I've wanted one since I was 13, and at turning 65 I decided it was time.

I was offered a hunted but still very straight Simson 76e 16 gauge recently. Meet my new upland gun.

NICE!
Never heard of the brand...tell us more.

I'll refrain from making the comment that a neighbor/acquaintance made when I came up with a beautiful old barely used Beretta 28 gauge from the 1970's: "That used gun looks like it will get you by, but it's too bad that you can't afford to buy a brand new shotgun like my Remington 870".

RVL,

The Simsons are essentially Merkels. They were made in the same plant, and this gun as a Merkel would have been a model 122.

This Simson I just bought but don't have yet is the same as a Merkel 74E. This is a 20ga 3" 26 1/2" IC/Mod. It correspondes to the Merkel 147E.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
I'll refrain from making the comment that a neighbor/acquaintance made when I came up with a beautiful old barely used Beretta 28 gauge from the 1970's: "That used gun looks like it will get you by, but it's too bad that you can't afford to buy a brand new shotgun like my Remington 870".

I can't afford to buy these old beater doubles. I'm moving soon to lower cost housing.

I wonder whether I can get DSL under this bridge??

Lovely!

Thanks for the info on the Simson/Merkel relationship. The name would tend to get confused with Simpson-Suhl (did I spell that correctly?), which I believe is also German or Austrian.

There could certainly be worse places to put your money than in high-quality shotguns. For instance, a Certificate of Deposit, which typically has less growth potential, is hardly any fun to take out of the safe and fondle.

Simson's are the great value buy...a Merkel with a big discount. Same action, barrels, workmanship, etc...just stamped with a different name at the end of the production line. Some Merkel catalogs listed the corresponding Simson model on the opposing page.

nice shotgun
happy birthday

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
Thanks for the info on the Simson/Merkel relationship. The name would tend to get confused with Simpson-Suhl (did I spell that correctly?), which I believe is also German or Austrian.

There could certainly be worse places to put your money than in high-quality shotguns. For instance, a Certificate of Deposit, which typically has less growth potential, is hardly any fun to take out of the safe and fondle.

These are Simson-Suhl guns.

Congratulations on such a nice birthday gift!

Christmas is coming!

Luv2: Are you going to chase chukars with that beauty?

I wonder how long t will take you to tire of the 20-gauge and sell it to me?

quote:

Originally posted by luv2safari:
I've wanted one since I was 13, and at turning 65 I decided it was time.

I was offered a hunted but still very straight Simson 76e 16 gauge recently. Meet my new upland gun.

Beauty there Lane. My Merkel 447SL looks very similar, with the cheekpiece as well. I use my Merkel for pheasant, ducks, turkey, and anywhere longer shots are needed.

For quail, grouse, and woodcock, my David Murray Scottish 12 bore hammer gun still gets the nod; it's choked skt / skt and is deadly in thick woods and fast moving quail.

Congrats on a great shotgun; Simsons are as good as they get.

Mike

Luv-II,

Hey, Happy Birthday, Buddy!

Nice present!

I've got 2, a Merkel (12 ga. 28", 1/4 Imp Cyl & 3/4 Imp Mod) and a Simpson (20 ga. 26", 1/2 Mod & 1/1 Full) and had a 3rd Simpson 12 ga. I managed to locate the case-colored, double-trigger, straight stock with ejectors version which was the model I desired.

..... but, as you said above; if youda inspected all three closely; there's not a lick of difference between them 'cept for the serial numbers and Merkel/Simpson stamped on the barrels.

You've got the Top Drawer sidelock version in 20 ga. 3" (20/76) - sweet! Got a 3 number-coded Proof Date on the table?

You'll find it probably very tighly choked (a Tueton penchant for sluicing ground game (Hares) at range) and the vast majority of them actually shoot better patterns using cartridges without a shot cup; if you can obtain some or load them yourself.

Anyway, I'm still on the prowl to locate a similar 16 gauge to my 12 & 20 to round out the set.

Have fun with it - Waidmannsheil!