I purchased a Heym 500 NE 3"earlier this year. I will have to verify the model number but I think it is 88B. It is in perfect condition. It has been shot very little. I took it with me to Tanzania this month. The only time it was shot was when I let the apprentice PH shoot it at lunch one day. In fact, I did not hunt with it at all. Unfortunately, I realize my aging eyes are probably better suited to a scoped gun.

I originally paid $16,000 for the gun.

I have put approximately $3,000 of improvements into the gun including but not limited to:
>Vastly improved recoil pad.
>Twin mercury recoil reducers.
>Engraved grip cap with cape buffalo scene
>Enhanced visibility to rear sights.
>Pop up low light bead in front.
>Other sight modifications to improve accuracy.

I also have the following:
>98 rounds of 570 grain Woodleigh FMJ loaded by Superior. Original cost approximately $11 per round.

>60 rounds of 570 grain Woodleigh softpoints loaded by Superior. Original cost approximately $11 per round.

>125 rounds of 525 grain lead cast bullet target loads loaded my Superior. Original cost approximately $8 per round.

>Custom made (by Murray Leather) ammo belt that will hold 20 rounds. Will probably fit a waist line from 32 to 38 inches.

>All original paper work including case.

If you have any interest, make me an offer. I will be happy to make a video of the gun for serious potential purchasers.

Thank you.

If you like the rifle have JJ put a low power S & B scope on it.

quote:

Originally posted by WY:
If you like the rifle have JJ put a low power S & B scope on it.

Or maybe better yet for a 500 a ghost ring rear sight? Made a world of difference for me

Please don't take this as a pot shot because it is not, but the modifications probably make the rifle worth less, not more.

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
Please don't take this as a pot shot because it is not, but the modifications probably make the rifle worth less, not more.

Yup, I thought about that. But I would think if one had the mod. done by the OEM it shouldn't hurt the value.

Of course one wouldn't know for sure until you try and sell it.

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
Please don't take this as a pot shot because it is not, but the modifications probably make the rifle worth less, not more.

The mercury reducers sure would, but the rest of the mods don't sound too bad.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

You have a great rifle in an excellent caliber-why not try and have it mounted with a scope-perhaps the factory in Germany could help

Larry,

Sent you a PM.

Don't be too concerned about the modifications you made to the rifle. It is not an English gun and the mods will not effect the value. A continent gun is a decent rifle but will not have the value of an English gun. If someone wants a "meat stick", your heym should definitely fill the bill.

for nitro 400

why do you say the mercury reducers would hurt the value ?

if you weren't told, would you ever know they were there ?

quote:

Originally posted by tomo577:
for nitro 400

why do you say the mercury reducers would hurt the value ?

if you weren't told, would you ever know they were there ?

Tom:

I think the best way to answer both of your questions is to answer your second question.

The answer to your second question is: YES, every time. I've handled quite a few DRs that had recoil reducers added. The effect on weight distribution and handling is impossible to miss. I've also shot a few of those, and it takes someone more sensitive to recoil than me to tell the difference in felt recoil. Great handling is one of the attributes that I value the most in double rifles and recoil reducers are a significant negative there. It costs money to remove them and fill the holes just right to restore the original weight.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

In most cases, modifying a factory rifle tends to make it worth less, unless it is a high end custom projet and even then it is hard to get the money out. Most custom guns sell for 1/3 of what they cost to build, unless they are from a well known artisan. When I see a modified factory rifle (which was properly built, like a Heym, not a junker like a newer Winchester), I usually consider whether it is possible to reverse the modifications and the cost of doing so. Often the cost of reversing modifications is far more than the cost of making the modificaitons in the first place.

I can tell you from experience in the gun business. If you have a custom rifle built or a factory rifle customed out, it will be very hard for you to recover more than 25-30% of your investment. You get custom work done because "YOU" want it, not to sell and get your money back. I have a few custom guns, not many, and they will be left to my son when I depart on the great safari.

this all seems to be much ado about nothing !

go back and see what the man did to this double rifle. modifying front & rear sights back to original should be a piece of cake.
adding the front "night site" is an mprovement, not a detriment.
a better recoil pad is an improvement
as for the mercury reducers - if the rifle still balances so what ?

i agree with 400 ne that a double must handle well to be of any value. but until you test out that specific double with reducers it is unfair to condem it. the reducers may have improved the feel - we don't know , do we ?

not every double built balances well. we have all seen some nice looking rifles that didn't handle worth a darn.

