Howdy All:

Does anyone know about the Merkel 160 sidelock rifles? We had a lot of good information about the boxlocks on the recent Merkel thread.

I am curious as to date of manufacture and just any basic information. Not much on the Merkel website and I can only find information about the 140 rifles.

This one is a .500 NE.

I haven't had the chance to fire this rifle yet, unfortunately. I plan to take it to Zimbabwe next time I go for buffalo and hopefully a bull ele.

Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by PSmith:
Howdy All:

Does anyone know about the Merkel 160 sidelock rifles? We had a lot of good information about the boxlocks on the recent Merkel thread.

I am curious as to date of manufacture and just any basic information. Not much on the Merkel website and I can only find information about the 140 rifles.

This one is a .500 NE.

The 160 Side locks have been around as long as the other Merkel double rifles, and yours seems to have far better engraving than most. It seems to be signed by the engraver along the bottom of the sidelock plate. The fact that your rifle is a 500NE it was not made before 2006 because they didn't chamber for the 500NE before that. If you have a cpoy of the regulation target, the date it was regulated will be on the target. Example; 21-3-6 (day, month, and year!

quote:

I haven't had the chance to fire this rifle yet, unfortunately. I plan to take it to Zimbabwe next time I go for buffalo and hopefully a bull ele.

Thanks.

The Model 160A is a self cocking, Holland &Holland style sidelock. Greener crossbolt with double under barrel locking lugs. Double trigger with the option to have the front trigger as a set trigger. Automatic tang-mounted sliding safety. Case ejection through split cartridge slide or Holland & Holland ejector for rimless cartridges with extractor claw. Ejectors available at extra cost. Barrel Length 600mm (23.6") and weight approximately 3.5kg (7.7lb). Classic English-style pistol-grip oil-finished walnut stock (Hogsback available on request). Receiver is colour case hardened and hand engraved in Arabesque pattern with higher grades of engraving of African game animals available at extra cost.
Available in .375H&H Magnum, .416 Rigby,.470NE and .500NE.

Paul, that one was a steal!

Thanks for the information, Mac.

Yep, the engraver is Silke Henke; she is on the Mekel website and has something like 25 years experience. She does a nice job. I had a Krieghoff .470 NE and then traded it for this rig just because I wanted a .500 NE. Never had an engraved rifle, it's kinda cool. I don't have the regulation target. A guy at Steyr told me the rifle was regulated with the W. Romney/Woodleigh ammunition. I have John LaSala at Safari Arms making me up one of his double rifle ammo samples and hope to get to the range soon.

Yep, Biebs, thankfully I listened to the good advice I got!

Thanks again.

Congratulations Mr Smith, enjoy your Merkel side lock double, and pop a big Buffalo, and ele with it!

Paul,

Really nice 160 / .500. Wish I had the same gun for future Africa trips. I haven't seen one like yours at Merkel/USA in a long time. I have the 160 in 8x75R. These are magnificent rifles and very well regulated. Enjoy, Mike

Great looking rifle, if it regulates as well as it looks you've got a winner. If the loads your getting made up don't regulate drop me a PM I'll send you a few to try out. I'm bias on the issue but the 500 can't be beat when it comes to power to weight ratio for DG in any DR.

There is also a Letter stamp on the barrel which indicates the year, if you call the US distributor in the US they will tell you, I did this on my Merkels.

As I recall your S/n will start with the caliber then the sequential number for that caliber and the letter stamp tells the year so. This applies to the 140's not 141's

s/n 500123, would mean 123rd 500 caliber gun for what ever year the numerical number indicates

The regulation target would also indicate the time

quote:

Originally posted by raamw:
There is also a Letter stamp on the barrel which indicates the year, if you call the US distributor in the US they will tell you, I did this on my Merkels.

As I recall your S/n will start with the caliber then the sequential number for that caliber and the letter stamp tells the year so. This applies to the 140's not 141's

s/n 500123, would mean 123rd 500 caliber gun for what ever year the numerical number indicates

The regulation target would also indicate the time

This formula doesn't apply to all Merkel double rifles! I have a 9.3X74R mod 140E-1 double rifle that doesn't follow this formula. The S/N is 5xx222 with no letter, or indication of chambering. However on the barrel under the forearm is a stamp (K7219) which doesn't coincide with the regulation date on the regulation target and is certainly different from the S/N. The formula may be a later practice because though I bought the 140E-1 new 10 yrs ago, it was regulated 23-1-1 (23rd of January-2001) according to the regulation target! I bought the rifle new 6-01-2001 (6th of June, 2001)

The formula does, however, apply to my 470NE mod 140-2 safari which indicates the year with the letter "A" (2000) the chambering with the with the first three numbers of the S/N "470" and the number in sequence order 110th 470 made in the 140-2 model. This info stamped on the rifle goes along with the regulation date on the regulation target for the 470NE Safari Model.

