I decided to take a chance on a pair of these rifles a few weeks back; .45-70 and .30-06. I didn't have high expectations, but the prices were pretty good, so I went for it.

Time has been a hot commodity for me, so today was the first chance I had to shoot them. I was only able to make it to the indoor range (25 yards), so I brought along my Baikal .45-70 with some of my light plinking loads; ~360 grain RanchDog gas-checked cast bullet over 12.0 grains of Unique. The load is probably in the 1050-1200 fps range. It's a fun and accurate load for everyone to shoot, and you can fire it all day and not get worn out.

You can see my results in the image below. Left target/left barrel, right target/right barrel, and then I shot a couple pairs at the center target. I expected I would have to tinker with the rifle to get it to give me even a semblance of regulation. I was pleasantly surprised how well the rifle did, despite my mediocre offhand shooting abilities. It will be interesting to see how the rifle performs at 50-100 yards. In time I will explore adding a Skinner peep, and possible a new front sight. If the .30-06 performs well, it will get a low power scope.

I hope I'm not hijacking your thread. Wanted to add some more Baikal information to the forum, but keep the information somewhat consolidated for those interested.

-Brandon