Drozd BB rifle
Encyclopedia
The Baikal MP661K known as Drozd is known as a widely popular BB pistol
BB gun
BB guns are a type of air gun designed to shoot projectiles named BBs after the birdshot pellet of approximately the same size. These projectiles are usually spherical but can also be pointed; those are usually used for bird hunting. Modern day BB guns usually have a smoothbore barrel, with a bore...

, imported into the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 by the European American Armory Inc.
European American Armory Inc.
European American Armory Inc. is a Rockledge, Florida based firearms company which imports a number of different handguns and rifles to the United States.Company Website...

 (EAA).

Name

The name "Drozd" is the Russian word for "thrush
Thrush (bird)
The thrushes, family Turdidae, are a group of passerine birds that occur worldwide.-Characteristics:Thrushes are plump, soft-plumaged, small to medium-sized birds, inhabiting wooded areas, and often feed on the ground or eat small fruit. The smallest thrush may be the Forest Rock-thrush, at and...

". It was also marked as the "bumblebee
Bumblebee
A bumble bee is any member of the bee genus Bombus, in the family Apidae. There are over 250 known species, existing primarily in the Northern Hemisphere although they are common in New Zealand and in the Australian state of Tasmania.Bumble bees are social insects that are characterised by black...

" for its sound and the yellow and black color scheme that was once standard on the version of the gun imported into the U.S. It is speculated that this was done to distinguish the airgun from firearm
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...

s and prevent it from being banned from import. However, this coloring is not done on various other brands/models of imported airguns and has been recently dropped in favor of an all black color scheme.

Options

The MP661K is best known for being one of the few (if only) select-fire BB guns and can fire single, three-round, and six-round bursts (semi-auto only in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

). This gun is very popular with both casual target shooters and airgun enthusiasts; it is excellent out of the box plus offers customization options and upgrades. Such modifications include aftermarket/third-party and user-community alterations and upgrades such as "mod boards" that can increase the rate of fire up to 1200 rounds per minute and provide true fully automatic operation, adapters to use external propellant
Propellant
A propellant is a material that produces pressurized gas that:* can be directed through a nozzle, thereby producing thrust ;...

 sources (such as 20oz paintball CO2 tanks or HPA scuba tanks), dye kits to change the color (commonly RIT fabric dye is used), and longer barrels (higher velocity). Upgrades are being continuously introduced as the gun gains in popularity (it is sometimes claimed that this might become the 10/22 of the airgun world).

Construction

The quality of the gun is high, with the main functional components being made from firearms quality steel and the plastic parts (trigger, main receiver housings, buttstock, lower magazine cover) being made from firearms quality fiber reinforced polymers. One item of note is the barrel, which is rifled steel and extremely thick and rugged for an airgun. Although such components do not translate into increased accuracy, they do tend to increase durability. For instance, the rifling does not significantly (if at all) increase the gun's accuracy; spherical projectiles demonstrate little, if any, accuracy differences between rifled and smoothbore
Smoothbore
A smoothbore weapon is one which has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars.-History of firearms and rifling:...

 barrels (moreover, steel shot will not engage the rifling in an effective fashion, instead riding on top of the rifling). However, the gun is manufactured by a company that also manufactures and designs military firearms (best known for their WWII
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 production of the Tokarev TT-33 and M1895 Nagant revolver), and many of the parts are thus "over engineered" with military-style durability. The price of the Drozd is much higher than typical "department store" airguns, partly due to the use of the higher quality components and increased durability.

The Blackbird

After years of rumors, the Baikal
Baikal
Baykal commonly refers to Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, Russia.Baykal or Baikal may also refer to:-Russia:*Baykal, Irkutsk Oblast, an urban-type settlement*Baykal, Aurgazinsky District, Republic of Bashkortostan, a village...

 factory finally released "The Blackbird" a version of the Drozd equipped with a bulk feed and a 400 round magazine, which remedies the achilles heel of the original Bumblebee: the tiny 30rd magazine capacity (which can be emptied in one and a half seconds on a 1,200rpm modified gun).

The Blackbird boasts a 400 round capacity, as well as an improved three-cartridge 12-gram CO2 system, or a single 88-gram large CO2 cartridge. It shares many parts with the original Drozd and retains the same basic body configuration, as well as the original Drozd's stock firing modes.

Some have criticized the new Backbird for having an overall cheaper "plastic" appearance, but the large magazine capacity makes it completely different kind of gun than the original Drozd. Full auto (600/900/1200rpm) modification chips especially designed for the Blackbird are now readily available, and despite the stated 400 round capacity, in actuality, the magazine easily hold many more BBs than that. When combined with a remote tank like those commonly used in paintball
Paintball
Paintball is a sport in which players compete, in teams or individually, to eliminate opponents by tagging them with capsules containing water soluble dye and gelatin shell outside propelled from a device called a paintball marker . Paintballs have a non-toxic, biodegradable, water soluble...

(either CO2 or HPA), the Blackbird can deliver nearly a thousand rounds of non-stop fun.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK