Sepia,

My hearty welcome to you!

You have entered a new phase of life in which all of life's issues take a back seat to the love of double rifles.

The 9.3x74R is a fine choice. Your first task is to find out what load the rifle was regulated for. Does your Merkel have adjustable regulation? If not, you will find that it was regulated for a specific load; and in particular, a specific bullet weight.

To give you an example, when I got my 9.3x74R I had no idea what bullet it was regulated for. My guess was 286 grains, because the barrels have a fast twist. But I was dead wrong. The heavy bullets all shot apart, meaning that the right barrel grouped to the right of the aiming point, and the left barrel to the left. That's a sure sign of too much lead. It turned out my rifle was regulated for the 15 gram (232 grain) bullets and shot just fine with them. I have since had it re-regulated for the 18.5 gram (286 grain) bullets.

So find out what your rifle was regulated to shoot, and then get to know it by shooting the appropriate ammo. If you are a reloader, NEVER exceed factory spec loads in a DR. They are not made for hot rodding. You will shoot it loose in no time. Keep to what it was designed to shoot and you will get a lifetime of use.

I recommend that you start reading the Double Rifle forum on this site from the very beginning to the present. You will learn a lot from the discussions there. Many of your questions will be answered, and you will be introduced to many issues you may not have thought of.

Good luck with your new DR.

Curl