hey guys, i have an older baikal single shot 12 ga. with a 30" barrel, the barrel appears to have a steel sleeve or liner in it. the gun just sits at the cottage and has not been used yet, i would like to use it for plinking the odd day, and maybe keep the odd bear away if need be. a friend told me to look into using it first before using steel shot? could i use slugs? buck shot? lead only? tungsten? any experts out there?
thanx guys
Not likely chrome lined. I've never seen an older Baikal with a chrome lining.
This one you should run by a gunsmith. You definitely should not be using steel in an old, full-choked gun. If it's sleeved, opening up the choke will make the sleeve so thin it's liable to shred at the muzzle. Or, if it needs to be opened up more than a few thou, the sleeve will be chopped 3" back from the muzzle. (On the off chance it IS chromed, opening up the chokes will remove the barrel lining.)
You need to be 100% sure what you've got before you can make an informed decision on a course of action.
If you fire lead slugs through this barrel, use only Brenneke slugs (these have vanes around the outside to impart a spin on the slug as it leaves the barrel). The vanes on these slugs also allow for choke constriction in smoothbore guns. DO NOT USE SABOT SLUGS, they're exclusively for rifled shotgun barrels with no choke.
You can use any lead shot shell that properly fits the chamber in the gun (including buckshot). Same goes for Tungsten Matrix (commercially available) and/or Bismuth (load your own).
For the kind of sunny day plinking and bear deterrent that you describe, I would stick to lead. It's cheaper anyway. No need to use steel shot unless you're shooting over water or hunting migratory birds.
Full disclosure: I was hunting and shooting WAY before steel shot was mandated. I'm still hunting and shooting and, in all that time, I have never fired a single shell containing steel shot. I don't hunt migratory - more of an uplands kind of guy. (Sitting on my a$$ in the damp and cold doesn't appeal to me. I'd rather hunt for my game. Besides, I'm a rebel and I can't stand being told what I can and can't do - as in lead shot.)
