Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa The .470 NE Merkel 140 AE African Safari double rifle

I own the Merkel in .470 and a Krieghoff in .500 NE. Both are great doubles.

A couple of things.

1. I always pull the back trigger first. and move forward. Just how I was trained and never had a problem.

2. I am quicker with taking the safety off with my .470 then my .500 NE. Mostly because the Merkel's are a straight safety and the Krieghoff you engage the cocking mechanism. That being said when you have a Buff in your sites that slowness is not an issue. I do like the Kriegoff a bit better as the cocking mechanism allows me to crawl through the underbrush with a fully loaded double with no safety concerns with it getting bumped off.

I have owned both for 6 years and found them very comparable in fit, finish etc. Find the one that fits you better, and you will be happy.

I took my .500NE for Buff Last year just because I like the bigger bullets.

Nice buff!

Even nicer rifle!

OK, for the follow up.

Jorge, you will be delighted to know you can now count 10 Merkels that you know of that doubled.

I finally received my used Merkel that had been purchased new several years earlier by the previous owner but had remained unfired. I immediately went about rectifying the situation by shooting various loads with 515 gr. LBT WFNGC bullets.

All was going splendidly until I went one day to try yet another load. Upon gently squeezing the trigger while waiting for the hammer to drop until I thought the safety must be on, I lowered the rifle to check. The safety was off, so I shouldered the rifle again, but this time jerked the trigger unintentionally. The rifle still didn't fire, so I lowered it again, opened the action to check as if I would be able to see some cause for the difficulty in releasing the hammer. Seeing nothing obvious, I once again shouldered the rifle and again began squeezing the front trigger until I again thought the safety must be on when the rifle finally fired.

I had shot a similar load previously but it had been a few days and I didn't remember the recoil being quite so robust. As I was thinking to myself I should cut the powder charge in half, I noticed the left cocking indicator was down. I opened the rifle and both spent cases jumped from their respective barrels. That of course explained the extra stout recoil.

The first bullet hit about 1-1/2" to the right of the bull and a half inch low. The second didn't hit the paper, a target printed online on letter size paper.

I shot several more rounds without incident. However, I also let a young fellow shoot who had never shot a large bore rifle before in his life. For him, I used the same bullet with a charge of 5744 for a reduced load. This load shot about 1,650fps, so recoil wasn't too bad. This fellow proceeded to shoot a couple of rounds OK, then he too, had a double.

I happened to video his shot and called his double as soon as he shot as I heard two separate shots. His first shot hit about two feet low in the dirt, indicating his flinch, while the second shot hit about 6 feet above the target in the dirt bank we were shooting against. His finger can't be seen at the start of the video, but during recoil it certainly appears as though his finger is on the rear trigger. I suspect he was the cause of his double.

I called Merkel and explained the situation and my guess on the other fellow hitting the rear trigger accidentally. The fellow I spoke to asked a few questions, one being what I though the front trigger pull was compared to the rear. Seems they like the front trigger to be set at around 3.5# while the rear trigger is set around 4.5#, and recommends the front trigger be pulled first. Not having a pull gauge handy, I guessed at both being around 3#'s.

I was told to send the rifle in and they would have a look, which of course I did. About 10 days later I received a call stating my rifle was finished and they would be returning it to me. I asked what they found wrong, and the answer was "we changed the hammers and trigger sears". When I asked why, it was because "they were the old style".

I've since shot the rifle enough now to satisfy myself all is well and the doubling issue is behind now.

I can't say enough good about the service Merkel provides, taking in a rifle several years old from the second owner and never once a discussion about cost or money. Granted, the rifle was as new and unfired when I received it except of course for regulation purposes but everything was taken care of without ado.

A couple of things I can't understand is why someone would put up with a rifle that doubled. I'm sure some were sent back, but from all I've read it seems to be when a rifle doubles, that's just the way it is and one must live with it.

That being said, I also understand a double rifle should never double in the first place and there is little excuse for any rifle these days to double. Merkel made mind whole without accusations or fanfare of any sort, which is what I expected.

It still sports that hideous plastic grip cap (my words, as I fully and wholeheartedly agree with Jorge that given the price of these rifles, one would think a metal cap would be in order or nothing at all) though, something I asked Merkel about early on but still haven't received a reply about. I've got a plan for that as well.

David

Great series of photos. Nice rifle and nice Buff.

Paladin ... David,

Thank you for a very informative post.

I believe that everyone who read it learned a great deal from your experience.

kd

Good work making sure that problem was rectified.

The easiest way to test your rifle is to use a fired shell in one barrel and put a live round in the other, you can alternate which barrel has the fired case, after firing with ejectors it will kick out the barrel or barrels that fired. My merkel doubled and I sent it back to the factory a German gunsmith asked if I knew how to shoot a double and I told him one barrel at a time, he insinuated I strummed the rear trigger. They said it was fixed but it had a delayed double the next time out so back it went. Cal from alaska who recently passed is a sxs fanatic always told me left barrel first

I'll never own a double rifle, unless I win the lottery which I seldom buy a ticket for.

However, what little research I've done, I'd likely buy a Heym. https://www.heymusa.com/rifles/88b.html

One of their Express bolt actions, tuned by Ralf Martini, is one the most impressive rifles I've ever seen and handled. Now if I could just afford $1200+.

https://www.heymusa.com/assets/articles/catalog-downloads/HEYM_Express_Catalog_2017.pdf