Merkel K1 - lovely

Southern

Well-Known Member
Last year, the Steyr Mannlicher distributor ran a sale on Merkel rifles and shotguns, and three friends of mine bought single shot packages, with Swarovski or Zeiss scopes in QD mounts.

I got out with one today. I love the Recknagel sights with the red fiber optic front bead and the three yellow fiber dots on the rear sight. Of course, the rifle shoulders and points like a fitted shotgun, sights all lined up. How quick!
 
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The action (Breech Block) on the Merkel K1 looks sooooo much like a Blaser K95..........Barrel fixing is different though.
Looks like quite a nice rifle too.

Recknaler = Recknagel (& they do make some very good mounts)
ATB
 
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Yes, the Blaser K95 was the first of the modern single shot rifles we saw in the USA in the 1990s. They seemed to disappear while the Merkels became a bit available. Kreighoff single shots, doubles and combination guns are only seen in catalogs.

I like the Kreighoff style cocker / decocker on the Merkel K1. It is very shootable offhand, even being so light weight - no trouble hitting the orange center of a clay pigeon with the iron sights at 120 yards. The Swaro 3.5-10x42 with 4A reticle is a smaller and lighter package than I thought it would be - did not overpower the rifle nor make it top heavy in my hands.
 
When you pick up the Helix with driven sights it comes up just like a perfectly fitted shotgun - thats why I bought mine. Love it and would like a combination too.....
 
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I had a good play with a Merkel K1 and the Bergstutzen. I think they are okay but I like the blaser K95 and BBF97 models. Not just because I own them but they feel better made. I guess that is reflected in the price.
 
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