The people I knew did not, AFAIK, do any of these these things with the guns. They did not abuse them in any way. In both cases, firing pins broke. I believe these are two separate problems.
The Baikal is built like a tank. It does not have these problems. Our club rents them to new shooters and high schoolers, and they've performed well. It's not pretty, it's not graceful, but it's not failure-prone, either.
However, it's important to note that the 12 Gauge O/U is a bit of a specialized beast. For bird hunting, a lighter, smaller gauge gun is usually preferable. For waterfowl, pheasant, or all-around use, a good quality pump or semiauto is pretty cheap, especially compared to a good O/U, and you get 3 shots and a gun that will generally stand up to more abuse and dirt without complaint.
So, for the uses I have for a 12 Gauge break-action, I want a refined, well-balanced, good-quality gun. Range use involves a lot of rounds, and you really notice the niceties of balance and ergonomics at the range.
Bottom line? There aren't any O/U's under $1000 that I want. It's not that I'm rich -- far from it. I'd just rather have a good repeater than a marginal double, if I can't afford a good double. And I'd still want the repeaters for field use, one way or another.