Baikal MP-153 jamming with new shells

Pav

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Hey guys,

I bought a Baikal MP-153 3.5" 12ga shotgun recently. As per the manual's recommendations, I bought some heavier 2-3/4" shells with 1-1/4oz shot weight as the first few boxes (Kent diamond shot), which worked great. When I ran out of those, I switched to the much cheaper Winchester Super-Target 12ga 2-3/4" 1-1/8oz 3 dr. eq. 7-1/2 shot and adjusted the gun for the lightest loads possible (since I had it tuned for slightly heavier 1-1/4oz). Problem is, it jams on every shell (shoots fine, but doesn't cycle), and the shell casing is pretty hard to pull out of the chamber sometimes -- I ended up having to stick a key in there to pull it back. I used the "F Steel" choke in both cases.

So I realize this gun is fairly rare, but maybe someone has experienced a similar problem, possibly with another 3.5" semi-auto shotgun? It feels like these shells have more recoil too, but that may be because my shoulder was already sore :)

Thanks!
 
Your cheap Winchester shells have aluminum rims and they expand too much in the chamber. Shoot brass rims only and you should be fine. That gun doesn't like very light loads either,

Patrick
 
Had the same gun for a while with the same issues. Didn't matter what you adjusted it to it wouldn't cycle the light loads. The crap Winchester 100rd value pack ammo from Walmart didn't help either. That stuff hasn't worked well in any semi-auto I put it through. The federal value pack stuff has done much better. Ended up selling the gun to a friend who uses it for ducks and it works just fine with the heavier loads.
 
I have had several MP153 shotguns & my current 'go to' waterfowl gun is a 24 inch barreled Baikal MP153 with synthetic stocks. I did have a problem with the gun this fall. It would fire the first two shells & leave the 3rd sitting on the elevator but not lift or chamber it.

I took the shotgun apart & quickly realized that the mag tube was loose! I used some blue lock tite & re-assembled. Problem fixed! It has not had any issues since.

Now, I have not fired this gun with anything other than 3.5 inch magnum waterfowl loads, but my last one I did fire 2 3/4 heavy field loads with no problems...

If I were you, I would disassemble the gun, clean & lube it. Buy a couple different types of shells & try again.

Cheers
Jay
 
Your cheap Winchester shells have aluminum rims and they expand too much in the chamber. Shoot brass rims only and you should be fine. That gun doesn't like very light loads either,

Patrick

Great observation, Patrick! It did seem like the rims expanded a bit, requiring a lot of force to pull the shell out of the chamber. I'm convinced that this is the reason (or at least one of the reasons). Brass rims it is then :)
 
The winchester super target are a pos shell .get your self some federal top gun 1 1/8 oz 3 dram or remington gunclub in the same load .they don't seem to have the problem of the head expanding and sticking in the chamber.the gunclubs are also a great hull for reloading if you chose to do so.
 
The winchester super target are a pos shell .get your self some federal top gun 1 1/8 oz 3 dram or remington gunclub in the same load .they don't seem to have the problem of the head expanding and sticking in the chamber.the gunclubs are also a great hull for reloading if you chose to do so.

http://www.cabelas.ca/index.cfm?pageID=71&&section=1187&section2=1280&section3=1489&ID=10011 <-- Those look like aluminum rims (unless the pic is wrong). Will they have less of a problem with expansion than the Winchester super target?

I'm also looking at the #6 from http://www.cabelas.ca//store/?ID=19568&section=1187

As Jay suggested, I'll get some variety and see what works best.

Also, to avoid the trouble of selling it, is it still fine to shoot those crappy shells or does it put more wear on the gun when it jams? I may as well treat it like a pump until these shells are gone.
 
Non are made of aluminum they are some type of cheap plated steel .you can pick them up with a magnet so there not aluminum.
 
Wait till you need parts.Can't find a good main spring anywhere .Numrich /Brownel's etc............also tried the rem trade name.............Harold
 
My old mans 153 kicks out 3.5" steel waterfowl loads and my 7/8oz skeet loads just fine. They only thing that jams it is hi velocity 2oz turkey loads. Steel loads are all fine. When I find aa 24" barreled one I will buy it as all the ones I've seen work almost flawlessly other then the one brand of turkey shells
 
Its the winchester stuff. It jams in everything. Get the remington stuff. About 5$ more a case of 250 and it works fine.

