Dugaboy I could not have said it better myself. I have no experiences with Merkels, but I seriously doubt that they are as bad as earlier posted. I know there are many who prefer the old "ossie" merkels before the Wall came down, but Merkels are used in large numbers in Europe as "everyday" rifles for boar, stag etc, if they were really that unreliable they wouldn't last on the market, otherwise how would the complete with comperable products like: Kreighoff, Heym, Lauronna, Demas, Beretta, Browning, Chapuis, etc.??