Well considering the above comments, about the Merkel, I think I will be in for some flame, for my opinion of them! In any event, of those negative comments above, my take is a full 90% of them are by folks who have never owned a Merkel in their lives! and the other 10% have never even seen one in the flesh, and damn few here, or anywhere, has fired, a new one, and some, not new, or old!

With that said, I will say, I have owned many Merkel products, over the years, both shotguns, and rifles, and I will say, emphatically, I have never had a bad one! I own a small S/S double rifle that is only a couple years old, and it is a fine little rifle for the $4710 price. It is chambered for 9.3X74R, and before you say, "well that's a small caliber", the 9.3X74R developes 42,000 lbs of chamber pressure, far more than a 470NE, and I have fired about 200 rnds through it with no problem at all. Where there may be some justification for caution, is with the ones chambered for 375 H&H Belted Mag, or 416 Rigby, because they develope upwards of 60,000 lbs of chamber pressure. That, however, is not unique to Merkel, almost all the makers chamber these cartridges as well, and it is no better idea for them than it is foe Merkel.

My new rifle shoots very well, and the auto selective ejectors work flawlessly, it handles like a fine little 410 shotgun, and ballances perfectly. It is fitted with cocking indicators, and the barrels, are fitted to the action as nicely as any of my Westley Richards doubles. The only place I see any shotcuts, is in engraveing, it is rolled on, or stamped, and final polishing of the steel. But the basic engraveing is not all that bad, it is only the so-called first up grade at the tune of $1000 that is what Ray refers to! It is, as he says, cartoon like, and certainly not worth $1000 usd! I have an old, about 1920, S/S, and the only difference I can find is in the final engraveing, and Polishing of the steel. On a working rifle, such clownish features are not a necessity, or even desired, by me!

As I have said, in posts before, I can find no verifiable instance of anyone who has bought one of the NEW Merkels, and has had them go off face, and I doubt there is anyone here who can point me to a particular person who has experienced this. I know several who sold them becasue they couldn't take the recoil, because they did not install recoil pads, and some that used them for one hunt, then sold them to recoup some of the cost of their safari, but not one because the rifle was inferior in any way!

Time will tell the tale, but for now, I'm from Missouri, "SHOW ME!" don't tell me what you have heard!I will say, like all firearms that were closed behind the iron curtain, quality suffered, durring that period, in the case of Merkel, because of worn out machinery, not skill. Most of the ones from this period only came into this country by GIs buying them used in Germany. They were never imported into the USA. The new ones are again made on new machinery, and the cost is down because of the ecconomy of east Germany, not quality.

The stocks are left with a plastic butt plate because the stock needs to be fitted to the buyer, and the addition of a well needed recoil pad, solves that shortcoming! The stghts are typical GERMAN, and was to be expected, on an almost new rifle that sells for under $6K, one can change the sights, add the recoil pad, and have QD scope base installed, if that is something he wants, and still have a 470NE, or 500NE double, for under $10K That is sticking in the craw of some of the dealers of very expensive double rifles that will not shoot any better than this little Merkel. This, my friends, is where these horror stories are coming from, IMO!

Now to the thing that NitroX had in mind when he started this string! The little Biakal double rifle offered by RUSSIA, and imported into the USA by EAA, for $600 usd. I have not seen one first hand, and I doubt many in the USA have, because they are not available yet! I have, however examined the shotguns made by the same people, and I was not impressed at all. At first glance, the over all image is nice, till you get hold of it in your hands! They seem to me to be something you would buy for a kid to learn with, and to ride in a jeep rifle rack without haveing to worry about the finish.

As to the effect on the public, in building new interest in double rifles, I believe it will turn more off, than on! I base this on the fact that most who would consider a $600 double rifle, are not "in the know" enough, about double rifles, to make them work properly, and will be soured on doubles for life. A few will be bought by folks who do know, and may buy them for their kids to hunt deer with, haveing the benifite of thier know-how to make them shoot, or rebarrel them to small chamberings like the .22 centerfires, for something to play with!

All this is a long winded post to simply say, some things are never enough for some people,and "if you ain't got what I got, you ain't got the good stuff!"is their attitude.That doesn't make their opinions valid in all cases! The fact is, an old FORD PU will get you to the mall, as quickly as a Masarati,if you abide by the law, but folks along the way, will not pay as much attention to you in the pickup,as the "LOOK AT ME" Italian Stallion! To me, the looks given you, by the public, are not worth the difference in price. The guy driveing the Masarati, will always look down on the cowboy driveing the PU, and the same goes for those who can afford $20,000/$40,000 for a double rifle, looking down on those who must do with a $10,000 double rifle, and skrimp to afford that!

Folks, the only person you have to please is, YOURSELF, so buy what you want,and deal with it's drawbacks. Don't worry about the guy looking over your shoulder, when you shoot your Buffalo, with your new rifle! He ain't paying the bill!