I assume that the formula was started with the Safari models, and should ring true for the 160 models in the big bore rifles.

I wish someone from Merkel would post the info on the different numbering formulas for the different models. There are a lot of Merkel owners, and buyers of second hand Merkel rifle who could use that information to know what they are buying. Of course, the condition of the rifle is the most important thing because we all know the Merkel rifles are good working rifles if in good condition. Still the numbers formulas would be nice for record keeping for many years down the road for a future owner!

I have a safari grade in the 140 and a sxs 30-06 in the 141, I called the usa distributor out of curiosity on my 140 which is a375 and the s/n was 375XXX.

The date stamp on mind was on the barrels' underside with the designation of 1AB, this is the date

underside of left barrel....a 375xxx 375hh
right barrel....1AB 375hh
The yarget for this was dated 1/20/2001


my 141 displays something similar

l b 30-06
524xxx
r b 6AF
30-06
My target from the factory shows a firing date of Nov 24 2005

after looking at them bought I am confident that the number 1 on the 141 corresonds to 2001 and the 6 corresponds to 2006

quote:

Originally posted by raamw:
I have a safari grade in the 140 and a sxs 30-06 in the 141, I called the usa distributor out of curiosity on my 140 which is a375 and the s/n was 375XXX.

The date stamp on mind was on the barrels' underside with the designation of 1AB, this is the date

underside of left barrel....a 375xxx 375hh
right barrel....1AB 375hh
The yarget for this was dated 1/20/2001


my 141 displays something similar

l b 30-06
524xxx
r b 6AF
30-06
My target from the factory shows a firing date of Nov 24 2005

after looking at them bought I am confident that the number 1 on the 141 corresonds to 2001 and the 6 corresponds to 2006

Your 140 is a 140-2 safari, and they are all marked that way. The 9.3X74R Merkel 140E is a 140E-1 and the "E" is for ejectors. The 140-1s are not marked the same as the 140-2 safari rifles chambered for 375 H&H, 416 Rigby,470NE, and 500NE.

I like my 140E-1 far batter than the newer 141s in 9.3X74R because they are too light for that chambering IMO! They are OK for the little chamberings like the 30-06 however. I have no idea how they are marked. The 140.1, 9.3X74R weighs in at 8.3 punds with one inch longer barrels.

Gentlemen,

Remember that Merkel builds rifles for many different countries and many different importers. In the US alone, you will find guns imported by GSI, Merkel USA, Heckler & Koch, Safari Outfitter, etal, not to mention those brought in from Australia or Europe originally shipped to different importers. The serial numbers may not always make sense. All Merkels coming into the US now are imported by Steyr Arms. Hope this confuses things even more. Regardless, the Merkel DR is one quality product.

By the way Paul, if for any reason you're not happy with the 160, let me know. Maybe we can work out a deal. It's my dream Merkel. Mike

Paul,

Have you been able to fire this baby yet. I'm interested to hear how it goes. I'm still drooling over that one.

I have its sister gun in 160 8x75RS. Great DR. Let us all know your results. Thanks, Mike

quote:

Originally posted by MacD37:

quote:

Originally posted by PSmith:
Howdy All:

Does anyone know about the Merkel 160 sidelock rifles? We had a lot of good information about the boxlocks on the recent Merkel thread.

I am curious as to date of manufacture and just any basic information. Not much on the Merkel website and I can only find information about the 140 rifles.

This one is a .500 NE.

The 160 Side locks have been around as long as the other Merkel double rifles, and yours seems to have far better engraving than most. It seems to be signed by the engraver along the bottom of the sidelock plate. The fact that your rifle is a 500NE it was not made before 2006 because they didn't chamber for the 500NE before that. If you have a cpoy of the regulation target, the date it was regulated will be on the target. Example; 21-3-6 (day, month, and year!

quote:

I haven't had the chance to fire this rifle yet, unfortunately. I plan to take it to Zimbabwe next time I go for buffalo and hopefully a bull ele.

