Hoppdoc:

I'm going to say YES, just based on the untrained eye.

Last April, the DRSS had a hunt in Texas. I was there with my Merkel .500 3" and jjs was there with his Merkel .470 NE.

In doing a VISUAL side-by-side comparison, the two rifles looked identical - even the barrels were the same, with the exception that my .500 had less meat on the barrel walls becuase of the bigger bore.

AND, jjs' Merkle appeared to be heavier than my double. (jjs and NE450No2) will confirm this if they post because the both weighted them - that is, held the .500 in one hand and the .470 in the other at the same time.

So, with that, I THINK that Merkeld uses the same thing for both the .470 and .500, with just the boring different between the two.

Can anyone else comment on this?