I stumbled across the gun while emailing Orvis' gun room curator, who told me to look at them when I told him what I was looking for in a Merkel. I had noticed this GI listing maybe an hour before he directed me to it.
He said that, though they only started working together in 2015, that Chapuis is a wonderful company for them to do business with. Orvis is an established enough importer that I don't think I'd feel uncomfortable going through them for any warranty repairs, which are lifetime of the original owner of the gun.
The action is pretty unusual for a shotgun, but it looks like it's the same as their more popular double rifles. It's a blitz action, similar to what some European O/U's use, along with Barettas 486.
