Russian firearm appreciation thread

[Mintie]

I've always had a bit of a thing for Russian rifles, the design can be a little agricultural at times but they are always well thought out and sturdily built - engineered to be abused and still show up to work the next day ready for duty.

Thought it might be fun to have a thread here to talk about stories of old Rusky firearms battling on far longer than they should have and share photos etc.

First story comes from the Maimai about 10 years ago. A group of guys I used to do some duck hunting with had a back up shotgun that would always come along on opening weekend, it was a beat up old Baikal U/O that was there to be used as the shameful backup gun in case anyone's nice semi auto had a breakdown. How old it was is anyone's guess but that shotgun had done some serious work in its life, most of the blue was down to bare metal, the stock had historic cracks repaired in the same fashion you can imagine a Russian farmer would do half a bottle of vodka deep, the recoil pad was a big squishy thing that didn't fit properly and was held on with half a roll of red electrical tape and it felt like you were shouldering a T-34. It booted hard but it always worked and killed a lot of ducks that would otherwise have escaped due to a modern shotgun breaking down. I haven't been out with that crew for a long time but I like to imagine that old Baikal is still running.

Pic here of my 4 ruskies taken the morning, one of them is a new addition so they all got taken out of the safe for a bit of fresh air. There have been a few other Russian firearms in the collection over the years but they were nothing too interesting, these 4 on the other hand are all keepers.

1 - Edgun Matador R3 .22 cal PCP, this has the much smoother steel breech and is the "long" tube version but in a standard length stock and standard barrel length. Sytong NV scope for night ops.

2 - Edgun Leshiy PCP currently setup in .22 but I have .177 and .25 barrels for it as well. This is the full alloy version and I think probably the biggest design innovation in airguns we have seen in a long time. By far my favorite pest control tool with the Pard lrf thermal scope on top.

3 - Izhmash Biathlon 22lr. Incredibly accurate and has one of the best triggers I have ever used. Has 4 mags held in the stock and uses a very slick biathlon straight pull action. The Russian military uses a slightly different version of this with a suppressor as a sneaky sniper rifle for special ops.

4 - Mosin M44 7.62x54r carbine. New to me and haven't had a chance to roast any marshmallows with it yet. This one saw service late in ww2 and then spent decades covered in cosmoline.

[timattalon]

I've always had a bit of a thing for Russian rifles, the design can be a little agricultural at times but they are always well thought out and sturdily built - engineered to be abused and still show up to work the next day ready for duty.

Thought it might be fun to have a thread here to talk about stories of old Rusky firearms battling on far longer than they should have and share photos etc.

First story comes from the Maimai about 10 years ago. A group of guys I used to do some duck hunting with had a back up shotgun that would always come along on opening weekend, it was a beat up old Baikal U/O that was there to be used as the shameful backup gun in case anyone's nice semi auto had a breakdown. How old it was is anyone's guess but that shotgun had done some serious work in its life, most of the blue was down to bare metal, the stock had historic cracks repaired in the same fashion you can imagine a Russian farmer would do half a bottle of vodka deep, the recoil pad was a big squishy thing that didn't fit properly and was held on with half a roll of red electrical tape and it felt like you were shouldering a T-34. It booted hard but it always worked and killed a lot of ducks that would otherwise have escaped due to a modern shotgun breaking down. I haven't been out with that crew for a long time but I like to imagine that old Baikal is still running.

Pic here of my 4 ruskies taken the morning, one of them is a new addition so they all got taken out of the safe for a bit of fresh air. There have been a few other Russian firearms in the collection over the years but they were nothing too interesting, these 4 on the other hand are all keepers.

1 - Edgun Matador R3 .22 cal PCP, this has the much smoother steel breech and is the "long" tube version but in a standard length stock and standard barrel length. Sytong NV scope for night ops.

2 - Edgun Leshiy PCP currently setup in .22 but I have .177 and .25 barrels for it as well. This is the full alloy version and I think probably the biggest design innovation in airguns we have seen in a long time. By far my favorite pest control tool with the Pard lrf thermal scope on top.

