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At the risk of offending Merkel fans, here is my personal opinion/observation:

My 3 Merkels, all box locks! a .30-06 lightweight with adjustable regulation, my 9.3x74r, and my .470NE all had eXternal fit and finish beyond reproach. All were works of art. My bore scope told a slightly different story. All three had leades that looked like a tractor had dragged a nasty farm implement across the lands within the throat. The rest of the bore was equivalent to the quality of a Remington. This is NOT a compliment. Tool marks, smeared lands, utterly disgusting lack of care and craftsmanship. These guns are NOT cheap, but the bores were less than what I'd expect out of low end common Walmart guns. Getting past what the bore scope has revealed, the 9.3x74R shoots a composite group that would warm the heart of anyone that likes small consistent groups at 300 metres. Go figure??? The 140 lightweight (can't recall the model designation) was a POS no matter how I slice it. The big bore was quite acceptable wrt to groups and I can't honestly lay a complaint wrt to it's accuracy.

Now, I look through my Heym .500 NE, and the bore looks like a fine artist has polished the bore with the tender loving care of a true perfectionist. No visible tool marks, no tractor pull contests, just a plain simple work of internal art. It shoots like a dream but I can't say it shoots any better than the Merkel 9.3x74R.

The message here? I'm not sure. Each rifle is a unique personality. Each will have it's own personality, and each will or will not shoot well irrespective of external fit and finish, and irrespective of the care taken for the internal build work. I would like to think that as the price goes up, the effort goes up all around, but who knows??? And what does it mean at the range where results separate the men from the boys? Anyone here ever closely examined the private parts of a Holland and Holland? What do they look like from the inside? And lastly, how do they shoot????

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Personally feel, especially based on your findings of the bore scope..in todays world as has been normally always the case, you get what you pay for..there are NO free lunchs...unless you are a democrat in the US, then you get a free lunch and a phone....

Simply put, there is a reason other than just name that you pay what you do for the other brands..

Ripp