Shotgun newbie questions

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Samwisegamja

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Hey guys, pretty new to the shotties and the forum :)

I recently bought a used single shot baikal mp18 in 12GA and have a couple questions.

The shotgun that I received has what looks like scratches inside the barrel around the half point of the length. Is this safe to shoot? Or should I take it to a gunsmith?

Also, from what I understand, the length of the shells don't matter as long as it's 12GA right? As its single shot... I am pretty new to this, and are there some shells you recommend for a first time shotgun shooter?

Thanks a lot!
 
Samwisegamja said:
Hey guys, pretty new to the shotties and the forum :)

I recently bought a used single shot baikal mp18 in 12GA and have a couple questions.

The shotgun that I received has what looks like scratches inside the barrel around the half point of the length. Is this safe to shoot? Or should I take it to a gunsmith?

Also, from what I understand, the length of the shells don't matter as long as it's 12GA right? As its single shot... I am pretty new to this, and are there some shells you recommend for a first time shotgun shooter?

Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...

Actually what you understand is completely wrong. The length of shell is quite important. It depends on what your gun's chamber is. The shell has to fit into the chamber so while you can always go shorter (2 3/4" shell in a 3" chamber) you risk serious damage if you go longer ( 3 1/2" shell in a 2 1/2" chamber).

Shells for a first time shooter? Go for 2 3/4" Winchester AA low recoil. If it's a single barrel, the gun is likely on the lighter side. Recoil is a function of weight of the gun/size of the shot load/speed with which the load is being accelerated to. So with a light gun, you want to get started using a light load, (say 1 ounce or less if you can find it) being accelerated to a relatively slow speed (say 1200 fps or less if you can find it).

Scratches may mean rust pitting. That is a thin point in the barrels, creating a potentially weak spot. Have a smith check it out.
 
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Chamber length also matters, should be stamped on the barrel. if you have a 2&3/4" chamber... a 3" shell will fit inside it... and it may not end well for you. You should go take a firearm safety course
 
Chances are your gun is only good for 2 3/4 in. It should be stamped somewhere on the gun, if not in inches, in mm. Your gun has a chrome lined barrel, so unlikely to have any rust or pitting. What you are likely seeing is plastic streaks from the wads. Baikal shotguns like yours have thick "strong like bull" barrels, once you sort out the shell length, away you go.
 
I have a Baikal IJ-18 with a chrome lined barrel and a 2-3/4” chamber. Killed a bunch of waterfowl with it back in the days of lead shot. It had a full choke until I sawed the choke section off of it to shoot steel out of it.
Shotguns are a funny thing really. Pressures can spike easily with putting a 3” shell in a 2-3/4” chamber and yet it seems ok with a cut shell type slug (head seperation) which defies all logic.
I guess a plastic and lead hull tube will swage down into the forcing cone but a wad can’t overcome the extra 1/4” of crimp for some unexplained reason.
Anyways play on the safe side and match ammo to the chamber. Your fingers and eyes will thank you.
 
Here you go for a refresher
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cosmic said:
Your gun has a chrome lined barrel, so unlikely to have any rust or pitting. What you are likely seeing is plastic streaks from the wads. Baikal shotguns like yours have thick "strong like bull" barrels, once you sort out the shell length, away you go.
Click to expand...

Plastic streaks? Interesting.. I did run some bore snake through the barrel and removed some of the "scratches" but not all of them (still see some "streaks/specs".) I didn't know that it had chrome lined barrels so that's cool to know!
 
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