Thanks.

The Model 160A is a self cocking, Holland &Holland style sidelock. Greener crossbolt with double under barrel locking lugs. Double trigger with the option to have the front trigger as a set trigger. Automatic tang-mounted sliding safety. Case ejection through split cartridge slide or Holland & Holland ejector for rimless cartridges with extractor claw. Ejectors available at extra cost. Barrel Length 600mm (23.6") and weight approximately 3.5kg (7.7lb). Classic English-style pistol-grip oil-finished walnut stock (Hogsback available on request). Receiver is colour case hardened and hand engraved in Arabesque pattern with higher grades of engraving of African game animals available at extra cost.
Available in .375H&H Magnum, .416 Rigby,.470NE and .500NE.

I would hate to shoot a 7.7 lb 500.....yikes....

TAYLOR wrote of the advantage of Hand Detachable side locks for clean-

ing and lubing the locks while in the bush. Can one get the H/D feature from

Merkel? If not, is the higher cost worth it over a box lock?

Thanks all for the information.

Mike:

I just got a couple of boxes of Kynoch .500 NE from MidwayUSA so hopefully this weekend or next I can try out the rifle. I'll post a photo of the target (as long as it isn't too embarassing).

McKay: I agree on the weight. On the Merkel website it says the rifles weigh 4.6 kilos; I think that's just north of 10 pounds. Mine weights 10 1/2 pounds which still makes me think a mercury tube in the stock might be a good idea. Provided the balance is okay. Probably will send it to Champlin's for J.J. to look over.

I'll know more after I send the ten rounds of .500 NE I could afford through it. I expect the recoil to be about the same as my Krieghoff .470 with the loads John LaSala at Safari Arms made for me.

BFJ: I thought the locks were hand detachable, but I don't know for sure.

Thanks Gents,

Paul, look forward to the pictures. Enjoy the shooting. I feel sure the mercury recoil reducers will negatively impact the balance of that gun, but that's a call you'll have to make, taking recoil into account. Congratulations on the gun. Mike

Mike, I'm not particularly recoil sensitive so I think at 10 1/2 pounds it probably will be fine. As you well know the Merkels are very slim and trim and handle very well, at least for me.

I have used a Blaser .470 for buffalo, and the Krieghoff .470 for buffalo and tuskless. No offense to anyone, but to be honest I hated the Blaser for its handling and the lack of reasonable regulation. Long story short, the best Blaser's gunsmith could do was get the left barrel to print five inches high and left of the right barrel, at 50 yards. That was just unacceptable. It was more like eight inches high and left when I bought it (new). I traded it for a Krieghoff at Cabela's the week I got back from Zimbabwe.

The Krieghoff was wonderfully accurate and I actually liked the cocking device. Handled very well also. I just wanted a .500 NE, and I got a good deal on this Merkel. We'll see how well I can shoot it here shortly!

quote:

Originally posted by McKay:


The Model 160A is a self cocking, Holland &Holland style sidelock. Greener crossbolt with double under barrel locking lugs. Double trigger with the option to have the front trigger as a set trigger. Automatic tang-mounted sliding safety. Case ejection through split cartridge slide or Holland & Holland ejector for rimless cartridges with extractor claw. Ejectors available at extra cost. Barrel Length 600mm (23.6") and weight approximately 3.5kg (7.7lb). Classic English-style pistol-grip oil-finished walnut stock (Hogsback available on request). Receiver is colour case hardened and hand engraved in Arabesque pattern with higher grades of engraving of African game animals available at extra cost.
Available in .375H&H Magnum, .416 Rigby,.470NE and .500NE.

quote:

by McKay
I would hate to shoot a 7.7 lb 500.....yikes....

The weight in that discription above is not correct for any of the doubles listed in those calibers! Those are the weights for the 140-1 rifle, that is chambered for samll chamberings topping out at 9.3X74R.

The 140E-1 9.3X74R double weighe in at 8.3 pounds and though my 470NE Merkel 140-2 safari weighs in at 11.7 pounds, and the same model chambered for 500NE weighs six ounces less, it is still 11.1 pounds, and I'd think the side plates would add at least six ounces over the boxlock putting the 500NE mod 160 about the same weight as my 140-2 470NE double.

Like you McKay,I'd need to shoot very badly to make me shoot a 7.7 pound 500NE double rifle.