Merkel helix synthetic

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At the British shooting show I was shown a helix in .243 on Merkel stand, varmint barrel and nice smooth bolt , anyone have one or recommend them ?
 
At the British shooting show I was shown a helix in .243 on Merkel stand, varmint barrel and nice smooth bolt , anyone have one or recommend them ?

Yep - in .243 + 30-06 and absolutely love it - simple, refined, easy to maintain and so much better than a Blaser....
 
I looked at it at the show with a mate and whilst we liked the look when we tried to load it quietly we both thought it was noisy. Whether that is a problem or not is down to you but a traditional bolt action and a Blaser can be loaded almost silently. Other than that I thought it was ok.
 
I had my heart set on one and went to Jagd und hund to try them and compare..... On approaching the merkel stand all I could hear was repetitive load cracking sounds as customer after customer cycled the bolt mechanisms on the display models, you could hear it over all the hustle and bustle of the show from some distance, came away distinctly unimpressed and favouring the Blaser hands down. The only thing I will say is this was dry cycling and the may be quieter when cycling a round?
 
I had my heart set on one and went to Jagd und hund to try them and compare..... On approaching the merkel stand all I could hear was repetitive load cracking sounds as customer after customer cycled the bolt mechanisms on the display models, you could hear it over all the hustle and bustle of the show from some distance, came away distinctly unimpressed and favouring the Blaser hands down. The only thing I will say is this was dry cycling and the may be quieter when cycling a round?

People like to 'rack em' as it's such a nice action when your trying it out - in practice cycling a round (if you underload as I sometimes do) it's quite quiet, and you obviously do this in a more controlled manner. The follow up cycling is nice and quick, which is one of the reasons I like it.

I'm not a Blaser hater - luckily had the means to decide between these and others. For me, I don't like the whole mag/trigger assembly drop out thing - that's all - the pro success stock is nice to handle.

I know the Merkel may be niche and not following the crowd, however it should be tried on the range first before being discounted imho....
 
I know this isn't a Merkel vs Blaser thread but remember, the Blaser has much, much more to offer than just straight pull... if it was just about that then I would have stuck with standard bolts... the straight pull is probably my least favourite attribute of my R8 Pro Success and would happily do without it..

- The Blaser, due to the unique mag/trigger/receiverless design is much better balanced, more compact, more pointable and accurate for the same length barrel as most/all other rifles
- The de-cocking system is the reason I went Blaser years ago.. it is totally safe with one up the spout when de-cocked unlike a safety which is a device that works 'sometimes!'
- The barrel switch and takedown design is a genius piece of engineering... 30 seconds strip down, 30 seconds re-build and the poi remains the same.. this also offers a one rifle, many calibre concept!
- Unbelievably good after sales service and warranty from Blaser
- The removable combined mag/trigger is not only an amazing trigger that breaks like glass every time but also acts as a superb safety and security device as once removed the rifle is rendered inoperable. People use this as a reason to poo poo the R8 but in reality, the chances of the trigger falling out are almost zero and if you are genuinely worried about that then you can lock it in place.... the usual comment is 'if you lose your trigger/mag then that's the end of your hunt...... well the same would be the case if your bolt fell out on a standard rifle and that is about as likely as the trigger falling out!!!!!

The straight pull to me is just what I have to put up with to get access to the above!

Not saying the Merkel is inferior to the Blaser, horses for courses and all that but from what I know the Merkel's USP is the straight pull and that's it? not a deal maker for me!

Edit... on investigation the Merkel does offer more than just straight pull so I stand corrected...

Great review of the R8 both in this months Sporting Rifle and also on 'the shooting show' on youtube
Blaser feature starts at 16:44
 
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Killed two boar with an rx helix synthetic last Thursday night. First time to use one and I really liked it. Lovely balance and I loved the action.
 
must be the best rifle ever made....nearly everyone on the shooting show uses one now.

Made me laugh when I was watching it... all the shooters they stick in front of the camera all seem to be wearing exactly the same deerhunter jacket! lol
 
At the British shooting show I was shown a helix in .243 on Merkel stand, varmint barrel and nice smooth bolt , anyone have one or recommend them ?

Whatever rifle you buy, make sure to get a few quotes from Continental suppliers first, and use that information to negotiate the price down if you have to buy from a UK Retailer.
Even better, get in touch with BIS and get an import license yourself (it is free!) and buy direct from the Continent and have it delivered to your front door without using a RFD. And save some £1,000+ in the process.
 
No import licence required if coming from within the EU - just need a vacant slot on your FAC. ;)

In the case of importation from Germany factor in 30 euros for their 'Transfer Permit' which accompanies the firearm to the UK, plus around 130 euros for the secure carrier. No further charges such as import tax or vat will be levied as it's from within the EU.

Agree that you can save yourself £1000's doing it that way.

As this thread is about the Helix, check out some of the prices from Frankonia Jagd compared to the UK: http://www.frankonia.de/search.html?query=Merkel+Helix

Some of the other manufacturer's products on their website are quite good as well - although optics are strangely generally more expensive than can be sourced over here.
 
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This all reminds me of when I went Miroku and every one else jumped on the Beretta ship.....:rolleyes:
 
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