Baikal singleshot, difficult opening

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Gillshot

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I have a new to me Baikal IJ-18 ( single shot, internal hammer, extractor) in 20 gauge. It is a made in USSR era model, probably 70's or early 80's manufacture. It opens and closes nice and smooth, unless it has been fired, and then it is very stiff to open. Any ideas on what is causing this?
 
Does the firing pin stay out too far, or for too long and it gets hung up a bit in the primer?
Does it happen with all 20 ga brands or only one brand?
 
Slavic crude built like a T72 but lasts forever.The 20 + 12 ga both had brutal recoil likely due to stock angel and design.
 
Thanks for the replies. This gun has a cocking lever that cocks the hammer before opening the gun. The stiffness on opening has nothing to do with that. I have this same gun in other gauges and they don't have this problem, so definitely something wrong here. Does the same thing with different brands of shells, so don't think that's the problem.
 
Gillshot said:
I have a new to me Baikal IJ-18 ( single shot, internal hammer, extractor) in 20 gauge. It is a made in USSR era model, probably 70's or early 80's manufacture. It opens and closes nice and smooth, unless it has been fired, and then it is very stiff to open. Any ideas on what is causing this?
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I have owned a number of these Baikal guns over the years. They are tight! Put a couple thousand rounds of trap through it, keep it lubed, and it will free up. Their tollerances are amazingly tight. These are great guns, and will outlast you and 5 more generations.

Mark
 
Take a close look at spent primers, does the mark look like a comet - with tail? It's pretty common to have firing pin stuck embedded in primer. In this case de-burring and polishing the business end of firing pin solves the problem.

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My guess is steel based brass sticking due to slightly over depth rim recess (Euro depth), and interfering with extractor mech. Thicker rimmed brass would solve it if this is the issue.
 
Thanks for the replies, the dents in the primers look normal, so hopefully the firing pin is not the issue. I was shooting cheap shells ( not brass based) so I will try brass based shells and see what happens.
 
OK - I had a look at my 12 gauge single - the first shotgun I bought... If you take the gun apart you will see two pins, one on each side of the action. These pins actuate the extractor - they ride in channels in the walls of the receiver. When you open the gun, the pins are pushed rearward as they ride in the channels. In your case, the shell is binding in the chamber, and causing the pins to stick in the channel.
You may have a defect in the chamber that is causing the shells to stick, or the shells themselves are to blame.
 
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geologist said:
I just bought one of these in .410 in the hopes that my wife could use it but she can't open the action due to her arthritis.
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Put a decent amount of oil on the friction points and work the action...lots. It won't open like a DT-11, but it will open a lot easier. There have been reports of guys using lapping compound and such in extreme cases with success, but try the oil first. The opening lever contact surfaces will also look like a hacksaw, so you may want to have a look at that as well.

R.
 
My friend still prefers his 20 ga (from his long late grandfather, ....and we have been hunting for 30 years together LoL) for grouse than any other of his collection of fine guns. I have had several and they have all worked great in my experience. The new ones are of course just a little more crude and rough but will work in over time.
 
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