doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Merkel 147E 12 Gauge Opinions

Looking at Merkel 147E 12 Gauges and wondering what opinions are out there about them. I know Merkel's are built like tanks. Does anyone have a Sporting edition with the 30" barrels? I'm wondering what they handle like vs. the 28".

I owned a 47E, hunted with it for about 3 years and sold it for an amount in excess of the purchase price. They are very stout guns. My example was new and the action was very tight. It seemed to me that the action would loosen up with more use, but I sold it before I was able to verify this theory. In the field, I always felt it was a smidge heavy. Perhaps it was merely my example. I have since migrated to English guns, but Krieghoff and Merkel were my first doublegun "loves".

Mine had 28" barrels and I found the weight to be nicely forward of the hinge pin due to the substantial tubes. I cannot speak to the 30's but I was satisfied with the 28's in the balance department as a game gun.

I have a 147 28in 12ga. and a 47e 26in 20ga.....the 12 is my go to gun....well balanced and well made....they only made the 30in sporting model for a few years if I remember correctly....always meant to look into getting one....never did...

I have two Merkel SxS, though neither is a 147 nor a 12a. After a few thousand rounds, the 1620EL now is merely very tight. With only a few hundred, the 360 is silly tight. Yes, they are indeed stout.

The 360 (a .410) is a bit of a plaything, but the 1620 (16ga) is a great, versatile gun. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat, and would guess that the 147 is similar. One caveat... if you routinely carry a broken-open gun over your right shoulder you will sooner or later draw blood via the very sharply pointed Greener cross bolt sticking out of the left side. Good luck!

One of my Merkels is a 12 ga. My particular example is 6lbs. 8oz. with 28" barrels. I use it a lot for clays and for pheasants. It balances slightly ahead of the hinge and handles well for me. I thought so much of it I aquired a 28 & 20 ga. as well. Mine really does seem tight as Owen said, but perhaps my son will finally break it in after me.
The 12 ga. Merkels come bored VZ (IC-.008) and 1/2 (MOD-.018)usually unless ordered otherwise. The only difference between the E and the EL is the figure of the wood. Ive sem some really nice wood on some E grades. The 30" sporters were bored SKT and IC for clays and should work out well for upland hunting as well.
Happy hunting.
Karl

I have a Merkel Model 8. I believe it is essentially a 147E without the engraving or the "E" (Ejectors?). In any event, I can provide testimony about mine after, oh, close to 25 yrs of use I suppose. At least 20 anyway. It is a 12 gauge with 28" barrels.

It was tight. It is still quite tight in the normal sense, up and down. But it is a little loose left to right - side clip fences not withstanding.

Mine is used hard. It has hunted everything, shot heavy lead loads at turkeys, a bit of steel at ducks (#4s only) and heavy bismuth loads at geese and ducks but not a ton of waterfowling. Mostly it shoots pheasants and clays.

It has been run hard, which means it, and I have had a few face plants. One of which cracked the stock, but that has been repaired by myself years ago. Perhaps this has contributed to the left-right play in the barrels, but I can't prove it.

I like the Merkel just fine and it is no worse for shooting or balance or whatever than my Cashmore, Evans, or Scotts have been. It is no better either.

When I go it, I had it fitted with Briley chokes, a pad that I have since removed and replaced with the original buttplate and the forcing cones lengthened a bit.

But the bone I'll pick is about strength. I think it is a falacy. Why is the Merkel's underbites and greener crossbolt lock up any stronger or stout than the Cashmores, Greeners, Evans or any of a dozen other English guns, not to mention the Husqvarnas, Oshatz, Sauers and other Euro guns that I've been looking at or playing with? I contend it isn't, but their notoriously stiff actions coupled with the German steriotype for overbuilding things gives them this reputation. I just don't see the reason for this reputation.

They have good handling with good weight for modern game gun, but for not much more you can do a lot better.....

Modern BLE E.J. Churchill made in Brimingham England.....

The proven Webley & Scott 700 series beats 47e/147e in important categories of handling, aesthetics and ease of use.

The bottom line the English gun has more tasteful engraving, no Greener cross-bolt with better final action polishing and finish which means even when new you will not have to strain or break open the gun over your knee. The only use I could come up with for Greener cross-bolt on modern game gun would be to provide convenient place for hook attachment of fishing scale to determine the barrel weight.

As a European I can no longer buy a Merkel because the name of socialist ..... Angela Merkel automatically comes to mind. I can't handle that.

If the English gun is too expensive good alternatives to Merkel are Beretta Models 470/471 with straight grip stocks. Easy to operate out of the box and come with choke tubes which can make gun a little more versatile.

I had the opportunity to buy a Merkel 12 with 30" barrels from an estate at a very reasonable price, and took it home with me for a few days, and decided against it. It just did not "do it" for me. I do not care for the very sharply defined cheek panels on a Merkel. They just bother me. That said, I have no doubt that they are very well built guns. Just not my style. JMO, OMV

SRH

Not all Merks have cheek panels (pieces?) of course.

It's ok neither of us have grandpa Rolf and grannie Hilda to help us get over the appearance hurdle. I bet little ethnic price would pull me over.
Honestly when I compared series produced Birmingham BLE to Merkel 47e of same gauge the English gun was placebo and German one pice of hard candy meaning my mind told me the former had slightly better handling. In truth it was very, very close.