New Baikal 22 Black Rifle

[Frontier Firearms]

We have a few of these rifles not yet spoken for. We expect delivery on or before June 2nd.

[Mossman]

Got mine on order. Marlin sez stock should arrive this week. Wife sez it "looks soooo Lara Croft." Bang.

[Frontier Firearms]

Delivery should be about the 27th of May.

[ElmerFudd]

Wife sez it "looks soooo Lara Croft." Bang.

Hmm... first thing I thought was the new Battlestar Galactica!

IIRC there was a thread on CGN last year about this rifle.

What size mags does it come with?


Fudd

[Frontier Firearms]

They come with 2 10 round mags.

[Mossman]

Actually the magzines hold 9 rounds.

Thanks Marlin, my Baikal just arrived this morning, fast and safe shipping as always with Frontier. Scoped it and adjusted the cheekpad; will take it to the range next Wednesday.

Initial impressions - though some folks have looked at the photos and thought that it might use a 10/22 action clone, in person it looks quite different (though in operation it's quite similar). The rifle breaks down very readily into two pieces with a single takedown screw (barrell/forend/receiver on one piece, trigger group/stock on the other). However, removing the bolt seems to be quite a chore - I still haven't figured out how to get the retaining pin out of the back of the receiver, and the fairly sparse manual is not much help.

Fit and finish is pretty good, the rifle is quite light and handles well. The magazines are robust steel, with a pulldown tab like Ruger 22 pistols that makes loading a breeze. The bolt locks back when magazine is empty; a nice feature, but curiously enough there is no bolt-release catch; once locked back, if you want the bolt to go forward you have to either remove the magazine and pull the charging handle back, or put in a loaded magazine and cycle the bolt.

I'll post more on the rimfire forum if folks are interested. For now, a big thanks to Frontier for their usual speedy and friendly service.