With my continued quest to find a new shotgun. I called a guy off craigslist about some duck decoys he had for sale. Turns out he also had a shotgun. A Russian Bakal ? It's a semi-auto and shoots 3-1/2 shells. He says Remington bought the name and is selling their guns under the remington name for $900 a piece.

He is asking $300.00 for it. It was his grandsons. You guys know more than me about this stuff. Is this a good deal? A picture is below. It's a little blurry, but it's all he could take at the time. He is an older gentleman that retired and closed his guide outfit after a few heart attacks.

p.s. he's got hundreds of dek's if anyone in the houston area is needing a few more to add to their collection. $20.00 a dozen.

The Remington version was a spr453 and you can get one for a little over $400. There is a guy on here that can get you a brand new baikal 153 for $320.

$300 would be okay if the gun was in like new condition.

i need a few decoys - where is he located?

Show yourself!

What about quality? Is it a good duck hunting piece?

awesome - thanks

the baikal is a very god gun for the dollar. once broken in, mine shot everything i put in it.

He called back and dropped the price to $275. So, I'll take $335 with me and pick up the gun tonight + 36 new teal decoys!!! Sounds like a good deal to me

very good deal. good gun also.

Awesome gun. If you don't buy it send me his contact info.

Okay, so I get off work, go to the bank and pick up some cash. Drive out there and call him on the way and the convo goes like this.

"Well Josh I got some disappointing news for you. I just sold it to my buddy right now. Your still welcome to the decoys though."


"No thanks, appericate you selling underneath me. Have a great weekend."

click...


/sigh...the hunt for a shotgun continues.

That sucks.

Good news. Got a possible deal in the works for a Franchi 912 max 4 camo that shoots 3-1/2 shells. Guy wants $400.00 for it in houston.

well, first off, i'll say this: the baikals are great guns...not just "for the money." that franchi is also a good gun, but the baikal is a better gun in my opinion. i've spent plenty of time with both...and with benellis and berettas. remington doesn't make them, they import them to the usa. they're made in russia. they're named for where they're made near lake baikal. that gunworks has made some of the finest guns in the world for centuries. the big price difference has to do with differences in economic factors of production, not value. they have no brand recognition in the west anymore due to nearly a century of isolation under communist rule + world war 1.

next issue, sorry about your experience with this guy. sounds like he either wasn't playing fair or there was a communication failure between the 2 of you. i got crossways with some guys once on a similar deal over decoys i was clearing out from a hunt club. but i made it very clear that they were 1st come 1st served cash on the barrel head. they called and said they'd be there that evening. i told everyone i would not hold anything...get there asap. i had a dozen or more buyers on their way to buy about 1000 decoys. these guys showed up and what they wanted had been picked over hours before and they were pissed at ME. they blasted me all over the internet as having sold the dekes out from under them, but i stuck to my word to EVERYONE.

now i'm not saying or even suggesting that's what happened here, but i do hope we all give due consideration to objectivity before we hit "submit" about such things. i had folks bringing that up to me and guys who refused to speak to me for 2 years after that, and i didn't do a danged thing wrong.

The good news is you can find a Baikal at around the price the guy offered his to you all over ther place. As others have said, theyre pretty cheap.

I have one and love it. I paid $400 for mine new after comparing it to a Mossberg 935 and founf that the Mossy had a plastic/polymer recoil lug (not sure if that the actual name of the part) in between the gas assembly and the receiver. Its the first thing Ive seen Mossberg put out that was subpar IMO.

I saw two of these shotguns at a Dicks sporting goods, for $399 apiece.

Get the 912, Beretta took this design away from Franchi and now call it the Extrema

I shoot a 612 which is the 3" version and prefer it over any other gun I own.

The Franchi 912 is gas operated, much better gun than the new I-12 that they sell now, and in my opinion much better gun than the baikal