(It does not vent gas when removed.) Extra magazines have always been available, but are expensive since they’re built like small firearms. The Drozd is fed by a removable 30-round pistol-grip magazine which carries the CO2 cartridge and must be removed for reloading. Cyclic rate is fixed by available CO2 pressure. The Steel Storm uses blowback action and must be cocked with a charging handle (unnecessary with the Drozd) two CO2 cartridges ensure plenty of power for the action and no batteries are needed, although only single-shot and 6-round burst are offered. The Drozd uses electronic control to provide automatic action, which requires battery power in addition to a CO2 cartridge in the removable magazine, but Baikal uses this control to advantage to provide selectable cyclic rates of 300, 450 and 600 rpm in addition to single shot, 3-round and 6-round bursts. The Drozd and Steel Storm are obviously intended for the same mission, although they represent an interesting technical contrast. Umarex also produces the EBOS, which is more fairly compared with the MP-661K Blackbird, but those two arms will not be covered in this comparo. Then this year, a challenge appeared in the form of the Umarex Steel Storm, also with a six-round burst capability.
It collected a cult following and a growing list of available modifications until it was joined by the larger Drozd MP-661K Blackbird with greatly enlarged magazine and CO2 capacity. You’ve seen the pictures, watched the Online Videos, pored over what little information is provided by the Airgun Retail Websites, but this is what you’ve been looking for at last it’s time for a muzzle-to-muzzle comparison between the Izh-Baikal Drozd and the Umarex Steel Storm!įor several years, the Izh-Baikal Drozd stood alone as a CO2-powered BB gun with full-auto capability - although in reality, it only offered 3- or 6-round bursts.