Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Continental singles from Merkel, Kreighoff, Heym or Chapuis Anyone?

If you have one of these I would be interested in your appraisal and experience and if you were drawn here by the post but shoot one of these in a light double sound off too.

I don't own one, yet, but have the itch. The question is caliber, but that will be answered when I run across a deal on one.

I know a hunter who bought a 7x57 Blaser K-95 in 2002 and loves it. He has taken 3 whitetails, a red deer and a big boar hog with it. He bought it in Germany for the hog hunt. I like the scope mounts on the Blaser.

A local gunshop has the Merkels, which have a slightly longer barrel. Beautiful and balanced. The Merkel seems to not be as easy as the Blaser to fit extra barrels, from what dealers tell me.

Sabbati also makes one, with a Krieghoff style safety that cocks the rifle. Trigger weight is 26 oz.

After much thought over the past 3 years, I just purchased a Merkel K-1 in .308 WCF. I am extremely disappointed:

1) It is so beautiful, with spectacular wood and hand-engraved receiver, that it blinds my friends with envy.

2) The trigger, unlike those on out-of-the-box American rifles, is a crisp 2.6 pounds (adjustable down to 2.2) so is obviously dangerous.

3) Weight is 6-3/4 pounds with a 6x42 Leupold, obviously too light to be shot with any accuracy. To prove this, my first tests with handloads (150 Sierras and Varget) would only group into .75 at 100 yards.

4) The cocking-type safety is silent and can't be accidentally pushed "on." So there's nothing else to blame if a deer spooks or I shoot myself in the foot.

On top of all that, the detachable scope mounts replace exactly every time, so I don't get the opportunity to sight-in the rifle every time it's taken apart. The backup iron sights are also very well designed and incredibly rugged, so there's no excuse to go to the gunsmith for replacement.

To repeat, I am extremely disappointed.

MD

Do you mind if I print this and show it to my Merkel dealer, so I can bargain down the price? You forget to mention the shortcomings of that Swarowski scope that came on it, but I can handle that.

So, I take it you won't be keeping the rifle... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> May I have first dibs on it? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Don

Under the heading of "Rifles I should have bought but didn't..." About a year ago I visited a gun shop that I stop at infrequently... There on the rack was a J.P. Sauer Stalking rifle. It was a single shot break open (Like a single bbl shotgun) chambered in 6.5x58 Sauer. I probably should have bought it. Because, believe it or not, I have dies for it! But upon researching the chambering I realized that performance was on a par with the .25-35 Win. So the $1500 price tag kind of turned me off. For all I know, it's still there....the9.3Guy

MD,
You're right, someone of your expertise and reputation should not have such a piece of junk lying around. I'll be glad to make the 1500 mi trip to Montana, to pick that thing up and get it away from you! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Steve

Welcome back to the Old World!

Regards
RD

Maybe you can use the argument that the .25-35 has only killed about 1,000,000 mule deer to bargain down the price of that Sauer stalking rifle.

To all--

Just got back from a three-day trip helping resettle my newly married daughter and son-in-law. Needed something to read while my wife spelled me in the driving so picked up a copy of the DG Journal. My oh my, I shouldn't have. An article on "light double" guns lit my fire on top of the one burning for a Continental single.

Mule Deer--

My heart goes out to you. What can I do for you to salve the anguish you must feel over this great disappointment? I'll make a prediction here - are you sitting for this now - that this experience may cause a stirring in you for another by Chapuis or Saurer or Krieghoff....just to make sure, you know, that this first sad experience wasn't a fluke. Or maybe a light double in say, dare I say, .30-06 or 7x57 or the new Rigby light double in a new proprietary .350 Rigby (the .348 necked up to .35 cal - a rimmed .35 Whelen). Now wouldn't that be nifty in the elk woods? Man!!

