The Baikal combination gun

[Spindrift]

This is not so much a review, as an obituary. In my country, a hunter can own 6 hunting weapons on a regular hunting licence. Which means, if you own 6 and want a new one- someone has to go. I have i Baikal combination gun that is spending its last days in my safe. The itch for an accurate bolt rifle dedicated to cast bullets has grown steadily, and the Baikal rearly sees serious use. Hence the priorities.
This is basically a o/u, break action gun with a 12ga/3in shotgun barrel on top, and a .223 rem rifle barrel underneath. Both barrels are crome lined. Twist in the rifle barrel is about 1:12in. The shotgun barrel comes with a spectrum of chokes. The rifle barrel can be regulated, to achieve similar POI with the two barrels.
The gun is fairly heavy. The trigger is heavier! This is the main issue with this gun. 11ibs trigger with lots of creep- not the easiest gun to cooperate with. But the accuracy potential is absolutely there.
The second issue with this gun, is the ramp/rail for scope mounts (dovetail). The rail is ridiculously short, which limits the possibilities for scope mounting. The iron sights are adjustable, and reasonably good... A bit narrow perhaps, and the sight radius is a bit short.

A combination gun could also be called «compromise gun». The biggest compromise is what kind og sights to use. This kind of gun is never the perfect gun in a shooting situation, but on the other hand it is never completely useless. Wether you are intrigued by the flexibility or frustrated by the limitations is a question of hunting style, and also personality perhaps.

I have done some limited testing with cast bullets. Lee c225- 55-f, IMR 4198 12grs, light factory crimp, tumble lube with LLA. The target is shot from prone position at 100m, front rest on bag, no rearbag. 4x scope. Target increments is 30mm (closely corresponding to 1MOA at 100m). This group is around 1MOA, most 5- shot groups with this load was around 2 MOA however.
Anyways: Goodbye, Baikal (and welcome, rem 700)

 

[Rick]

Good post, quite interesting. What a silly law. 6?

 

[Spindrift]

Good post, quite interesting. What a silly law. 6?

Quite silly, yes. However, a new law is underway which will allow 8 hunting weapons (and you can still have all kinds of guns related to shooting sports in which you are active, these do not count towards the limit). This is probably a rare instance of european gun laws moving in a more permissive direction.
I recently hunted with some friends from Sweden. They told me in Sweden, a hunter can only get 4 (four!) hunting weapons. Imagine that!

 

[Pistolero]

Those have always been interesting guns, from a mechanical standpoint. I suppose
that in some hunting locations, the likelihood of running across very different kinds of
game on the same hunt are a real issue. Here, hunting tends to be dedicated to a single
animal, or at least type. When bird hunting, we never imagine hunting deer - and often
the seasons are not coincident, or only briefly. I also imagine that a dual purpose gun
is more attractive when the total number of guns is limited, as in your case. I do see your
point about the compromise necessary with sights, the requirements of rifles and shotguns
being so very different.

What a shame to have such limits. What country is this, if that isn't intrusive.

We are quite fortunate to not have that sort of law. As to state law, we have no limits at all
on guns, literally no limits on what can by purchased or owned. The federal laws are the only
ones we go by. Again no limits on numbers, but machine guns require extensive background
checks and special paperwork. New guns must be purchased through a federally licensed dealer,
but used guns are freely sold within our state between private individuals.

In reality, I have no solid idea of the number of guns that I own. I have been collecting for over
50 years, and very rarely sell a gun, although I have though about thinning the herd a bit, just
to make it easier on my heirs when I am gone.

Bill

 

[Spindrift]

Hello, Bill!
I’m from Norway.
Yes, combination guns are practical if you can hunt different kinds of game. But also when hunting a game animal that can be hunted with either shotgun or rifle (like the roe deer in Europe). Mostly, we hunt one kind of game at a time. But sometimes an opportunity arises where different types of game can be hunted on the same hunt. Like last year, I visited a friend who is a swedish farmer. We could basically shoot anything with hair that wasn’t a dog, or a swede (moose, deer, roe deer, beaver, fox, hare, rabbit). In such a scenario, a combination gun can make sense (but not with a .223 barrel, of course). And it probably is an ideal «truck gun»?

