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Hi, I've been lurking for a while, and noticed a certain amount of interest in Baikal doubles here. Mine isn't the .45/70 which has finally stated to appear - I got sick of waiting for one and bought an O/U in 9.3x74R instead, earlier this year.

First impressions were good. The rifle is undoubtedly plain, but the timber is a good close-grained walnut and the metalwork quite well finished. I was actually pleasantly surprised, and the rifle certainly stands up against mass-produced repeaters in its price class.

What impressed me more was the way the rifle felt in the hands, and how it came up to my shoulder. It was very stiff to open at first, but working it open and closed repeatedly for a few dozen times with lots of lubricant soon fixed that.

After giving it a brief trial at the range I decided to fit a scope: a 4x Leupold, which mounted using steel ringmounts with lever releases so that I can fit and remove it without tools.

I then loaded up a batch of rounds with Woodleigh 286gn RNs and went back to the range. Well, it took 20 rounds and a bit of fiddling with the regulation jackscrew and the scope adjustment, but by the end of it I had 4 rounds in an inch at 50 yards, just above the aiming mark - and I was more than happy.

The only things the rifle still needed were better trigger pulls, and conversion of the safety to non-automatic. I soon had both attended too, and the trigger pulls a nice 4lbs each. A bit more range time (which revealed that a simple change to the Woodleigh 286 gn PP made a surprisingly dramatic difference to regulation) and I was ready to take this one out for a walk.

The opportunity came last month: a trip to the Northern Territory to cull buffalo and pigs. Well, the new Baikal performed flawlessly, accounting for nearly 20 buff and some good pigs. The only limiting factor was that I should have taken more rounds!

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