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The first post in this string asked, "Is the sidelock more reliable then the box lock?" The question is interesting since, in considering simply 'list price', there is no question that the Searcy sidelock is the flat out cheapest of any double rifle in current production. So, if you want a sidelock, get a Searcy?

Well, the common wisdom (i.e. a couple fairly astute writers, and that excludes at least one we all see all over like a rash, who seems to know everything and is an expert on all) is that the modern boxlock is not inherently less reliable or long-lived than a sidelock. Accepting that as true, the primary appeal of a sidelock is cachet, the 'look' and the 'best gun' image. So, if you want that, and you don't want to pony up a lot more, are you given a Hobson's choice in the Searcy or is it even a wise move? I again suggest no, and here is the 'why' rather than just 'Dave being Craig, take it as Gospel because it comes from my lips.'

How long has Searcy been building sidelocks and how many are out there? Given the sheer number of parts, and the inherently more complex mechanism of a sidelock as contrasted to a boxlox (Murphy's Law -- if it can go wrong, it will, and the more parts there are, the more to break) then unless it is built right, and you have learned and improved from upgrades and experience on earlier versions, then the risk of breakage or lack of reliable function is far greater.

But what else is out there in a 'cheap' sidelock(if that term can be used in relation to any double?) Again, consider Merkel.

They make a Model 160, a sidelock double built in several chamberings up to a 500NE. (A smaller version -- the 161- is built on the smaller frame in 7.65R up to 9.3X74R) Price? Mid-20s, but that is list and only with the fancier octagonal -- too damn heavy -- barrels. However, they can be had without those more expensive oct bbls, and from time to time, a goup of specials show up for a bunch less.

I got an ex-IWA gun, Model 160 in a 500NE from the Merkel distributor through my dealer for a bunch less than the advertised low 20s price. Indeed, a bit less than the asking price of the Searcy. Of course it lacked the octagon bbls (which I didn't want) but is was a display quality gun, done for IWA by one of their master engravers and the wood is spectacular. And, like most Merkels, it is one accurate gun and should be reliable.

How can I say 'reliable' about a gun I just got? Easy. I have some friends who own and shoot sidleock Merkels in various iterations, shotguns, Model 161s in small cal, and a 160 in 500NE. Problems? Zip. I also collect doubles and have a pre-war Merkel O/U sidelock double rifle in pristine condition and was shot but cared for by the prior owners. Function is excellent.

That is my point. Merkel has been making SXS and O/U sidelocks since the early part of the last century. These actions and their boxlocks are used by numerous highly-respected Continental makers. They function very well. (I take them apart and look at the workmanship, and compare that to what I find in my early English guns, including a WR 476 Droplock where that mechanism is a true bit of art of the highest sort.) They are well built and now going into a second century of production, I assume they have the 'bugs' well sorted and long-gone.

So why buy an inherently complex and relatively new product from a relatively new-to-doubles maker, and one who can't even seem to do something as simple as apply bluing?

I have an answer to that, and suggest that you look at a Merkel if you really have a yen for a sidelock. I'd say consider a used gun, but I just saw a used by nice SXS Austrian 500 NE double sidelock for only $29,000 listed at Cableas, saw a new Spanish or Italian SXS sidelock at G&H for only $32,000 and a bunch of British sidelocks, used by nice, starting at about that same price and going up into six figures.

Or, hold you nose and buy the 'plebian' Merkel. Or buy any number of very good, brand new boxlocks from them, Chapuis, Heym, Kreighoff, etc which will do the same job and use the same loads, for anywhere between half and three-quarters the price of the Searcy sidelock. (I would have kept mine, but the Merkel 160 was simply too spectacular and too cheap to pass on, and my dealer offered me a GREAT trade in pric on my boxlock.)

Again, just my 2 cents, and now more or less valid an opinion than anyone else's but I hope I at least offered some basis for my half-**sed advice.

I now yield the floor to others :-) Dave

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Time Wounds All Heels

Edited by dnovo (14/04/07 10:49 AM)

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