Baikal Addiction...

Single shots and combinations are wonderfully useful and handy little rifles. Short and handy but still a decent barrel length.

For most stalking you are often over fences, across ditches etc. With a bolt action you have a real faff loading / unloading, or most I think end up loading and then relying of safety catch or decockers.

Single shot - very simple and quiet to load / unload. Just the same as a shotgun.

And to reload - just the same as a shotgun. And when you do need a follow up, there is actually plenty of time to reload and take an accurate shot.

As for Baikals - perhaps they are not 1/4 MoA accurate, with a light trigger. But most are well within minute of deer out 150 to 200 metres. Yes trigger pull may be a little heavier than a target rifle, but that is helpful when your fingers are cold and wet - it allows you to take a deliberate shot.
 
What do they weigh out of interest? I note no scope on the one in the pic, do you use them for stalking Ed? Can you reload quick enough for a follow up, I guess the answer is yes if yes to the last q?

A young keeper I once met had a .222 over 12 bore drilling, I think that was a Baikal, great keepers' gun. Leif Brag used one when keepering
I've never seen a Baikal drilling but an old Headkeeper I worked under and a Headkeeper he worked under both had Tikke 12/.222 drillings, great wee guns.
 
I've never seen a Baikal drilling but an old Headkeeper I worked under and a Headkeeper he worked under both had Tikke 12/.222 drillings, great wee guns.

Just to be pedantic a Drilling after the German Drei has three barrels - usually a double shotgun with a rifle underneath, but sometimes a double rifle with a shotgun underneath.

The Tikka 512 and Baikal's are two barreled "combination guns" - in German a buchsflint if side-by-side and also referred to as a Cape gun as they were popular with early settlers in Africa, and if over and under then a Bochbuchsflinte or BBF. You do also get a Bochdrilling - which is usually a shot barrel on top of a large calibre rifle barrel, with a small calibre rifle on one side.

And as for the 9.3x74R - its a good cartridge, and have shot it a few times in a lightweight combination gun. Yes it kicks, but no more than a shotgun with a good hunting cartridge rather than a light clay cartridge. And a double Baikal in 9.3x74r or 45/70 would make a good entry level double rifle for when you want a good double punch but don't want to invest too much money. Just the job for Alaska, Russia etc for when out in the woods with Grizzly bears around and where immediate availability of two shots is the difference between having bear steaks for dinner or you being the subject of "do bears **** in the woods".
 
Just to be pedantic a Drilling after the German Drei has three barrels - usually a double shotgun with a rifle underneath, but sometimes a double rifle with a shotgun underneath.

The Tikka 512 and Baikal's are two barreled "combination guns" - in German a buchsflint if side-by-side and also referred to as a Cape gun as they were popular with early settlers in Africa, and if over and under then a Bochbuchsflinte or BBF. You do also get a Bochdrilling - which is usually a shot barrel on top of a large calibre rifle barrel, with a small calibre rifle on one side.

And as for the 9.3x74R - its a good cartridge, and have shot it a few times in a lightweight combination gun. Yes it kicks, but no more than a shotgun with a good hunting cartridge rather than a light clay cartridge. And a double Baikal in 9.3x74r or 45/70 would make a good entry level double rifle for when you want a good double punch but don't want to invest too much money. Just the job for Alaska, Russia etc for when out in the woods with Grizzly bears around and where immediate availability of two shots is the difference between having bear steaks for dinner or you being the subject of "do bears **** in the woods".
You're quite right.
I was given a "Drilling" by a family friend years ago, I handed it in to get scrapped eventually, it was Rudolph Hoffman, it was a 16 bore s/s with big!!! rifle barrel underneath. The rifle barrel had a section sawn out of it but I'd say it was a 9mm.
It was the only one I'd ever seen.
 
Just to be pedantic a Drilling after the German Drei has three barrels - usually a double shotgun with a rifle underneath, but sometimes a double rifle with a shotgun underneath.

The Tikka 512 and Baikal's are two barreled "combination guns" - in German a buchsflint if side-by-side and also referred to as a Cape gun as they were popular with early settlers in Africa, and if over and under then a Bochbuchsflinte or BBF. You do also get a Bochdrilling - which is usually a shot barrel on top of a large calibre rifle barrel, with a small calibre rifle on one side.

