Quote from: va wingbone on May 10, 2016, 10:05:33 PM
I just bought a near mint baikal 12ga side by side that was manufactured in the 80s 2 3/4" chambers, it has fixed full and modified chokes. I put some low powered dove loads through it and surprisingly the barrels are very well regulated. Seeing how it's not a 60 year old thin barreled double could I shoot HTL shot through it?
You raise a really interesting question about your vintage Baikal SxS shotgun. Modern Baikal shotguns are "over built" with a lot of extra steel (thick barrel walls) and many have chrome-lined chambers and bores, rated for tungsten-based shot.
The USFWS mandate for non-toxic shot began to be phased-in, in the U.S., in 1987 and was in full force by 1991. Non-toxic back then meant steel and U.S. manufacturers began to change the composition of the steel used in their barrels to resist damage from the harder shot. Since your Baikal was made in the "1980s", in Russia, and has what you describe as thin barrels, it may or may not have been manufactured with "hard" shot in mind.
What I've seen happen most with older fixed choke guns when hard shot is fired through them is a change in the exit diameter of the choke. Bridging can occur with any type of shot and if it happens with hard shot, bad things can happen.
There are other non-toxic alternatives, if you want to use it for waterfowl that are made for older guns. Hevi-Shot "Classic Doubles"
http://www.hevishot.com/catalog/classic-doubles/ might interest you.
I hope that helps some.
Thanks,
Clark
