I've had more the one Merkel get a weed seed caught on the water table and the gun wouldn't open even with the forearm taken off. course in that case the lever wouldn't go to the right either. Ended up putting a flat piece of wood on the top and bottom of the receiver and applying a ratchet strap and torquing it down. That compressed the weed seed to the point that the pressure was taken off the top lever. Then moved the top lever to the right and took off the ratchet strap and we were back in business. PS. This happened while bird hunting in the middle of no where Montana. Sometimes one has to be inventive.