And as for the 9.3x74R - its a good cartridge, and have shot it a few times in a lightweight combination gun. Yes it kicks, but no more than a shotgun with a good hunting cartridge rather than a light clay cartridge. And a double Baikal in 9.3x74r or 45/70 would make a good entry level double rifle for when you want a good double punch but don't want to invest too much money. Just the job for Alaska, Russia etc for when out in the woods with Grizzly bears around and where immediate availability of two shots is the difference between having bear steaks for dinner or you being the subject of "do bears **** in the woods".
Along those lines , a friend of my late father had a genuine Sauer & Sohn , Luftwaffe issue , drilling chambered in 12 gauge ( sxs barrels ) and 9.3x74r ( under barrel ) . I managed to get him to allow me to shoot a few rounds through it . I think I was about 17 at the time , I thought it was the coolest thing ever invented . They were rare even then . I'd like to know what they're worth these days , probably a substantial amount . It was a beautifully made rifle , not your average military surplus .

AB
 
Last edited:
A quick edit on a previous post on the Baikal doubles . The 45/70 Baikal doubles I was referring to are the side by side models , not the o/u model . There is also quite a few of the 22/410 combination guns built on the IJ 18 receiver available locally. Great little utility rifles . I have an old Savage 24 in 22lr/410 that I won't part with . If I didn't have the Savage , I would definitely pick up the Baikal version .

AB
 
I've seen pictures of them, they look very handy!

A Baikal S/S shotgun converted to double rifle would be nice too - I think you've mentioned it before.
Baikal made a sbs rifle in 30-06 and 45-70.
Good fun rifles with agrarian triggers. They come up for sale sometimes. I don’t think they‘re imported any longer. These are good woodland stalking or boar guns in either calibre. I’d love one of the singles, been after one ever since I sold my NEF Handy rifle in 30-06. Found a break action Savage in 30-30 instead. See how that shoots before going Russian.
 
Baikal made a sbs rifle in 30-06 and 45-70.
Good fun rifles with agrarian triggers. They come up for sale sometimes. I don’t think they‘re imported any longer. These are good woodland stalking or boar guns in either calibre. I’d love one of the singles, been after one ever since I sold my NEF Handy rifle in 30-06. Found a break action Savage in 30-30 instead. See how that shoots before going Russian.
That brings back memories. NEF were the first single shot rifles I really knew about, and I really wanted one! I used to get hold of the odd American gun magazine in my youth and I wrote to NEF, Marlin, Smith & Wesson, Nosler and others and received catalogues from them which I used to pore over, memorising every detail.
 
Baikal made a sbs rifle in 30-06 and 45-70.
Good fun rifles with agrarian triggers. They come up for sale sometimes. I don’t think they‘re imported any longer. These are good woodland stalking or boar guns in either calibre. I’d love one of the singles, been after one ever since I sold my NEF Handy rifle in 30-06. Found a break action Savage in 30-30 instead. See how that shoots before going Russian.
Is the Savage a Model 219 ?

AB
 
Baikal made a sbs rifle in 30-06 and 45-70.
Good fun rifles with agrarian triggers. They come up for sale sometimes. I don’t think they‘re imported any longer.


Talking 15, 20 years ago, most Baikals came here through York Guns Ltd, although it was never the official importer/distributor. Rifles arrived in irregular batches, and no two lots ever contained the same calibres it seemed. There was quite a variety of types with an O/U combination gun too called the 'Sever' IIRC. (It was very highly regarded in one of the smaller shotgun chamberings - 410 or 20B, can't remember which now - and .222 Rem. They arrived in penny packets and sold to the trade very quickly.) The S/S models were relative rarities, so not that many could have been imported. There was a period when YGL couldn't get enough O/Us in 9.3X74R for customers looking to take up wild boar hunting, often on eastern European packages that were very attractively priced at the time.

As you say, agricultural. They all use the equivalent Baikal shotgun back end and trigger assemblies, hence their availability in SB, SbS, O/U.

