One of the members who posts occasionally here, Gurinder Pratap Singh Basra from New York, a good friend of mine, bought a Merkel Helix and didn't like it one bit. From what I remember, this was one of the first rifles imported into the USA and he returned it to the dealer who sent it back to Merkel. I'll let Gurinder know about this thread and ask him to post about his experience. I remember that Merkel asked him for his feedback in detail when they took the rifle back, which I thought was a positive thing. At the very least, they seemed interested in learning what a dissatisfied client did not like about their product.