You know, I own a Merkel. But I know what it is, and I know why I bought it. It's a .500NE in the plain Jane model. I bought it as soon as I found out that Merkel was chambering their rifles in .500NE. It's serial No. 3 of the .500's. It's an entry level rifle, largely machine made, and certainly no best quality rifle by any stretch of the imagination. It makes no pretenses.

On the other hand, it shoots quite accurately and reliably. It carries very comfortably. It comes to the shoulder quite well. And it's fun as crap.

Three autumns ago I used it for all my deer hunting. One cold morning there was about 2" of powdery snow on the ground as I set into the woods with my Merkel .500 before dawn. Under the snow I stepped on a slick rock. In an instance I was down. Usually I can fall without involving a gun, as I instinctively protect it. This time the fall was two fast, and the rifle came down on the rock with a sharp "click". On the side of the left barrel I now have a small mark left by that rock. Had it been one of my "best" guns I would have nightmares over that fall. But the Merkel took it in stride, gaining some personality in the process.

Later that hunting season I had the good fortune to take a nice Virginia Whitetail doe with the Merkel .500. We all had a good laugh at the idea of using such a big gun on a little Whitetail.

There's a certain comfort in entry level guns. My Merkel cost a small fraction of what this California Rigby costs.

The problem with the "Mexican" Rigby's is that they aspire to be something they are not. They are pretentious. The owners of that company evidently prey on ignorance. Only the un-informed would buy that rifle thinking it has anything to do with the quality or the heritage it's name unfortunately implies. In the end, it's a Merkel with about the same appeal as my un-pretentious Mod. 140-2, yet many times the cost.

Curl

P.S. I edited my rant. It's a 140-2, not a 140-1. I can't keep such details in my feeble mind.