Donkey Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 Hi all I'm after your comments on your experiences and use of the baikal mp153 I am toying with the idea of getting a wood stocked model Comments on this gun good or bad appreciated Donkey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainBeaky Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 I have the synthetic stock version, so can't comment on the carpentry. As far as the mechanics go, they are a bit agricultural, but once broken in will happily cycle most cartridges, from 67mm 24g clay loads up to 3.5" 63g flak shells. Balance and fit are a little eccentric - lop is very sorry, and they are quite front-heavy, but this is fairly easy to sort out, especially on the wood version. A thicker recoil pad plus some spacers and a bit of lead weight under the pad should do the trick. I added 1.5" length and 4oz ballast on mine, and it balances under the bolt release button. This does give it a high polar moment of inertia, so it swings very deliberately, helped by the 8.5 lb ish weight. Yes, they're heavy - good for soaking up recoil, not so good for lugging long distances. It's a Baikal - fit and finish may not be anything to write home about, but you won't wear it out, and as long as you clean it, it should always go bang at the right time. Have a look on YouTube - the Italian magazine that put 50,000 rounds through one in 4 days, and the Canadian lad dumping the bucket of mud in the action then firing it are highlights They are cheap because they are designed and engineered to be cheap to produce, not because they are a cheap rip-off of another design. Cost and reliability were part of the design brief, aesthetics were not... Optional extras - gym membership (it's heavy), squash ball to exercise your right thumb (bolt release is very heavy!), thick skin (for absorbing snarky comments), smug expression (your"spare boat oar" break clays and kills game just as well a few grand's worth of English, Italian or Belgian gun). To borrow a quote from another forum, it makes me smile when I pick it up, and doesn't make me cry if I drop it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strangford wildfowler Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 Great guns have one never ever let me down. Captainbeaky summed them up there a mans guns and as long as you look after it it will last ypu a life time, seriously go for one not a well finished as a benneli berreta or browning but a hell of a lot better than revo hatstand or any others in my opinion they are brilliant especially as a wildfowling gun they absorb recoil brilliantly when shooting heavy loads steel shot proofed to. They are a beast imo I love it best thing bout mine it was £150 and there wasnt even a slab of carts through it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossberg-operator Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 Solid, working man`s gun. It is what it is. Only one thing count: Do You like it? The feel. That`s what matters. Nothing else. I love going with my beloved, mossy oak Hatsan semi to a posh clay ground...It is my gun, rest doesn`t matter... Works for me. Hope You wll have the same feeling with the MP-153! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pycoed Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 Bought one for my son when he needed a steel proofed gun for wildfowling. Liked it so much I bought one myself. I remember the first fox I shot with it: as it lay twitching on the ground 30 yds off, I wondered for an instant if anyone else had shot it, because I'd barely felt the recoil from my own shot ( 1 7/8 oz of BB)! Having shot for 40 years with a side by side, it was a revelation for me. I now use it as my perfect hide gun - low recoil short barrel imp cyl choke in place.It's easy to adjust the drop & cast - just use a belt sander on the stock to action face. My only gripe ( well apart from the workmanlike finish) was that the grip was a bit big for my short fingers. Who better than the Russians to make a reliable gas operated repeater, after all... AK 47 anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donkey Posted June 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 Thanks for all the replies I will prob get the wood stock one I see there is a plastic stock one on gunstar for 350 Donkey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strangford wildfowler Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 Thanks for all the replies I will prob get the wood stock one I see there is a plastic stock one on gunstar for 350 Donkey Can't go wrong with them as I've said they are fantastic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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