The IZh-54 (ИЖ-54) is a Soviet
double-barreled shotgun
A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...
.
History
IZh-54 was designed in 1951-1954, since 1954 began its serial production.
[Л. Е. Михайлов, Н. Л. Изметинский. Ижевские охотничьи ружья. 2-е изд., испр. и доп. Ижевск, изд-во «Удмуртия», 1982. стр.14-16]
Since 1961, a new varnish with improved characteristics has been used to protect the wooden parts of the gun.
In December 1964, the price of one standard IZh-54 was 90
roubles
The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union.
, currencies named ''rub ...
. The price of one custom IZh-54 shotgun (with engravings, walnut stock and walnut fore-end) was between 170 and 250 roubles.
In total, 477 695 IZh-54 shotguns were made
from 1954 to 1969
and more than seventy thousands of them were sold to foreign countries.
["''Если до революции охотничье оружие и боеприпасы ввозились в Россию, то сейчас СССР стал экспортером охотничьего оружия более чем в 50 зарубежных стран ... в Англию идут ИЖ-54 и ИЖ-12. Экспортируем мы и готовые патроны, и гильзы, и бездымный порох «Сокол». Это свидетельствует о том, что качество выпускаемой нами охотничьей продукции находится на высоком уровне''"]
Э. Штейнгольд. Советское охотничье оружие // «Охота и охотничье хозяйство», № 11, 1967. стр.28-31
It was the first shotgun of the
Izhevsk Mechanical Plant
Izhevsk Mechanical Plant (russian: Ижевский Механический Завод, ''Izhevsky Mekhanicheskiy Zavod'') or IZHMEKH (ИЖМЕХ) was a major firearms manufacturer founded in Izhevsk in 1942 for manufacturing small arms.
Histo ...
that was sold abroad in large quantities.
In January 1980, a detachable
diopter sight
The diopter is an aperture sight component used to assist the aiming of devices, mainly firearms, airguns, and crossbows. It is found in particular as a rear sight element on rifles.
To obtain a usable sighting line the diopter has to have a com ...
was proposed for IZh-54 shotguns.
Design
IZh-54 is a side by side
hammerless
A hammerless firearm is a firearm that lacks an exposed hammer or hammer spur. Although it may not literally lack a hammer, it lacks a hammer that the user can pull directly. One of the disadvantages of an exposed hammer spur is the tendency to ...
smoothbore shotgun.
It has a walnut or beech stock and fore-end.
It has a chrome-plated bores made from ar50 steel.
Variants
* IZh-57 (''ИЖ-57'') - 16 gauge variant, since 1957
Users
*
*
- unknown number of shotguns were sold as civilian hunting weapon
* - the import was allowed
[V/O "Raznoexport" export-import organization // "Guns Magazine", February 1962 page 51]
References
{{Reflist
Sources
* Основы спортивной охоты (охотминимум) / колл. авт., ред. И. Д. Гулевич. М., Воениздат, 1957. стр.120-122
* Охотничье двуствольное ружьё ИЖ-54 // Охотничье, спортивное огнестрельное оружие. Каталог. М., 1958. стр.32-33
* Двуствольное охотничье ружьё ИЖ-54 // Спортивно-охотничье оружие и патроны. Бухарест, "Внешторгиздат", 1965. стр.28-29
* Ю. Константинов. ИЖ-54 глазами владельца // журнал "Мастер-ружьё", № 12, 2013. стр.42-44
* Ю. Максимов. "Модель ИЖ-54". Причины популярности 60 лет спустя // журнал "Мастер-ружьё", № 5, 2018. стр.48-55
Double-barreled shotguns of the Soviet Union
Izhevsk Mechanical Plant products
Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1954