A friend of one our AR members is interested in buying a Baikal DR to play with, and perhaps hunt hogs and whitetails. I have absolutely no experience with them, and was wondering if those that have could offer their opinions. At $900, they're obviously not on par with Krieghoff, Merkel, or even higher-end brands, but if they're fairly well-regulated and reliable, it may fit the bill.

Nice job! I didn't know the muzzles were adjustable.

Yep; there is a little knurled wheel between the barrels that bends (OK, moves) one of the barrels and adjusts the horizontal POI. The barrels are held at the muzzle by a band that one barrel is pinned to and the other can slide. The ribs are screwed on. This one shoots into one inch at 50 yards and was easy to make it work.

Mine is in 45-70. I have not had a chance to hunt with it yet... but plan to go to Texas for hogs this spring.
I have it set for 405 grain bullets. I tried the 75% rule and it shot 300 grain bullets to the same POI.
Does anyone know if they are still being imported I had been told that when dear leader banned importation of Russian guns into the USA that the Baikal doubles were banned as well.

Mine is a 30-06 and is the most fun you can have for the money. Paid $650 for mine, new, out the door! Yes they are a little stiff to open but the triggers on mine are ok and it shoots plain old Remington 180gr corelokt to point of aim. I know several guys around here that have them in 45-70 and everybody is happy. P.S. Nobody that I know has had to use the adjustments for further regulation. they shot well out of the box.

Owned three, 2 in 30-06 and 1 in 45-70. All were great shooters and all three needed tinkering to regulate but that's pretty easy to do.

The down side:
They are ugly
Triggers are TERRIBLE
Comb is so high you are either forced to add a red dot or scope or reshape the stock.
The barrels at the muzzle of the 45-70 are so thin its almost scary. Four shots without resting and barrels were to hot to hold.

The big plus is their price. But after toying with them for about a year just couldn't stand to look at them anymore and sold all three.

For about the same price I would look for a used Valmet (Tikka) instead.

I fixed the ugly by restocking and the triggers are easy to fix. Problem with the Valmet is that the barrels are in the wrong places and that is far uglier to me.

I have a 45/70. Had to tweak it a little but it was easy to the 405s shooting well. I also did away with the auto safety, also very simple.

Kinda ugly, but fun!


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I have both the 45-70 and the 30-06.... the 45-was new and took about 10 rounds to regulate the barrels to the same POI at about 30 yds...enough to kill a dangerous waterjug...the 30-06 I have is scoped, traded for used... it shoots anything, milsurp, 170's... to the same POI... I had the auto safety removed... other that the triggers are horrible, they're a neat little DR...

I own one in either caliber, both the "Remington" branded rifles. Accuracy is acceptable in both with factory ammunition, forty bucks at the gun smith smoothed the 30-06 triggers to acceptable. Two hours of my own time and a good hone fixed the 45-70. The stocks on mine are actually quite nicely figured, wood is proud anywhere it comes up to the metal but who cares.

I hunt them both for pig, deer, and other game without reservation. I love to break the 30-06 down and put it in my back pack. Get them while they are available.

I have a 45-70 snd as soon as I can sell it I will. No way, no how will it regulate.

At 50 will fire R-L with L about 2" higher, then the next two shots the L is 8" high. Tried while hot, tried while cold, tried any way I can. Second shot from the L always 8" high.

I put a scope on my 45-70 Baikail. I sighted the scope with the left barrel as I understand it is fixed. The horizontal dispersion was controlled by shims in the front barrel band. The above suggestion is best (if I could find someone to do it.

Soldering steel is so easy I am sure you can do it.
All the baikals I have owned and seen have had no room in the front band for a shim and if they did, I would make them tight. I know some have them that loose but that is a bad thing.

Just picked up a very nice pre-owned .45-70 from a local fellow yesterday. Wood is better than most I've seen and triggers are much better than the two new examples I handled at a local gun store. I was able to put 10 rounds through it this afternoon. Shooting was at 35 yards, standing, off-hand, with Remington 405gr. factory loads and my pet .45-70 handload.
The first couple of shots weren't anything special as I was getting a feel for the triggers. The next five went into a group I could cover with my fist, and I hit a beer can at 55 yards. Windage was right on but elevation was low by about two inches. I fired two of my handloads which consist of a 350gr. Hornady RN over 57gr. of Varget. Each of those shots went high and wide of point of aim by about six inches each way.
According to the original purchaser, the gun had about 30 rounds fired prior to my acquisition and the jack screw never touched. His description of the accuracy he encountered was on par with that I experienced today.
All things considered I'm quite pleased. I've no doubt that group size should improve with a steadier rest and some regulation. I'm torn as to whether or not I want to scope it. For now I think it'll stay an open sight water jug buster.