Blaser K95 or Mekel K3

[Uncle f]

Morning chaps just a bit of fun really but in your opinion which do you think is the best rifle and why. I have just received a few weeks ago a new Blaser K95 black edition in .308. It has grade 6 wood gold trigger and breech block comes with in stock mag for 4 rounds and with case and sling.

My friend has just taken delivery of a new Merkel k3 extreme which is the merkel equivalent in .308. It has a black action, fluted barrel and grade 4 wood. It comes with no sling or case and indeed no round mag in the stock. the merkel has a three stage trigger selector which allows for different lengths of pull before the trigger breaks which i think is a good idea when wearing gloves etc. Both guns are threaded for a mod.

Now i am biased and have an R8 so obviously i think the blaser is the better gun and i also think the blaser has a better resale value. It is massively accurate and quite literally placing hole in hole in hole from 100m and I'm not the greatest shot so its got to be with help from the gun. I can group the R8 well but nothing like this K95.

Interested to hear some views from others. I know there will be many on here who dislike the "dark side Blasers" but am genuinely interested in others opinions.

Many thanks for taking the time to read the thread

Regards Steve

 

[Hornet 6]

Bought an R93, accuracy great, general build quality and feel, cheap crap, sold it very quickly.
I would have loved a K95 but it has a serious fault, made of aluminium, for that reason alone I wouldn't have one for free, let alone pay good money for it.
I realise that they do make a steel action, but it is heavy, rare, certain calibre's only and horrendously expensive.
Merkel is (or was) available in steel in all calibre's at not much more money, if I was still in the market it is where my money would go.

Neil.

 

[Nojden]

I've got a Merkel K1, the earlier version with integrated swing mount bases on the barrel. Love it; light, accurate and easy to handle and carry. I never adjust the trigger weight, but like the option to adjust it for personal taste - don't want it too light as on the Blaser 's I've tried. Aluminium action is actually no problem with regard to safety in the jaeger action, but I agree with that a steel action is more beautiful. This is my go-to stalking rifle for everything between fox and moose.

 

[Orion]

Morning chaps just a bit of fun really but in your opinion which do you think is the best rifle and why.................

...................but I agree with that a steel action is more beautiful.

If we are restricting this discussion to production rather than bespoke kipplaufs, then the Heym 44B of course!



Traditional steel action and in the nearly correct 7x57 Mauser chambering (just missing a rim ), with a not too florid amount of engraving. The barrel is of course unthreaded (are you allowed to fit a moderator to a kipplauf? ). Old skool rail mount fixed mag 6x42 Zeiss on swing offs completes the ensemble.

 

[scotch_egg]

So what were the prices paid for the respective rifles?

 

[deeangeo]

I saw the K95 in a Kettner brochure in 1987, then handled a Luxus in Kettners store in Dusseldorf a while later.
I knew that one day when I could afford it, I’d buy one.
Bought in 2002, mine has never ever failed me. It’s absolutely brilliant and I don’t regret a single penny of what it cost. It’s as accurate today as the day I first fired it.
I’ll never part with it while I’m alive.

But a K95 threaded for mod.? Really?

 

[Southern]

A friend bought a nice Merkel stutzen with Swaro 2.5-10x42mm on sale last year from the Steyr / Merkel / Mauser distributor for $3,000 USD. They are running a rebate now on Merkels.

 

[mchughcb]

I have extensively handled both. The K95 is more expensive and feels better built. The blsser mounting system is superior and with a 1.5lb trigger spring it doesnt need adjustment. Rest sssured you will be happy with your choice and over the year your mate will be lusting after yours.

 

[Uncle f]

I agree totally with your opinion. I think secretly it’s haopening already

 

[1894]

K95 is probably the perfect mix of kiplauf meets modernity.

 

[Hornet 6]

Aluminium action is actually no problem with regard to safety in the jaeger action,

Didn't say it was, just that it is was a cheap crappy material to make a very expensive gun from.
I wouldn't own a 1022 for the same reason, or any other gun made from the same rubbish material.
A lifetime in a machine shop has shown me just how unpredictable alloy can be, and how variable the quality can be within the same batch.

Neil.

 

[Nojden]

High quality aluminium alloy is generally more expensive than most steel types, and is also stronger in relation to weight compared to steel. I think the aluminium action on K1 and K95 is OK, but would prefer steel. Anyway - I bought my K1 used 10 years ago, in a near mint condition for a reasonable price (about €1700). The earlier integrated swing mount bases will give a more light weight mount than the newer saddle mounts, and I think it looks better as well.
The Merkel or Blaser is a matter of taste and money - I consider them equal with regard to quality, accuracy and reliability. My Merkel has never failed and I will keep it for life.

 

[Hornet 6]

High quality aluminium alloy is generally more expensive than most steel types, and is also stronger in relation to weight compared to steel.

Only if no hidden voids in it, I lost count of the jobs I watched being scrapped in the final stage of machining because of a void being uncovered.
While steel is not immune to voids or other faults, it is very rare for them to be deep in the metal, if the billet survives first machine process it is good better than 99% of the time.

Neil.

 

[Sauer90]

Aluminium, in my opinion, has no place on an expensive firearm.

 

[Heym SR20]

I had a good look at the Blaser K95, a Merkel K3 and a Sabatti single shot. Despite being a very top end one with burr walnut stock - and it was built as a leaving present for a former Blaser employee - I just did n't like the feel and handling, Its accurate but doesn't have any soul.

The Merkel is a very nice rifle - just feels good.

And then in Frankonia on Saturday and had a good look at the Sabatti - looks a nice solid little rifle and at €1500 with a Meopta 1.5-6x42 scope on a swing mount (€1,000 without) , looks very good value when the Blaser or Merkel are starting at three times the price.

 

[kenbro]

I like my Browning 1885 LW, I got from Bewsher. It’s a beaut.
Ken.

 

[1st Pattern Paul]

Heym every time

 

[Ingy]

The blaser k95 black edition and the merkel k3 extrem are very similar rifles in my opinion, both have an aluminium reciever and there is not a lot to choose between them, other than you pay extra for the blaser name and you pay extra for a case and sling you probably wouldn't want and the barrel on the blaser is not fluted like it is on the merkel. Being a kipplauf, weight reduction, I would have thought, is an essential part of the deal so why doesn't the blaser come with the fluted barrel as standard?........oh yeah, I know why, so they can charge you the best part of a grand for a fluted barrel as well.
The blaser also doesn't come with an adjustable trigger like the merkel, I don't know if you could specify this tho I'm sure it would be at substantial extra cost.
All in all I think you actually get less gun for substantially more money with the blaser, the thinking mans gun would have to be the merkel I suppose.

 

[Jagare]

I like the Merkel K3 But for class look at, Krieghoff: Hubertus Single Shot Rifle

 

[Southern]

At the other end of the luxury scale, I am wanting a Savage Model 219 in .30-30, for 1/10 the price of a Merkel.
Some of them even came with scope mounts for the old steel tube Weavers.