In reply to:

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I have been told on very good authority that Merkel no longer builds any taper into their receivers...too expensive to machine and fit. This would explain why they shoot of face real early.

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Taper has nothing to do with it! I have a Merkel that was made only a couple years ago, and one that was made in about 1920, and there is absolutely no difference in the shape of the A&D recievers! Everyone keeps talking about the Merkels coming off face, but I move amoung a lot of double rifles, and double rifle circles, and I can find no reputable, verifiable, information regarding any off face Merkel, regardless of chambering!

I suspect, when I do find one, it will be chambered for 416 Rigby, or that it can be verified that it was shot with an overloaded handload!

I beleive it is a mistake to chamber any double rifle with cartridges like the 416 Rigby, or any High intensity cartridge that was not designed for a double rifle. That is the ONLY mistake Merkel made with their new rifles. That is a mistake that has nbeen made by nearly all the makers, so Merkel is good company!

This OFF FACE crap people have tagged Merkel with, is simply an urban legend that is perpetuated by those who have an axe to grind, in most cases, and I believe it is simply perpetuated by it's compitition!

As far as the Sarasqueta double rifles are concerened, I had one a few years ago, chambered for 375H&H FL, and it was a good shooter, but the charges of rough inside parts, is true, in the case of the one I had. Mine shot very well, but a friend of mine who is a custom gun builder rehardened the sears, and made new springs for it. It got to where it had soft tumbler fall, and would occasionly double, for this reason the work was done, then I sold it at a gun show! I certainly would not trade any Merkel I ever owned for another one!

Pritty cloths sell a lot of phony stuff, but as the old saying goes, "You can't make a silk purse, out of a sow's ear"! But to be fair, That one was the only one I have had any dealing with, and all others may very well be top of the line. It is just that the quality in the one I had soured me on the name!

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..........Mac >>>===(x)===>
DUGABOY1, and MacD37 founding member of DRSS www.doublerifleshooterssociety.com
"If I die today, I have had a life well spent, for I've been to see the Elephant, and smelled the smoke of Africa!"

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