Tom:

I don't agree. This piece isn't an unknown quantity. It's a Heym, and I'm quite familiar with them.

The goal of DR design is 50% of the weight in the middle third of the length for best handling. Recoil reducers add weight to the butt, which increases linear weight distribution, and that's always bad. Perfect balance does not equal great handling, perfect balance and correct weight distribution do. Lots of perfectly balanced DRs swing like Granny's vacuum cleaner.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

400NE just as an aside, doesn't MR. SEARCY construct his rifles as you have described in this "U.K. pattern"?

Also, on his 577 and 600 he adds a straight rib extention, no bite or anything.

Do YOU think this simple extention is benificial as a measure to slow or prohibit the rifle from coming off it's face?

Please forgive the

quote:

Originally posted by 400 Nitro Express:
Tom:

I don't agree. This piece isn't an unknown quantity. It's a Heym, and I'm quite familiar with them.

The goal of DR design is 50% of the weight in the middle third of the length for best handling. Recoil reducers add weight to the butt, which increases linear weight distribution, and that's always bad. Perfect balance does not equal great handling, perfect balance and correct weight distribution do. Lots of perfectly balanced DRs swing like Granny's vacuum cleaner.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

400,

Your granny must have one hell of a vacuum cleaner.

I added weight to the butt stock on my Searcy 500NE and it helped handling A LOT. At least for me. The gun felt slightly barrel heavy before the weight was added and now it's much "handier" and more "neutral". Not to mention it helps a bit with recoil.

So adding weight isn't "always bad".

519 wells
say HALLELUJAH brother on the weight. you said it better than i did. tom

Larry, Larry, you have made too many improvements to this thing, so find a way to keep it. They say it shout fit just like bespoke SxS bird gun. Do you really need sights 30 paces from the big one?

510:

Wow. If it was that badly balanced when you got it, you're right. It would have been hard to dick it up any worse.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

quote:

Originally posted by 400 Nitro Express:
510:

Wow. If it was that badly balanced when you got it, you're right. It would have been hard to dick it up any worse.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

The operational word was "slightly" barrel heavy . I guess some guys like that or wouldn't have noticed it. If it didn't already have the through bolt hole I probably would not have done anything. But there was this hole just begging to be filled And well...

Just remember, "barrel heavy" guns tend to point, swing and come up more fluid... that balance also keeps barrels from rising too high or fast when shooting.. the gun is going to act on it's center of gravity, the farther back you move or put weight, the farther back the CG...

balance is not to be taken lightly, so just adding weight or reducers may not always be a great idea... ever see the chassis dynamics of a drag race car..

all theoretics & black magic aside - WHATEVER makes the rifle work for you is the right answer for you.

for 400 nitro -- you forgot to answer big five jacks question on top rib extension.

I don't think anything you have done to your rifle will cause it to lose value. Unfortunately, the improvements will probably not cause an increase in value. I have found modification or improvements such as those you hace made seldom bring a higher sell price. They make it easier to sell but rarely increse the sell price.
I think this balace issue is all out of proportion. We are giving the Heyms of the world more credit than they deserve for producing a perfectly balanced gun and its importance. I have shot sporting clays with some top shooters who take top end Perazzis and Krieghoffs and add heavy adjustable butt plate systems and mercury recoil reducers. Get used to your gun the way it is set up and you'll be fine. I guess everyone who has put a recoil pad on a Merkel double rifle has ruined the "perfect factory balance". Not likely!

re merkel & recoil pads
until recently merkel double rifles were supplied with a plastic buttplate. they did that for a reason - so you could cut the stock to fit the recoil pad -you - wanted and still get the pull length you need.
pretty clever those germans.
but now they put on a recoil pad for you - go figure !

Larry,
Please reply to PM.
Thanks, Bob

How much are you asking for it ?

Did Will buy this gun?

No. Sold it to someone else.