3 - Izhmash Biathlon 22lr. Incredibly accurate and has one of the best triggers I have ever used. Has 4 mags held in the stock and uses a very slick biathlon straight pull action. The Russian military uses a slightly different version of this with a suppressor as a sneaky sniper rifle for special ops.

4 - Mosin M44 7.62x54r carbine. New to me and haven't had a chance to roast any marshmallows with it yet. This one saw service late in ww2 and then spent decades covered in cosmoline.

Attachment 236548

Its been a long time since I saw another Bi-7-2KO... Very nice rifles and hard to find. They also made a sporter with the same action and called it a Sobol...

[blip]

Ive got a baikal/vostok target rifle. 22lr long heavy barrel typical russian agricultural action and trigger but very accurate. Have to see if I can find a pic

[gonetropo]

i had an svt40, bloody awesome fun

[AR7]

Hi Mintie
just love the design of the EDgun Leshiy very innovative as you say even the very first models
how did you get or find one in N Z and might i ask if its not to rude the cost of these.
Thankyou for sharing your photos

[Mintie]

Hi Mintie
just love the design of the EDgun Leshiy very innovative as you say even the very first models
how did you get or find one in N Z and might i ask if its not to rude the cost of these.
Thankyou for sharing your photos

The Leshiy 2 has been approved for import, check out the prices from Edgunwest. They are a fantastic tool that is very well thought out.

[AR7]

Thanks Mate

[csmiffy]

I have asked you where you got that biathlon model Mintie.
It looks very good and if the stars ever aligned and one came up when I had the cash I'd have to tell myself why I shouldn't buy it

[blip]

[Mintie]

I have asked you where you got that biathlon model Mintie.
It looks very good and if the stars ever aligned and one came up when I had the cash I'd have to tell myself why I shouldn't buy it

That one was from GC Christchurch, they listed it on Trademe and a mate sent me the link knowing full well I wouldn't be able to resist it! It shoots incredibly accurately and with very impressive consistency. Check out these 15 x 5 shot groups shot at 50m while adjusting the scope, and that's just with cheap bulk ammo

[csmiffy]

I see they might have done a 22wmr version. That would be quite neat too.
Very close to the ISSC model GC marketed a while back but heard not always so good.
Probably not as good as yours by the sound of it

[-BW-]

I inherited this Baikal U/O from my grandfather when he passed earlier this year. It was his shotgun of choice for as long as I can remember as a kid, he may have got it new in the 70s I’m not sure. I would borrow it when I walked the farm in the evening looking for bunnies before I bought my own guns.
The rest of the family had fancier guns, Italian jobs, Remingtons or new pumps, and would ask him when he was going to replace that old Russian thing. He later bought a new maverick 88 pump but I never saw him use it. It was always the trusty old Russian.
When I picture grandad on the farm, he’d be wearing his swandri and gumboots, with the Baikal open over one arm. He’d look over and say ‘any ducks out there m’boy?’ I think because he couldn’t see them half the time.
I’ll probably never use it again, but I’ll never sell it either.

[Sharki]

Most appreciative thing for me on Russian firearms and other munitions

They missed.
I share something with the Ukrainians

Thank god they train em worse than they make firearms
Wanna hear about 1000plus rounds through s ak47 under water
Shooting them while in mud
Superior platform to the AR
Perfected in Africa as the galil / r 4 /r5

Bit like rugby , do your best and it can be made better
Dragonov 14.5 can't say I have one , can't say I never shot 1 , 1 scope I ever saw with stadia marks

[Mintie]

I see they might have done a 22wmr version. That would be quite neat too.
Very close to the ISSC model GC marketed a while back but heard not always so good.
Probably not as good as yours by the sound of it

Yes the ISSC was a direct copy of the Izhmash toggle action but in general it was awful, I had one about 7 years ago and had problems out of the box, once that was sorted I found it would only group HV ammo well so sold it on as I was only interested in shooting subs.

[tiroahunta]

I've a baikal under n over in 12g. Bought it gor $100 from John n Leo (J n L Guns) in Otorohanga a few years ago now. They had it out the back as a "parts' gun.

It's done a few opening mornings with it. I'm a shit shot gun shooter but with the tight cholesterol you could get ducks from a wee way out. Still own it

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