Remington Russian import O/A

[buffermop]

Remington/ Baikel shotguns. Any good, fair or just plain crap?

[GRIMJIM]

I have one. You get what you pay for. I recently bought a citori.

I wanted an entry level gun to see if I liked the o/u thing. I really do. And that's exactly what the spartan is.

It shot well enough, but every once in a while the second barrel wouldn't fire. I've been told to remove the stock and check for wood or metal debris but haven't gotten around to it yet.

If I knew then what I know now, I'd have saved a little more and looked for a used gun of a little higher quality.

[Madmark]

I had the SPR-310 o/u, and currently have the SPR-453 3 1/2" auto. For the money, the SPR-310 is a decent gun. It has mechanical triggers and selective ejectors/extractors, and with a little TLC, was one of the best shotguns I have owned. At first I had the same problem Grimjim mentioned, and I took mine apart and cleaned the innards thoroughly and got all kinds of wood and metal shavings out of it. They are built in Russia from good steel, but the fit and finish leaves something to be desired, and the lubricants used at the factory are way below par. I polished some of the moving parts, replaced the ejector springs with lighter springs, disabled the auto safety engagement, and lubed it up with quality lubes. Afterwards, it functioned better than the 525 Sporting Grade 1 I bought to replace it.  Two Brownings (525, and Citori Special Sporting Clays) and the SPR went down the road, and the one I miss the most was the SPR. I'm sure I'll get some flames from my comments, but anyone who has shot with me in the winter here in WI will not be among them. The guns speak for themselves. My Beretta Silver Pigeon was as dependable as my SPR-310, but neither fit me well.
The SPR-453 was an informed descision. Upon recieving it, I took it down to clean and polish the innards, only to find everything as smooth as on my trusty A390. Sometimes you get lucky I guess! I squirted it with rem-oil, and began my own reliability test. I'm over 600 rounds without even cleaning, everything from 3 1/2" mags down to 1 oz. 2 3/4" reloads. It has yet to have a failure of any kind.
There is a forum dedicated to the Baikal/Spartan here: http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewforum.php?f=83&sid=1abe01086377b77c5f8d0dd1d094d629

[Madmark]

With all that being said, there are some real bargains in used guns due to the economy. Keep your eye out and who knows what you may find for the price of a new Spartan...

[Questor]

My buddy the trap shooter has a Baikal 12 gauge field gun. He prefers it to his other, fancier, O/Us because he shoots it better. The gun looks pretty nice considering the cost, but it is very heavy.

[stevinator]

For the money I would like to try one in 20 ga someday.I have a stoeger condor in 20 I bought on a whim for cheap and like it for what I paid for it but I think the baikal is made better and more heavy duty.

[dougk]

Based on my experience I would give the Baikals the thumbs up and the Spartan not as good rating.

[Madmark]

The Baikals and Spartans are the same guns.  The IZH-39  is the same gun as the Remington SPR-310.

[dougk]

the quality control appears to have gone down once Remington got involved.

[stevinator]

For the price I am gonna try one.Went to Dick's to get some shells yesterday and they had a 20 ga spr 310 in nickel marked down to 299.00,I checked it out and it looks fine.I told the clerk I thought it had maybe a few handling marks just in passing and he says Oh I will give you another 10% off.I said SOLD,I will give it a shot for that price.

[stevinator]

Shot a box of shells through this thing at the range and it's not a bad little gun.It seems built heavier than the stoeger condor 20 ga I already have.

[GRIMJIM]

that's why I went with the Spatrtan, it seemed a little sturdier than the stroeger.