MP-156: Improvements and Features

Good news: MP-156, Baikal’s first inertia autoloader, is not as bad as my previous post made it sound. IzhMech responded to the customer complaints, and improved their guns significantly. The quality is still a lottery. But, while in the first lots the share of lemons was as high as 50%, today at least 9 out of 10 guns perform well out of the box. Not yet in the Benelli league, admittedly, but that at least makes it worthwhile to say something about MP-156 design.

MP-155 “Profi” Grade

Since 2018 the Baikal MP-155 semiautomatic shotgun is available in the “Profi” grade. The difference from the standard model amounts to a) Ceracote-coated receiver, and b) hand-checkered walnut stock and fore-end. Everything else is your regular MP-155, and even the plastic-tipped fore-end, as far as I know, is now standard for all wood-stocked MP-155.

“They Don’t Make’m Like That No More!” – endurance tests of Baikal MP-153 and MP-155

“How long will my gun last?” – an important question not just for a shooter on a budget.  Some brands measure estimated service life of their shotguns in thousands of shells the gun will fire. For example, Baikal MP-153 semiauto was guaranteed to last 3,000 Magnum rounds (1050 Bar service pressure), and so is its successor, MP-155. How well do the Russian autoloaders live up to these promises? In the natural course of events, the search for the answer would be long and difficult, as few hunters keep accurate records of shots fired and all hunt under different conditions. To make things faster and somewhat more scientific, some journalists and marketers run endurance tests, with thousands of rounds fired in the course of a few days.

But before I tell you how well (or badly) MP-153 and MP-155 performed at such tests (and show a couple of videos with MP-155), let me offer you something absolutely vital for correct interpetation of the results.

MP-155 Gets a New Stock.

The Baikal MP-155 semi-auto gets an upgrade, including a new walnut stock made on a brand-new Italian СNC machine. The new design features a thinner pistol grip and fore-end, and is said to be more ergonomically correct.

Other improvements in the updated gun include better recoil pad, new extended magazine cap, and sling swivels.

MP-155 For Southpaws.

Baikal may not be too quick with introducing the promised novelties – I have yet to see even MP27 with a plastic stock in the store, to say nothing of the inertia-operated MP156. But at least MP-155 for left-handed shooters is available in stores, with a choice of wood or black plastic stock.

“Neva” Stock for MP155

What do you think about this “Neva” grade MP155 with ortopedic stock from “Art-Dec Art” gunstockers of St Petersburg?

Moscow Arms&Hunting 2015 Expo.

There isn’t a Russian writer who hasn’t built a headline on “Pictures at an Exhibition”, title of the famous piano music by Mussorgsky. But this year’s Arms&Hunting Moscow Expo brings to mind another Russian classic – “After the Battle of Prince Igor and the Polovtsy”.

“Something old and something new” – the Russich series of MP27 and MP155.

For decades the Russian gunmakers have been asking their consumers: “What do you want from a new model?” And for years Russian hunters replied: “We don’t need no new models, we want you to learn how to make the old ones better! Don’t worry, we’re ready to pay a bit extra” “All right” – said the gunmakers and… came up with another “new and improved” gun, which was cheaper to make, cheaper to handle, and cheaper to look at.

Photo (c) http://www.izhguns.ru 

Introducing the “Russich” series of guns, which promises to change this. (“Russich” is an archaic way to say “a Russian”, literally it means “a descendant of the Rus”)