Thats my experience in two 870 pump
 
The problem here is not with light loads but with the brass portion of the shell, or the lack of it thereof. See, Kent uses brass in their shell bases. Winchester cheap stuff uses "tin cans" instead of brass. The difference is that brass expands and constricts back in size immediately when "tin can" stuff does not constrict back after rapid expansion under heat and pressure. So, you've got yourself a stuck shell case :)
 
Resurrecting an old thread to give you guys an update.

Other than the cheap Winchester shells, I've tried:

- Federal Top Gun #7.5 1-1/8oz: Still jamming, but requiring less force to pull the shell out of the chamber than the Winchester. The rims look the same.
- Federal Game Shok Heavy Field Loads #6 1-1/8oz: Cycled fine for the first 2 shells, but that may have been luck or because it was on a freshly-oiled gun. These don't get stuck in the chamber, but they still lack the power to push back far enough to properly cycle, so it ends up going back just enough to pull the shell out of the chamber, but not enough to eject it to the side. This is after I adjusted the gun for the lightest loads possible.

The shells that have worked were Kent Diamond Shot 1-1/4oz #6 or #7.5 (can't remember exactly), but they cost twice as much. It looks like I have to use heavy loads (1-1/4oz or higher) with quality rims.
 
How old is the gun? I was told by the baikal rep to break it in with heavy 3 or 3 1/2 loads for about 100 round, maybe try this. Or call baikal Canada? The people were very friendly when I went there in person
 
How old is the gun? I was told by the baikal rep to break it in with heavy 3 or 3 1/2 loads for about 100 round, maybe try this. Or call baikal Canada? The people were very friendly when I went there in person

I've shot 50 of the Kent shells (1-1/8oz 2-3/4") which it cycled perfectly after I tuned it up, then I switched to the light ones, none of which worked well (tried 3 types, all either 1oz or 1-1/8oz). If I put more heavies through it, will it start being happy with the light shells (provided they don't expand and get stuck in the chamber)? I'd like to be using it for clays without spending double on the ammo.
 
Put another 50 or so HEAVY loads through the gun. Do not make any more adjustments to the gas system. When these guns are broken in properly they will cycle all but 7/8 or very light 1 oz loads. My 24" MP-153 cycles everything I put in it. I don't shoot any 12 ga loads lighter than 1 1/8 oz as a habit not because of the gun. I agree the Winchester cheap shells are junk.

Darryl
 
Put another 50 or so HEAVY loads through the gun. Do not make any more adjustments to the gas system. When these guns are broken in properly they will cycle all but 7/8 or very light 1 oz loads. My 24" MP-153 cycles everything I put in it. I don't shoot any 12 ga loads lighter than 1 1/8 oz as a habit not because of the gun. I agree the Winchester cheap shells are junk.

Darryl

Heavy meaning 1-1/4oz (the first 50 I put through it that worked fine) or heavier? And keep the gas system set all the way to Light Loads? I wonder if I should apply some extra oil to make the action smoother.
 
The gas settings on these guns is unique to the gun. Some need to be on what appers to be the light setting while other are in other places. Baikal has an adjustable gas setting just to get the gun reliably working with all loads. It is not mean't to be routinely adjusted for heavy or light loads. 1 1/4 oz lead loads with 3 31/2 to 3 3/4 Drams equivilent should work well. I would move the adjustment towards the middle range and not on the light load setting. I would think that if broken in on the light setting 3 1/2" steel loads and 3" lead loads would start to beat it up after a while.

Darryl
 
I got mine a few weeks ago and just got a chance to go out today. Didn't adjust anything and shot some 3" 1 1/4 Remington's and 3 1/2" 1 3/8 Winchester super X and it cycled perfectly with no issues
 
I have had a mp153 for about 3 years now and it has been a flawless tank of a gun. I use it primarily for waterfowl but also shoot some clays and pheasants and other game with it also. If I were you I would go pick up a few boxes of cheap Winchester expert 3" steel waterfowl loads and pound those through it first. I got mine just before duck season so it was broke in well with heavy loads, but I did try some light loads when I first got it and it didn't like them much, but now it will cycle pretty much anything but those junk Winchester value packs. I agree with the others that said they expand in the chamber because even my 1300 pump I have to really yank back the forend to get them out. They are garbage. Oh and you could also polish up the inside of the receiver where you notice wear marks with some fine emery cloth to help make the gun cycle smother with the light loads.
 
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