Baikal O/U's - looking for some info...

I'm not worried about wearing out my Beretta, but shotguns are easy to ding, scratch and possibly even rust when out in the woods or being handled by those who don't know any better. Also, I want the knock-a-round shotgun to have roughly the same dimensions as my Beretta, which has been fitted to me. With a $300 O/U, I can cut down the stock myself (if needed) to get the dimensions as close as possible to my Beretta. At $500, that's a good chunk of change which is enough to make me pay someone to do this for me.
 
You don't need a knock-about shotgun.

What you really need is instruction on how to use and care for your Beretta!

If you treat a gun like crap it will be crap no matter who made the gun!:(
 
Jaguar, I'm not quite sure I agree with that 100%. To an extent, you are right. However, an experience while dove hunting taught me that having access to "value gun" is also a good idea.

I went to a dove hunt when bad weather was threatening. It didn't just threaten, it poured. 4 times during the hunt, we had to make a dash for the truck. At the end of the day, my nice Beretta was soaked. When I got home, I lovingly cleaned, dried, and reoiled it but that experience taught me that there were going to be times when I would want to hunt - but would want to do so with something "less valuable".
 
Maybe so, but when you got home you cleaned and oiled the gun.

If you had a less expensive gun what are the chances it would have set for a while before cleaning.

Note: there are many fine hand made shotguns that have seen years of service and they are in great shape. It is how you take care of your guns.
 
There are times that I spend 2-3 days in a tent near a skeet range, or hunting. With limited access to water, etc. I'm just not willing to risk damage/theft to a $3,000+ shotgun! It's hard enough for me to keep myself clean and dry for 3 days in a tent.

I'm also not comfortable completely disassembling my Beretta to thoroughly clean and lube the internals, for fear of marring an engraved screw or scratching the receiver.

This doesn't mean that I wouldn't care for the $300 shotgun any less. I use WD40 as a water repellant when a gun gets wet, and then clean, lube and wax it just like any other gun when I get a chance. This has worked quite well in keeping my $300 Savage 30-06 looking as new as it did when I bought it.
 
Regarding WD-40, I understand that it's not a great lubricant (not exactly bad either). However, it is a great Water Disbursing agent. This is what I use it for when my hunting arms get wet and I don't have the immediate ability to dry and lube all of the exposed parts.

I have not had any problems with it eating bluing, but I'm not doubting this either. This is why I only use it on my field arms - guns that cost less than $500. It's easy to spray WD-40 into the nooks and crannies where wood meets metal - these are the areas I worry about rusting. The stuff really does work.
 
I had two gentlemen join a friend and I one morning for a round of skeet.
I had to loan them my Browning Citori to finish the round, because both of their Baikal O/U's failed to finish the round.
I think I would rather look around for a good used gun instead of buying one of those.
 
because both of their Baikal O/U's failed to finish the round.
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If you don't mind my asking, did anyone determine what the problem was? If I can determine what the problems are, then I can make a reasonable guess as to whether most of them are fixable, or simply futile.
 
Getting parts is going to be your biggest issue in my view.....

Baikal's I've seen with issues were mostly internal....ejectors breaking, firing pins breaking, spring issues, broken parts in the safety....stuff like that.../ I did see one at the club where the spot welds for the rib broke - rib fell off. I heard of one having a cracked stock...but I don't know what caused it / could have been neglect - or stress in the way it was put together ( the "ears" on the wood stock that fit into the back of the receiver on a Over Under can be thin and weak on a lot of lower priced shotguns ...and prone to cracking ).

Barrel regulation....where one barrel hits high right ...and other one hits wide and low left....were an issue on a couple of Baikals.../ one was way off with a 12" spread at 21 yds....one was a little better... /... barrel regulation would be prohibitively expensive to fix.
( but I've seen most of the same issues on the entry level priced over unders from TriStar's, Huglu's, Mossberg and Ruger in the last 10 yrs or so )....
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You know what a used Beretta costs...so when someone is selling a new gun for under $ 750 .../ you have to ask yourself about the internals, quality of parts, quality of steel, etc.../ barrel regulation...( all the stuff that you know Beretta and Browning do very well )...
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You can't tell by looking at them ...which one is good or bad...you might get lucky and the Baikal will be ok ...and run well for 5,000 shells.../ or it may be junk...and then you're stuck with it.
 
