Since there's been some interest on this BB concerning these, I'd like to relate some events at the range yesterday.
As i was setting up, another shooter was also, a man I've seen a few times but haven't spoken to much. He racked a 410 O/U with a rakish forend and I asked him about it. He replied it was a Baikal, made in Russia, and he bought it because of the price, about $400. I asked after the quality and he stated that it didn't compare to his Beretta, but he wanted a knockaround gun. He let me look it over and mount it a couple of times.I did note that wood to metal fit left a little to be disired but I've seen worse on guns like the Savage 311.
Further, he stated....
That he had to take it completely apart and hand lap most of the parts to make it break open and shut smoothly. It was still very hard to open and shut, but it did lock up.
He said the trigger still needed some work, but the balance and price made some work worth the effort. It did swing nicely, thos it felt like a BB gun after my 12 ga. I was called away then to help a new shooter.
A little while later, he and I were squadded together, and he was trying out the 410 at trap.
Long story short, when the shotgun did fire he usually hit the clay. Unfortunately, that was about half the time. A lot of time he had to break the gun open and reclose it to make it fire after several tries. He apologized to the squad for taking so long and finished up with an average maybe half of his usual.
He was undismayed,saying that the thing needed a bit of TLC, and shot nicely with his usual Beretta gas gun on the next line. The little Baikal did look nice, handled well to my judgement, so maybe this isn't typical. And, for the price, it may be worthwhile to get it as a fixer upper, for one accustomed to doing his/her own smithing.
Info submitted w/o further comment.
As i was setting up, another shooter was also, a man I've seen a few times but haven't spoken to much. He racked a 410 O/U with a rakish forend and I asked him about it. He replied it was a Baikal, made in Russia, and he bought it because of the price, about $400. I asked after the quality and he stated that it didn't compare to his Beretta, but he wanted a knockaround gun. He let me look it over and mount it a couple of times.I did note that wood to metal fit left a little to be disired but I've seen worse on guns like the Savage 311.
Further, he stated....
That he had to take it completely apart and hand lap most of the parts to make it break open and shut smoothly. It was still very hard to open and shut, but it did lock up.
He said the trigger still needed some work, but the balance and price made some work worth the effort. It did swing nicely, thos it felt like a BB gun after my 12 ga. I was called away then to help a new shooter.
A little while later, he and I were squadded together, and he was trying out the 410 at trap.
Long story short, when the shotgun did fire he usually hit the clay. Unfortunately, that was about half the time. A lot of time he had to break the gun open and reclose it to make it fire after several tries. He apologized to the squad for taking so long and finished up with an average maybe half of his usual.
He was undismayed,saying that the thing needed a bit of TLC, and shot nicely with his usual Beretta gas gun on the next line. The little Baikal did look nice, handled well to my judgement, so maybe this isn't typical. And, for the price, it may be worthwhile to get it as a fixer upper, for one accustomed to doing his/her own smithing.
Info submitted w/o further comment.