Scope mounting was always a pain - had to be something very short with a single piece mount IIRC. Most buyers seemed content with the iron sights though. Somebody told me once that the single barrel rifles were mostly bought by gamekeepers and other estate workers and were used as what Americans call 'truck guns', carried around daily work in the SUV or pick-up truck and pretty roughly treated.

Like @Edinburgh Rifles I was always taken with the single-shots and fancied a play with the 222 model, but never shot one other than dry firing.

Now that York Guns has closed, I wonder who imports Baikals. ..... or does anybody do it nowadays at all? YGL did a lot of full-length barrel integral moderated conversions on the 410 SB shotgun and it was very popular some 15 or 20 years ago.
 
Along those lines , a friend of my late father had a genuine Sauer & Sohn , Luftwaffe issue , drilling chambered in 12 gauge ( sxs barrels ) and 9.3x74r ( under barrel ) . I managed to get him to allow me to shoot a few rounds through it . I think I was about 17 at the time , I thought it was the coolest thing ever invented . They were rare even then . I'd like to know what they're worth these days , probably a substantial amount . It was a beautifully made rifle , not your average military surplus .

AB
The Luftwaffa drillings - which are Sauer 3000 tend to make a few $ thousand in the US market. If complete in a case they make good money for collectors. They were issued mainly to Bomber crews serving in the African Campaign in case they got shot down in the wilds and needed to deal with large animals.

If you go to Nitro Express or Accurrate Reloading there are sections specifically for Combination Guns and there has been quite a bit of chat about these.

@Pine Marten has a Sauer drilling, albeit in 7x65r that will be very similar to a luftwaffe drilling bit without all the military markings.
 
Talking 15, 20 years ago, most Baikals came here through York Guns Ltd, although it was never the official importer/distributor. Rifles arrived in irregular batches, and no two lots ever contained the same calibres it seemed. There was quite a variety of types with an O/U combination gun too called the 'Sever' IIRC. (It was very highly regarded in one of the smaller shotgun chamberings - 410 or 20B, can't remember which now - and .222 Rem. They arrived in penny packets and sold to the trade very quickly.) The S/S models were relative rarities, so not that many could have been imported. There was a period when YGL couldn't get enough O/Us in 9.3X74R for customers looking to take up wild boar hunting, often on eastern European packages that were very attractively priced at the time.

As you say, agricultural. They all use the equivalent Baikal shotgun back end and trigger assemblies, hence their availability in SB, SbS, O/U.

Scope mounting was always a pain - had to be something very short with a single piece mount IIRC. Most buyers seemed content with the iron sights though. Somebody told me once that the single barrel rifles were mostly bought by gamekeepers and other estate workers and were used as what Americans call 'truck guns', carried around daily work in the SUV or pick-up truck and pretty roughly treated.

Like @Edinburgh Rifles I was always taken with the single-shots and fancied a play with the 222 model, but never shot one other than dry firing.

Now that York Guns has closed, I wonder who imports Baikals. ..... or does anybody do it nowadays at all? YGL did a lot of full-length barrel integral moderated conversions on the 410 SB shotgun and it was very popular some 15 or 20 years ago.
I bought one of York Guns’ 9.3x74R O/U Baikals in the close down! I use it for practice here in the UK, and then borrow a friend’s (far nicer) rifle in France; saves the hassle of importing/exporting a rifle for weekend trips.

It is certainly a bit agricultural, but built to tight tolerances, and the barrels have an adjusting nut between them to regulate the fall of shot (a bit!).

I have actually found scope mounting a doddle: Optilock 11mm bases (often described as “rimfire”) work just fine, and allow you to match the relatively short mounting grooves on the receiver. I torque them up sensibly, and have had no shifting of the scope and mount or POI in several hundred rounds.

It is not a rifle I would much like to fire prone, but that is the calibre as well as the nature of the rifle. So it will be interesting seeing if it can be fired at Bisley, wen it finally re-opens. Interestingly, I think the RWS ammo is technically just below the HME limits - we will see!
 
I've never seen a Baikal drilling but an old Headkeeper I worked under and a Headkeeper he worked under both had Tikke 12/.222 drillings, great wee guns.
Ah, maybe it was a Tikka, I remember it looked pretty 'agricultural'
 
Back
Top