 

[Pistolero]

From the photos I have seen, Norway is a really beautiful country! A young friend will be
deploying to your country some time late this year or next year on some kind of training
mission. He is looking forward to seeing your country, although I wonder if he will have
any free time to "play tourist", or only be working.

It would seem that perhaps a .30-30 under a 12 ga would be a bit better of a combination.

Good luck with your new rifle! That group you showed was very good, too.

Nill

 

[RBHarter]

I can't count the number of times I wished I had a shotgun on a deer hunt for roughed/blue grouse and chucker .

Nice write up . I wonder if they send that one to the states , it would make a nice alternative to the Savage , and probably more affordable .

 

[Spindrift]

I think the baikal combination gun has been imported to the US at some point in history. But they never caught on, perhaps? The concept is interesting, but the Baikal is a little too rough around the edges, in my opinion. By all means, they do work- in fact they are virtually indestructible- but I wasn’t kidding with the 11ibs trigger..... Not easy to control. There are many other, nice options though- but they are also more expensive.

 

[KeithB]

Used to have a Savage 24V, .222 over 20 gauge. Always wanted a 2400, which I believe was .308 over 12 gauge. I think that would be the most practical combo, especially for a reloader and/or cast bullet shooter.

 

[Hawk]

This has tweeted a memory cell in my brain.
Dad used to have a 20 gauge/30-30 that I actually hunted with.
Don't remember the brand, I was just like 12 years old.
That would have been about 1963.
He used to horse trade guns back and forth from the guys at work. Nothing fancy or expensive.

 

[fiver]

we have shotgun/rifle opportunity's here.
before they shortened the deer season we had a week where elk/deer/birds were all on the menu, and I carried a couple of different guns in the truck.
now I just carry the rifle and slip in a different load for the birds [grouse and fall turkey overlap deer season]
Elk is when pheasant season opens but those 2 are generally not found in the same places.

 

[RBHarter]

Nevada opens all of the gun seasons except dove , ruffed/blue , sage grouse and antelope Columbus day weekend .

 

[Intheshop]

Nice write up Spin.

IMR 4198 and that Lee 223 is almost too easy.

 

[Ben]

The trigger is heavier!

I owned one many yrs. ago.
A horrible trigger in mine.

Ben

 

[John]

I judged summer Biathlon for a few years. If you wanted to contend, but had no sponsor, an Aunshutz was usually too much to spend. Baikal made a copy that had a great trigger. I know they could make good triggers and functioning guns but that didn't happen with their double.
I have a Savage 24 22/20 that sees some time hunting small game. I like the concept but the hammer selector is never on the one I need it.

 

[Bret4207]

I love the idea of combo guns. I've had a Savage M24 22/410 most of my life. Of course a 20 ga would be more useful, but it works for close range stuff. Yes, the 2400 (IIRC) was carried at one point in 308 and I think other cals like 243 back when it was Savage-Aunshutz. I can't recall who turned out the heavier O/U for Savage, but it was a well know European concern at the time.

I share Spindrifts concern over nasty triggers and sights that aren't quite right. The trigger on my first M24 was horrible, sights were barely adequate, tough to deal with.

 

[RBHarter]

If I ever find a Drilling like the one Lovelife bought I'm snagging it .......... of course I tell myself I'll have a $1200 86' some day too.......
May as well hold out for the paradox gun while I'm at it......

 

[KeithB]

My 24V had a lousy trigger that got a little better with use. It seemed like a gun made with some quality features and some really crude machine work in spots. Bet a good gunsmith could improve the trigger pull. I love the concept of combo guns and drillings but the ones I've seen are either so pricey I could never afford one (and could buy two good guns, one in each caliber, for the same price) or they were crudely executed, with heavy crunchy triggers.

I wonder what kind of market a well executed version of the M24 might have?

 

[fiver]

well executed would put it in the 1800-2500$ range.

 

[KeithB]

I keep having wispy thoughts about a monoblock setup with interchangeable barrels. One gun, one monoblock, change the barrel combination at will. How to lock them in place?