I have pondered the Blaser R95, love the looks of the Merkel stalker and several of the others. Where is all this going to lead?? I don't know.
Shouldn't there be a dedicated forum for these arms where if we don't have one we can at least commisurate together? I'm going to work on it though. To work!

Roe Deer--

I am a fan of German guns. In fact, am a member of the German Gun Collectors Society, though my collection is rather small. The Merkel is only my 5th, and the others are all much older: a custom 6.5x54 Mauser (not Mannlicher) bolt rifle, a 9.3x74R side-by-side, a Sauer SxS 12-gauge, and a Daly-Sauer drilliing, 12x12 over .30-30.

Oddly enough, good German guns can often be found at reasonable prices over here, at least much lower than the equivelnt grade British guns--one reason I'm a fan!

MD

Bad form, MD, to rub it in like that.

I will be selling my merkel k1, with two barrels, soon as I get some pictures up this weekend. It has chambers for rimmed rounds, which are the best for breakaction kipplaufbuchse (tip-open) type rifles. These have the extremely strong jaeger lockup action, same as the breakopen Blazers and others.

Appropriate european calibers, in rimmed 7X65R and 9.3X74R. Will sell with either the kahles or swaro fixed power scope. great backpacking rifle. Both barrels custom fitted by Merkel/GSI, and have interchangeable scope mounts.
Extremely fine shooter, I just outgrew it and went back to prewar Merkels with real engraving.
The interchangeable side panels were hand selected for stag elk and chamois goat, to match the traditional rimmed calibers.
Email me if interested, or watch classifieds this weekend.

Jameister

ad 1 - Good - that's where your expertise comes from :-)

ad 2 - my first fine "Civil" Mauser was a bolt action 8x60. It was successfully hidden by an acquaintance after WWII from marauding GI's and I swapped it for venison.
Unfortunately, not much later, I had to swap it again for winter tires (or a perambulator or something like this, don't remember exactly).

ad 3 - 1: If you by chance bump into a Civil Mauser 8x60 please give me call

ad 3 - 2: The main reason for big prices of British guns are
a) clever British gunmakers and
b) rich chauvie Brits.
BTW - many many high price class guns and rifles w/ British proof marks were and are manufactured on the Continent or even elswhere (Africa!). One time I sneaked into some gun plants "wrong" door and found parts and guns ready for shipping to a verrry famous Brit gun factory. This was long before "globalization of merchandism".

Regards
Roe

Wondered how long it was going to take you to weigh in on this one, Roe deer!

cAT

Roe--

Another reason for high prices for British guns is Anglophile Americans. The two most avid I know are of Italian and German(!) descent, which may make them genetic traitors.

Always found it interesting that the Brits mostly made their "ultra-fine" bolt-action rifles on German actions.

Concerning stuff not made where it supposed to be these days: Have it on good authority (another "wrong door" story) that some high-priced Continental optics are made in Japan. No indication of that on the product.

MD

MD: Related to the wrong door, I have heard that Kahles binoculars are of Japanese-Austrian descent. With a bit less Austrian than indicated...

MD and Jameister--

It is a global economy more than just in generalities. Here at home (U.S.) we make almost nothing anymore.

George

When I moved to Phoenix almost 15 years ago, I was told the economy was driven by five C'c: cattle, copper,citrus, and cotton, and construction. ALl are still there, but the order is now deranged, and tourists and retired drive the program as much as any actual production ever did.

The largest dominated the list, and was construction, where, best I can tell, people build houses for people that build houses to live in. All the rest are way down from then. but you can still get firearms made here, and the renaissance of custom names turning to production names is good to see. Dakota, Kimber, Cooper, Montana rifle, Sharps, to name a few.


Back to topic: Some of these european single shot actions are extremely well designed for strength, chambering for the 7 rem magnum and 300 win magnum would not have been doable before the use of these actions.. Guns would just shoot apart at the face. I can conceive of a SXS double with such construction, but it would be a work of skill to fit it... or reload it..

Jameister