I finally found time to shoot my 9.3 x 74R Merkel O/U DR.

I was very impressed by the gun and by the caliber. The gun itself is light and very quick. It comes up and points like a shotgun. The stock needs a touch of cast to it, but other than that it fits me very well.

I thought the gun's light weight (actually right around 8lbs) would mean trouble on the recoil. I was very suprised at how mild it was. I shot a half-dozen rounds without any trouble at all - no soreness or bruising afterwards, either.

I'm going to put some more rounds through it next weekend to work out the sights. These will be from a bench, so maybe the recoil will bother me a bit more.

Either way, I think I found my 1-rifle-for-just-about-everything rifle. I can't wait to hunt whitetails with it this fall.

Thanks

OWD