Baikal Cartridges.

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Ferret

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 8, 2011
Messages
121
Location
Hampshire
Just read about members not posting so though I would give it my first crack.

On the topic for the Fiocchi videos, there was mention of the good old Baikal cartridges and being paid to take them away, so got me thinking of other members memories of them.

When I first started shooting, Baikal cartridges were very popular at our local gun club because they were cheap and I was young enough to know sweet nothing about quality etc.

I remember that they either made a noise that sounded like a wet f**t (if you were lucky the shot made it out of the barrel, if not on firing then certainly upon opening them) or a bang SOOO loud you would have thought Concorde had broken the sound barrier over your head. The shot normally missed the clay but I think the noise did the business for you better than any full choke could have done. Anyone stood within 50 yards also became instantly deaf.

I was also brought up on Czech Sellier & Bellot carts (commonly referred in our gun club as Sillier & Bangalot). Ditto all of the above comments with a much greater tendency for the latter noise element.

Finally, you didn't dare look down the barrels afterwards - s**t and cr*p was the understatement of the year. You needed to go on a good vacation after attempting to clean them.

Those were the days - how spoilt we are today!!

 
We used to cal them Sellyourbollox, if anyone wants to know what a slow push recoil feels like these were the ticket  :yell: . The Baikals on the other hand had a lot of fans down our way, cheap and loud but they did the business on the pigeon as well as the clays, as I recall they only did 7 shot and came in 10 packs. 

I used to do a bit of pattern testing back then and to this day the most even one I ever shot/saw came from a Baikal. :cool:

 
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i remember the Biakal records well, dirt cheap and full of chain mail, we ran a little shoot and you could tell who was using them from the muzzle flash and sonic boom! they knocked my Remi 1100 about so much I had to carry a bag of spares! those were the days, In fact I think the fact my right shoulder sits further back than my left is a Biakal memory... :crazy:

 
I used them many a time on pigeon , hard hitting 32g with flames out the end of the barrel . Heat sealed crimp as well ! with a rather large primer , I used to use a side by side back then as well !! shocking :)

 
Surprised the muzzle flip didn't crown you Robo..I've still got some 4's along with a couple of old war issue Eley SG's in 16 gauge.

 
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I can remember the Baikals and Sellier & Bellot but what about Yellow Wizards and Sporta both distributed by Frank Dyke who later on sold the F.D. which was a plastic cased version of the same cartridge. The Yellow Wizard was a non waterproof paper case that swelled like mad if they got wet.

Can any one remember the Gevelot cartridges? They were so good that a lot of skeet shooters ,such as Joe Neville, used to bring them back from the continent. I used 50 when someone started importing them, I am sure that they cost me over £2.00 a box which was mega money then but boy were they good. I shot 49x50 at skeet with them. Never did get any more as the factory blew up and when it was rebuilt I believe the brand was taken over by Cheddite.

Can't remember what year this was but it was when English Skeet was 8 station. The 25 straight was the first one ever shot at the ground and was also the only one as it turned out because they had to move grounds shortly afterwards. The gun was a Miroku ORE Skeet, 26" barrels and open chokes.

 
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