Dave Markowitz
Member
A couple weeks ago I went up to Cabela's and did some gun trading, coming home with a Baikal MP-310 over/under 12 gauge shotgun. Sticker price on the gun was $549. The gun came with three choke tubes (IC. M, and F), a choke tube wrench, a trigger lock, and a manual.
I’ve been looking at the Baikals for awhile, since unlike most of the sub-$1000 over/unders, the Baikal has a reputation for being reliable. My guess is that they are the most common sporting guns in Russia. For example, I watched Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (which I highly recommend, BTW) recently, and in one scene there is a group of Russians and most if not all have some kind of Baikal over/under.
Since my expected use is a few rounds of sporting clays each year, along with some bird and small game hunting, it should serve me well. If I was going to be running thousands of rounds through the gun like serious clays or trap shooters, I’d drop the coin on a Berretta or Browning.
The Baikal is imported by European American Armory/US Sporting Guns and is made by Izhmash in Russia. They were also imported for a few years by Remington in their Spartan lineup. It's also been sold in the US as the Izh-27, and my sample does in fact have that marking in addition to "MP-310."
The right side of the butt on this specimen has some nice looking grain.
As you can see, it’s also fitted with sling swivels unlike most Western shotguns. They are for a 3/4” wide carry strap. I was able to get a suitable carrying strap from Hastings for about $20 shipped.
The MP310 has a single-selective, mechanically resetting trigger, selectable ejectors/extractors, automatic safety, and comes with three choke tubes for improved cylinder, modified, and full. Compared with most other modern made shotguns that I’ve handled the length of pull is a bit short, which for me is good. At 5’6”, most modern sporting guns have stocks that are a bit too long for me. The Russian guns with shorter stocks fit me better.
The external bluing looks nice as does the wood finish. However, as with a lot of other Russian made firearms that I’ve seen, fit and finish of some internal parts is a bit rough. This shotgun is sold as a hunting gun at a moderate price, so it’ll be no big deal if it gets scratched.
Out of the box, it was very tight to open or close. I did remove the butt stock and hose out the action with PB Blaster, then relube with some FP-10, which helped a bit. Then, after an evening of online research about tuning these guns, I clipped 6 coils off each ejector spring. I also carefully polished the ejectors and the camming surface that pushes against the locking bar when closing the gun. This made it significantly easier to close.
Today I went with a friend to Lehigh Valley Sporting Clays and shot a round of 100. By halfway through the gun was opening up quite a bit more easily.
The gun had no misfires with Federal and Winchester 12 gauge No.8 target loads. I did have some sticky extraction in the bottom barrel but only with the Winchesters. Both my friend and I have had problems with this ammo in the past, he in a Browning O/U, so as far as I'm concerned this is an ammo issue, not a gun issue.
I'm very happy with the Baikal MP-310. Only time will tell how durable it is, but for the occasional clays or trap shooter or hunter, it looks to be a good value. The one thing I plan to change now is get a set of extended IC choke tubes for it from Carlson's.
I’ve been looking at the Baikals for awhile, since unlike most of the sub-$1000 over/unders, the Baikal has a reputation for being reliable. My guess is that they are the most common sporting guns in Russia. For example, I watched Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (which I highly recommend, BTW) recently, and in one scene there is a group of Russians and most if not all have some kind of Baikal over/under.
Since my expected use is a few rounds of sporting clays each year, along with some bird and small game hunting, it should serve me well. If I was going to be running thousands of rounds through the gun like serious clays or trap shooters, I’d drop the coin on a Berretta or Browning.
The Baikal is imported by European American Armory/US Sporting Guns and is made by Izhmash in Russia. They were also imported for a few years by Remington in their Spartan lineup. It's also been sold in the US as the Izh-27, and my sample does in fact have that marking in addition to "MP-310."
The right side of the butt on this specimen has some nice looking grain.
As you can see, it’s also fitted with sling swivels unlike most Western shotguns. They are for a 3/4” wide carry strap. I was able to get a suitable carrying strap from Hastings for about $20 shipped.
The MP310 has a single-selective, mechanically resetting trigger, selectable ejectors/extractors, automatic safety, and comes with three choke tubes for improved cylinder, modified, and full. Compared with most other modern made shotguns that I’ve handled the length of pull is a bit short, which for me is good. At 5’6”, most modern sporting guns have stocks that are a bit too long for me. The Russian guns with shorter stocks fit me better.
The external bluing looks nice as does the wood finish. However, as with a lot of other Russian made firearms that I’ve seen, fit and finish of some internal parts is a bit rough. This shotgun is sold as a hunting gun at a moderate price, so it’ll be no big deal if it gets scratched.
Out of the box, it was very tight to open or close. I did remove the butt stock and hose out the action with PB Blaster, then relube with some FP-10, which helped a bit. Then, after an evening of online research about tuning these guns, I clipped 6 coils off each ejector spring. I also carefully polished the ejectors and the camming surface that pushes against the locking bar when closing the gun. This made it significantly easier to close.
Today I went with a friend to Lehigh Valley Sporting Clays and shot a round of 100. By halfway through the gun was opening up quite a bit more easily.
The gun had no misfires with Federal and Winchester 12 gauge No.8 target loads. I did have some sticky extraction in the bottom barrel but only with the Winchesters. Both my friend and I have had problems with this ammo in the past, he in a Browning O/U, so as far as I'm concerned this is an ammo issue, not a gun issue.
I'm very happy with the Baikal MP-310. Only time will tell how durable it is, but for the occasional clays or trap shooter or hunter, it looks to be a good value. The one thing I plan to change now is get a set of extended IC choke tubes for it from Carlson's.
