZHMASH and Kalashnikov Concern, while they delight with their reliability when working in the most difficult conditions. The main advantages of IZH-12 lie in its design:
- The simplest design of the IZH-12 hunting rifle is devoid of complex weapon components, which not only simplifies disassembly of the weapon, but also makes its operation trouble-free. The fewer complex components, the higher the reliability of the weapon; this rule has long been known to all hunters.
- Quite attractive and modern appearance. IZH-12, despite the fact that more than 40 years have passed since the release of the last gun of this model, still looks quite modern. The classic design, combined with the wooden parts of the IZH-12, makes this gun quite attractive even for the modern hunter.
- This gun can be purchased for an extremely low price, since most of the original owners of guns of these models have not gone hunting for a long time.
The excellent combat quality, accuracy and balance of the IZH-12 gun make this weapon a true classic that many experienced hunters want to have.
The gun allows the use of both factory and homemade cartridges, subject to the equipment rules described above. Exceeding the maximum mass of shot can create problems with removing cartridges after a shot, but in general the IZH-12 is favorable to homemade cartridges, unlike many modern guns. Barrels made of hardened steel fastened with silver solder have a very high service life: many guns with a service life of half a century, if their owners were not very active hunters or amateur shooters, have retained the ability to shoot to this day.
Like any weapon, IZH-12 has specific disadvantages due to its design:
- The design of the gun is quite rough, although some hunters like such brutality.
- The specific shape of the gun requires the use of a forend that is too thin, which can break if used carelessly. Vertical double-barreled shotguns, which have a composite forend, do not have this drawback.
- The aiming bar is at a slight angle to the butt. This feature can lead to misses in the initial stages of shooting, but with experience you can get used to this feature, simply taking this nuance into account when aiming.
- The triggers are too close together. This feature leads to the fact that it can be inconvenient to move your finger from trigger to trigger, although this largely depends on the anatomical characteristics of a particular hunter. Some hunters refuse to purchase this double-barreled shotgun precisely because of this feature.
The forend, machined from one piece of wood, has a groove that is too deep. The predecessor of this weapon, IZH-59, was composed of two separate parts. Because of this, the forend is easy to damage or break.
Unusually, the proximity of the triggers makes it difficult to move your finger from one to the other. In addition, this weapon is characterized by an unpleasant “lag” effect, when when you press the second trigger immediately after the first shot, the shot is delayed by about 0.5-1 second. Out of habit, it seems that the trigger is out of order. This feature of the gun can be detrimental if you need to shoot a doublet.
You will also have to get used to the specifics of its sighting devices.
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.
Care
Like any weapon, IZH-12 requires constant care. It consists of cleaning the gun barrels after each shooting and lubricating its mechanisms during the disassembly process. If the gun is sent for storage, it must be cleaned and lubricated. When storing a gun, lubrication should be present not only in the barrels, but also in the hinge block, on the hinge axles, on the socket barrel coupling and on other parts of the gun that are subject to frequent friction.
The IZH-12 shotgun needs to be cleaned in the same way as other smoothbore hunting shotguns. The main thing in this procedure is thoroughness. There should not be even the slightest trace of powder residue inside the barrels. Chrome plating of the bores is very helpful in the cleaning process of the gun.
You can store a gun either disassembled or assembled, but always in a gun safe.
general information
IZH-12 is a hammer-fired smoothbore gun with vertical barrels. The design and production of the rifle was carried out by the IZHMASH company. The main weapon of this type was the IZH-59.
Their main difference is the approach to fastening the trunks. In the 59th rifle, the barrels were held together with a coupling, and in the 12th they were soldered, and this was done carefully and efficiently. Thanks to this approach, the two trunks became a single block.
Disassembly and cleaning of IZH-12
In order for the weapon to serve longer and not malfunction, it is necessary to clean and lubricate it. This cannot be done without disassembling. Due to its design, IZH-12 is quite easy to disassemble.
- We remove the forend, to do this we pull the latch and separate it from the gun.
- We remove the barrels and turn the locking lever to the right until it stops. We fold the barrels down and separate them from the box with the stock.
- Separate the butt. We remove the back of his head and unscrew the screws. We unscrew the screw from the safety bracket and separate it from the cylinder by turning it counterclockwise.
- In order to disassemble the trigger, it is necessary to cock the hammers into the firing position. Insert a piece of wire or a nail with a diameter of 1.5 mm into the holes on each mainspring rod. The holes on the rod should connect to the notch on the jumper. Then we pull the triggers and remove the rods with springs. We knock out the axes of the hammers and sears, and separate them from the block. Next, knock out the pin holding the spring, unscrew the rear and bottom screw, and remove the jumper. Lightly tapping and pulling back, we pull out the larva.
- Locking mechanism. We knock out the striker pins and remove them together with the springs, knock out the locking axis with the return spring and take out the locking bar.
- Ejection mechanism. We knock out the axles of the cocking mechanism and pull them out. Set the disconnector slot at an angle of 45° to the axis of the gun, cock and release the trigger and the pusher will push the disconnector out of the box. Separate the ejector by pressing the front end away from the barrels, and it will come out of the groove under the action of a spring. Hold the ejector so as not to lose it.
All parts must be thoroughly cleaned of dust and powder deposits, wiped and lubricated with gun oil.
The IZH-12 hunting rifle is still very popular among CIS hunters. If you want to purchase an inexpensive vertical double-barreled shotgun, then the IZH-12 is what you need.
The vertical IZH-12 has a long history. The 12-gauge shotgun became the hero of an unimaginable number of hunting tales. This weapon is more than half a century old, but it is still used for hunting and sport shooting. It is very possible that replicas of this weapon will appear in the near future; there is a demand.
IZH-12 is a weapon with a long history. Over its half-century of existence, the vertical gun has gained enormous popularity, despite the fact that it was only produced for 10 years. During this period, 312 thousand copies were produced, 129 thousand of which were sold in Europe. That is why the weapon is valued not only among domestic hunters, but also among hunters from all over the world.
