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Joined: 08 Mar 2007 Posts: 134

Well......... I got so interested in a Merkel 1620 that I had my friend who owns the local sporting goods store to check and see if he could get one........

For the past week he has tried to contact merkel several times, and kept being refered to voice mail boxes and no one called back.

So , I started a discussion about Merkel in general on shotgun world, and got mostly negatives..........

Soooooooooo, what is the real deal with Merkels?????? I am almost turning away from what I thought was a great 16...... Crying or Very sad

Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 787 Location: Indiana

I have owned a 1620 since 2003. It has extremely tight tolerances and is probably about the most solidly built, if not the best built, shotgun I have ever owned. The wood is great. It balances very well. I hunt a lot and can carry this gun through heavy cover all day and still swing it as I need to in that magical hour before dark on roosters.

As with most tools, it's not built to do everything. Being light, it pounds me if I shoot 100 shots through it in an afternoon at skeet---and I don't care HOW light the loads are---it still pounds me.

Candidly, if I had to pick ONE affordable 16 ga. to own to use on "everything" including upland birds, furbearers,waterfowl and a steady diet of clay birds, it would probably be a Browning Citori---not a "sissytori", whatever the hell that juvenile pussy term is supposed to mean---a CITORI. If we were not considering having to pick up fired hulls in winter in the northern states, I'd include the Browning Auto 5 and the Winchester Model 12.

But all in all, for upland birds primarily and if cost is no particular consideration, the Merkel 1620 is hard to beat. The workmanship is top notch. A firm that usually has the 1620 is Scheel's All Sports in Iowa City.....

Joined: 08 Mar 2007 Posts: 134

Wolfchief,
thanks for the input, the only use the gun would have is to upland hunt......
other instruments are available for clays etc. I do own brownings and love them, brownings in the family for over 50 years............just once wanted to be different..........and buy a different brand of best gun........

Member Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Posts: 1522 Location: NH

Stokes Classic Arms in Ohio has Merkels most of the time. Check gunbroker.com and you'll find his ads.
He was the cheapest one available in the country when I bought my 1620 this past year.

The guns are solid, tight, straight shooters and they hold their value. They are worth every penny you pay for them.

The longer you look and the more people you ask, you'll always find someone not happy with any product.

I've got a Citori Feather that is great. But out of the box it wouldn't reset the inertia trigger for a second shot using 1 oz loads. Still a great gun, but not perfect.

Joined: 08 Mar 2007 Posts: 134

Thanks TJC,
you guys are giving me very constructive input and I appreciate it....
Called Stokes classics, sent me some pics of a 1620E, what a beaut....My wife Michele, said buy it, and she likes the looks of it better than a beretta 470EL, or an arrieta 578..............I know I picked the right woman.....now comes the right gun

Member Joined: 26 Apr 2005 Posts: 743

Scheel's in W. Des Moines has one for $3500, if I recall correctly from my last visit.

Fastarget, what was the nature of the "bashing"?

I have the #3 1620 brought into the country by GSI. Bought it used it came with a makers case, $3k. Gun was still silly tight. I liked it so much my hunting buddy bought one also. He loves it. Has to fight his girlfriend to keep it as she wants it. Even Tjc bought one, and he still owns a 47e in 16(is that right Tjc?)
I have 1/2 doz 16's from various era's, they all have been fitted , all shoot pretty much where I point them, all are sub 6 1/2 lbs. the merk is the one I allways pick(unless I'm shooting over pointers, then it's the austrian hammer, also in 16)
If its in the budget I can't think of a better gun. Add a couple of k more and I can find a few I'd rather have.

Joined: 13 Feb 2007 Posts: 98 Location: Illinois

Member Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Posts: 1522 Location: NH

You got it right Huns.

I'm most likely buy another one too. Not sure what ga though. I've been thinking of going smaller but then again a nice Merk 12ga. would be fun just because. Wink

Joined: 13 Dec 2006 Posts: 694 Location: MN

I lived and hunted in Germany for 12 years. THE gun of choice for hunters in Germany is a Merkel (or other Suhl makers using the same mechanics.)
They are built to last. Germans hunt and shoot a LOT...I know personally of weekend hunts where 500+ hare and 200+ pheasant are shot by a party of 20!!. For the most part, Merkels are bulletproof-will last many generations and will be worth what you paid for them 20 years from now if not more. I consider good used Merkels to be a steal. They may not be as elegant as the English, Spanish or some Italian guns, but the mechanics are first rate. I own seveal guns from the 1960's and to date I have never needed a repair-the most I spent on these guns was to have the chokes openned and the actions "eased"-they are always tight when new.

Joined: 08 Mar 2007 Posts: 134

Gents,

Glad to hear positive, as SShooterZ discovered it was lots of negatives about double firing, service, etc etc, it was interesting to read them considering I had a high opinion of the brand, also understandably even the best have a little problem here and there , these are mechanical devices....

Ok, so now we have brought out the positives...I am more at ease...during my fact finding mission, my lovely wife determined that the 1620E is nice (she is not too fond of case hardening and like nice engraving, I am so lucky) and contacted Stokes classics for one..... Laughing

Not as good as what hunshat got, wow 3k in the case, mid 4K if you want to know.........I just have to give her the nod that i like it.....

The e is the fancy engraved one ? that seems to be a good $$
Jon were you where I got my simson from?? I bought it off this site from a guy in jersey. Love it, to bad the merk put it to the back of the safe.
And along those lines The contential makers are still a little undervalued but catching up quickly. I've got all I need currently, so ya'll need to buy up, so my "investments" will appreceate.

Member Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Posts: 1522 Location: NH

Go for it and start buying up some 16ga ammo to shoot.

Oh, as far as Huns goes, he could squeeze the crap out of a buffalo on a nickel. I once saw him sqeeze a quarter so tight that Washington started to tear up. Wink

TJC, your personal affronts to my thriftyness are growing wearysome. If you dont immedeatly decist I'll be force to report you to the site admin. (I'll report myself to the spelling police at the same time)
BTW what are your pitbulls going to do over the off season?? hope you'll finally pony up the ching and send them to manner school. I can't belive I had to fight reba for my bird. My doctor bill for the stiches is on the way, as well as the grief counseling I had to go to since I wasn't able to get the bird back.

Guest

I've had my Merkel 1620 for about 5 years and it's been rock solid. I got tired of having mechanical problems and questions about what ammo I could safely shoot through a number of SxS's that I had previously owned, so when the 1620 came out and I had read Larry Brown's reviews, both in his pheasant book and in Pointing Dog Journal, I decided this was the SxS for me. Larry was even with me when I picked up my gun. The 1620 fits my notion of a "bird hunting" SxS to a T. I'm more "hunter" than gun fancier, although I do deeply appreciate guns that perform well in the field and are built like a tank, yet staying fairly lightweight. Put it this way, I traded off all of my other SxS's except for the 1620. Nuff said..

Wink