madtrapper143
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Steep Rock Lake NWO
Gentlemen, I recently purchased a brand new Baikal MP 133 12 gauge pump from Tea Pot (great service give them a try) a contributing dealer on the site. I had been looking for one for awhile but they are hard to find. I have owned a MP153 semi for sometime and have found it to be an excellent shotgun. I had no doubt the MP 133 would be of the same quality and I was not disappointed.
The gun came with a 28" vent rib barrel chambered in 3 1/2" magnum (bore and chamber are chrome lined). Obviously all other lengths of 12 gauge cartridges can used. The gun sports decent walnut with a ringed fore end that at a glance harkens to the days of the great old Winchester and Ithaca pumps. As with most Baikals it sports very well designed and placed sling swivels. A very unyielding recoil pad adorns the stock. NOTE: In the photo the pad looks solid but it is ventilated, I have it wrapped with electricians tape to ease gun mount.
The gun comes with 3 extended chokes and a wrench. The constrictions are: IMP CYL MOD and FULL. These are steel rated chokes and therefor are a little "loose" in constriction. My choke gauge put the FULL right at MOD. Still very usable and easy to install and remove. The receiver of the gun is an aluminum alloy of some sort and is solid. All other parts short of the mag cap and mag tube stop are steel. It was nice to see a machined slick as all get out steel follower in the magazine tube. The gun did not include a 3 shot plug but I had a spare regardless.
Take down is as simple as removing the mag cap, opening the action slightly and pulling the barrel off. Further stripping can be accomplished by moving the pump handle forward off of the mag tube, the action bars and bolt travel with it. Two pins retain the trigger group. Complete takedown is only a matter of two minutes. All parts are robust and easy to inspect and clean.
I cleaned all of the packing oil out of the gun and placed a SVT 40 canvass sling on the gun. It seemed to look right to me. I then took the gun to my bush range for the shakedown trials. For the test I fired 2 3/4" target and steel loads. 3" magnum steel loads and 3 1/2" steel loads. Shells from Remington,Winchester,Kent,Score,Mirage,Federal,Rio, old Imperial and some hand loaded target loads were in the mix. The gun shot all without a bobble or hitch. It did require a strong back stroke on the pump to get the big fired 3 1/2" hulls out of the action. Winchester expert were the worst in that they are about 1/8" longer than Kent 3 1/2" loads. No matter I don't shoot 3 1/2" as a habit. I loaded the gun with mixed 3" and 2 3/4" loads with no issues.
All shots were fired at clay birds and I actually hit a few. I can only say that if a miss was evident it was my fault and not the gun. NOTE: the gun weighs barely 7 lbs. and recoil is stout with 3 1/2" loads to say the least. The earlier noted "recoil" pad does little to soften that. It was noted that the action although smooth as purchased smoothed up considerably during the testing. I installed a flush fit Tru Lock choke @SKEET 2 for the test.The gun takes Tru Choke style chokes and most if not all choke companies make chokes in that form. (I had one but the supplied chokes are more than adequate)
Here is my overall take on the MP 133. The gun lives up to the performance that Baikal firearms have delivered to Canadian shooters for years. Strong, simple to clean and operate and affordably priced. It is priced right at $400.00 (plus tax etc) and that put's it in the Mossberg 500 and Remington 870 Express price bracket. I feel it is a better value as it sports walnut furniture, steel mag follower, chambered in all 12 gauge cartridge lengths (the 500 and 870 are not and higher priced versions of these models have to purchased) and comes with swivels and 3 chokes instead of just one. (500 except)
I would recommend the purchase of one if you are in the market for an economy shotgun with a lot of excellent features.
A few pics:
Darryl
The gun came with a 28" vent rib barrel chambered in 3 1/2" magnum (bore and chamber are chrome lined). Obviously all other lengths of 12 gauge cartridges can used. The gun sports decent walnut with a ringed fore end that at a glance harkens to the days of the great old Winchester and Ithaca pumps. As with most Baikals it sports very well designed and placed sling swivels. A very unyielding recoil pad adorns the stock. NOTE: In the photo the pad looks solid but it is ventilated, I have it wrapped with electricians tape to ease gun mount.
The gun comes with 3 extended chokes and a wrench. The constrictions are: IMP CYL MOD and FULL. These are steel rated chokes and therefor are a little "loose" in constriction. My choke gauge put the FULL right at MOD. Still very usable and easy to install and remove. The receiver of the gun is an aluminum alloy of some sort and is solid. All other parts short of the mag cap and mag tube stop are steel. It was nice to see a machined slick as all get out steel follower in the magazine tube. The gun did not include a 3 shot plug but I had a spare regardless.
Take down is as simple as removing the mag cap, opening the action slightly and pulling the barrel off. Further stripping can be accomplished by moving the pump handle forward off of the mag tube, the action bars and bolt travel with it. Two pins retain the trigger group. Complete takedown is only a matter of two minutes. All parts are robust and easy to inspect and clean.
I cleaned all of the packing oil out of the gun and placed a SVT 40 canvass sling on the gun. It seemed to look right to me. I then took the gun to my bush range for the shakedown trials. For the test I fired 2 3/4" target and steel loads. 3" magnum steel loads and 3 1/2" steel loads. Shells from Remington,Winchester,Kent,Score,Mirage,Federal,Rio, old Imperial and some hand loaded target loads were in the mix. The gun shot all without a bobble or hitch. It did require a strong back stroke on the pump to get the big fired 3 1/2" hulls out of the action. Winchester expert were the worst in that they are about 1/8" longer than Kent 3 1/2" loads. No matter I don't shoot 3 1/2" as a habit. I loaded the gun with mixed 3" and 2 3/4" loads with no issues.
All shots were fired at clay birds and I actually hit a few. I can only say that if a miss was evident it was my fault and not the gun. NOTE: the gun weighs barely 7 lbs. and recoil is stout with 3 1/2" loads to say the least. The earlier noted "recoil" pad does little to soften that. It was noted that the action although smooth as purchased smoothed up considerably during the testing. I installed a flush fit Tru Lock choke @SKEET 2 for the test.The gun takes Tru Choke style chokes and most if not all choke companies make chokes in that form. (I had one but the supplied chokes are more than adequate)
Here is my overall take on the MP 133. The gun lives up to the performance that Baikal firearms have delivered to Canadian shooters for years. Strong, simple to clean and operate and affordably priced. It is priced right at $400.00 (plus tax etc) and that put's it in the Mossberg 500 and Remington 870 Express price bracket. I feel it is a better value as it sports walnut furniture, steel mag follower, chambered in all 12 gauge cartridge lengths (the 500 and 870 are not and higher priced versions of these models have to purchased) and comes with swivels and 3 chokes instead of just one. (500 except)
I would recommend the purchase of one if you are in the market for an economy shotgun with a lot of excellent features.
A few pics:
Darryl
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