Locked breech designs were rejected in favor of a simple blow back mechanism in order to hold down manufacturing costs. It would become the service standard for the entire Soviet Union and its satellites. The new pistol was to serve as the duty sidearm of the various branches of the military, as well as the police, the KGB, and all other government agencies. What we have here is basically a Russian copy of the famous Walther PP (Police Pistol), which was widely used all over Europe by both Police and civilians at the time the leaders of the Soviet Union decided to replace their aging Tokarev service pistol. At present the IJ-70 is not being imported into the U.S., having been discontinued in 1996 The Russian-made Baikal IJ-70 pistol is often referred to simply as the "Makarov." I call it "The gun that lost the East," since it was the service sidearm of the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War. European American Armory (EAA) of Sharpes, Florida is the exclusive importer of Baikal products at the time of this writing. This was the darkest year of the Second World War in Soviet Russia, and guns were desperately needed to fight the invading Germans. It is also the trade name of Ishevsky Mechanichesky Zavod (SUP IMZ), a large Russian arms and ammunition manufacturing plant founded in 1942 as part of the Russian National Defence Industry. "Baikal" is the name of a large lake in Siberia.
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