I believe you get what you pay for with the Merkel. I had the chance to handle and shoot one often this November when in Zimbabwe. In camp, we had three .470's. My Searcy, the PH's Merkel and another clients Kreighoff.

The Kreighoff was the clunkiest and least accurate. It worked, but didn't seem to be in the same class as the other two.

The Merkel and the Searcy were much better handling and had better triggers, fit and finish, etc. The Merkel was a 1.5" gun at 50 yards, while the Searcy just made big ragged holes where you wanted them to be..

The Merkel, by warranty, I believe is limited to conventional bullets, while the Searcy is built to handle monometal bullets like the Barnes or North Fork. (I know folks who shoot Merkels with the new solids, but I wonder if something happens.. what would Merkel say?)

My only real complaint about the Merkel is the lack of a recoil pad. (Ejectors are individual preference, of course). If the difference in price (about 2K) had been important, I'd be quite happy with the Merkel instead of my Searcy, I'm sure.