Hi Rev & others,

I have a .45-70 in Baikal IJ-18 (Same as that IZH-18 above). Not a NE but a big bore cartridge in any case. I have also the original 12ga smooth barrel and 12ga rifled barrel in that same gun. The latter is built on Hastings blank.

I had the .45-70 built mainly for subsonic loads with heavy bullets, and there's also a suppressor on the barrel. I use it for general plinking and for experimenting with light loads of fast burning powders, and also for whitetails and roe deers. Here in Finland most of them are shot from the feedind stations at dusk or during the night, and this seems to be a nice silent tool for that. I got it just a few months ago, and I've been able to develop only a couple of good loads so far. I shot one deer with it some six weeks ago, and the gun + load made just what they were supposed to; a clean kill with no wasted meat. Edible up to the edge of the bullet hole, literally.

That rifled slug barrel I have had for years. I've shot a couple of deers with that also, but sabot slugs are only rarely used here, and their selection on the market is poor. So far I haven't found a cartridge, which would shoot consistently from that barrel. Now I've got some Lyman cast slugs and W-W wads waiting.

Second hand IJ-18s are very common here, and they are usually sold only for some a 30-50€ - that is approx. 40-60 USD.

The smith, who made the slug barrel for me, have converted these guns in a bunch of various chamberings. Those include at least .50 Alaskan and his own .50-110 based wildcat. I recall him stating that the metallurgy in older IJ-18s (those with a short, or 'one-finger' cocking lever spur) is somewhat stronger than in those of current production (long two-finger spur).

Regards,
Saku