Skans...
It was awhile back, but I remember at about station four, one would not fire from either barrel, some kind of internal problem I suspect.
The other one at about station six he opened it up to reload and parts went flying.
They had just bought them brand new and were pretty disgusted with them and said they were going straight back to the gun store with them when we were done.
 
More bad stuff said about the Baikal shotgun than good here. I got it....I've been warned!

Ok, so if I get one, I know it's a gamble. Eyes wide open, thanks to everyone here, and I really do appreciate everyone's input. Still, I figure that if I can get one for just under $300, and if it breaks (and parts are scarce), then I should be able to recoup most of my money by parting it out to other Baikal owners.

I'll know in the next few days whether I'm going to buy one or not. If I do, I promise to report the good, the bad and the ugly. If it doesn't work out that I end up buying the Baikal, or if it breaks, then I'll relegate my search for an economy O/U probably to a well used Beretta Onyx.

In fact, I see that there is a pretty rough looking older Beretta o/u 12 on gunbroker for $399 - pretty ugly, and $100 more than I want to spend....????
 
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I would take the older beretta for $100 more in a heartbeat. Its already beat up so you won't feel bad about adding more character marks to it. Operation and balance should be similar (huge plus), and it should last a LONG time yet. I have never bought anything off gunbroker but if I find a good used browning/beretta OU in a gun shop for that price I am gonna own it unless there is something majorly wrong with it.
 
I don't know where you are but if you're near an Academy they sell Yildez O/Uers in your price range. I've had two and had zero problems with them. Had 800+ rds in one. I completely understand wanting to have a "beater". Anyone who hasn't dinged the wood on a gun hasn't spent very much time in the field. I hunt rabbits in the deep dark thickets where my Citori isn't allowed to go. My old beat up 870 is right at home.
 
Good grief. "WD-40 eats bluing." Some really great folklore on here.
I do not own any beater shotguns, but since I do not beat anything with my shotguns I have had no problems. I have a 1963 semi auto that is still my 12 gauge clays gun, that has over 115,000 rounds thru it, and was a waterfowl gun for most of it's life. Not a sit in a manicured blind all day gun either, but a crawl along muddy ditches gun. I had it reblued this past summer, but aside from some silvery edges it was fine. Maybe I am just lucky, but it doesn't cost me 5 minutes a trip being a little extra careful with my guns. In the beginning I had to work hard for everything, so I took care of what I had. It has stood me in good stead all the way.
I had a Baikal 12 gauge 3" SxS I bought to try for waterfowl. It fired shells fine. My impression of them is that they are hell for stout, and very light on aesthetics. Apparently 95% of the consideration the Russians give a gun is will it go bang, and the other 5% gets devoted to minor things like looks, handling, balance, etc. It was not my cup of tea and it left.
 
As someone signs off with "Life is too short to hunt with a ugly gun".

This is so true, if you take care of your guns they will last several life times.
 
I can't fathom the answers I am getting:confused:

maybe different stuff are sold under the baikal name in the US as compared to Europe?

baikal has got a good reputation here.

Lanber, churchill, lincoln, altay(any of the turks really), legend etc are to be avoided at all costs if buying used AND NEW, they can be unusable after as little as a couple of hundred of shells.

Baikals you can even buy regardless of how cheap they are used because they will work and practically can't be worn out. the regular baikal o/u sold over here is named 27 mach. they are ugly, heavy and got no soul but they work ALL the time, as a paddle to.
twice the shotgun lanber is for the same price.

if you happen to stumble over a Baikal MC you buy it. they are the more expensive model and were used by soviet clay shooters, one guy used his his whole 30year career
 
Almost all of the Baikal's I've seen were junk....
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There's nothing wrong with a cheap Baikal, Big Jim.

Any gun manufactured by fat Russian women in tiny back yard blacksmith shops can't be all bad................
 
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