Well, I'm lucky enough to have a very rare problem. My Merkel .500NE is out of action and has been sent to my good friend in Tasmania - one of Australia's best gunsmiths - to sort-out. It happened like this...

I moved to a remote Aboriginal community to teach, and soon was invited to get some meat for a local Elder and his family. When getting meat, they're not much into hunting, they're more into getting results quickly and efficiently using the drive-by shooting technique. Not my cup-of-tea, but I do it to win hearts and minds. So a big double rifle isn't the best choice, and I had to stalk a few times. Finally I crawled to 90m - the buffalo are very wary as soon as a vehicle stops and somebody gets out. I rose to a sitting position, resting my elbows on my knees. Immediately upon firing, I was hit the ground flat on my back, legs up in the air. I jumped to my feet to have another shot at the running buffalo, surprised by the kick but dismissing it thinking it had something to do with a position I don't usually shoot from. When I lined-up another shot and pulled the trigger, nothing happened. And then it dawned on me that both barrels had fired simultaneously - or near enough that it felt like one big bang to me. The buffalo disappeared and I looked for blood, finding none. It wasn't a good start to impressing the locals. I trudged back to the vehicle worried about my rifle as well as failing to provide meat. When I told the story, my student and his grandfather found it hilarious. A few minutes later we found and killed a buffalo, but I wasn't game to load both barrels, using it instead as a single-shot. When I got home, I realised that the front trigger was bent. I didn't know if it was somehow bent in the double discharge, or if it had caused the double discharge. I called my good friend, Alex Beer, and he told me to send it down. Alex has a soft spot for this factory-made double rifle, even though he has made his own beautiful double rifles from scratch, because last year he killed a magnificent scrub bull with it. Alex theorised that the trigger was unluckily and unhappily too soft, and had gradually bent and eventually caused the double discharge - the mechanism in my rifle to prevent doubling is in perfect condition. So, he's crafting a new one. I miss my double rifle very much! But when it returns it will be better than new!

Thought you blokes would be interested in this little bad luck story!

Cheers,

Ben

Hi Ben

Interesting story! Glad you were ok.

Any photos?

Glad you are enjoying the new job.

Best wishs, Chris

quote:

Originally posted by Rockdoc:

Any photos?

Ben,
Owning a Merkel 500 myself, I'd be interested in seeing a photo of the bent trigger as well. I hope a double discharge is something I never have to experience myself!

Here she is, my battle-weary double rifle...

Not in Katharine atm? Was wandering where you have been of late.

With that picture and a bit of exaggeration an epic tale of the ultimate pucker factor could easily be woven!

I'd say your hard on triggers!!!.............lol

Thanks, fellows!

Adam, still in the Katherine region, but living five hours drive away at a small community in Arnhemland - Bulman. Love it here. Beautiful place, nice people. Adventure just around the corner (or even in the back yard - literally!). It becomes a real treat to get into Katherine to have a beer and buy supplies!

quote:

And then it dawned on me that both barrels had fired simultaneously

11...

When you yank them that hard to bend them how do you hit anything

Had similar with my Merkel 500. Sent it to Merkel USA (twice) and argued with their 'smith but they did finally install a new front trigger. It was bent enough to protrude from the left side of the trigger guard but the Merkel 'smith wanted to say it was A-OK - NOT!

I was learning to shoot a DR and probably caused the damage myself, but don't think a trigger should bend, regardless. I did have it double on me a couple times. No problems since.

That had to be a rude awakening!

quote:

I did have it double on me a couple times.

12...

quote:

Originally posted by jorge:

quote:

I did have it double on me a couple times.

12...

?? Number of Merkel double discharges??

yep..that I know of..

That is a mighty important part to be made too soft for spec!
I have never seen even the cheapest double-trigger shotgun with a trigger bent like that.
A bent trigger could surely rub the other trigger and trigger a double discharge.

Mind your Merkel triggers, eh? Not good news at all.

.............................................................

Well, I know it isn't ideal, and I am missing my double very much... and I do very much admire the fine English doubles or even the modern VCs or Heyms, but hey, it was the very best I could afford and it got me into the game. It's killed loads of buffalo and other game, and I like it. It shoots well, and once I get this problem ironed out, it should be ready for action again.

quote:

Originally posted by BenKK:
Well, I know it isn't ideal, and I am missing my double very much... and I do very much admire the fine English doubles or even the modern VCs or Heyms, but hey, it was the very best I could afford and it got me into the game. It's killed loads of buffalo and other game, and I like it. It shoots well, and once I get this problem ironed out, it should be ready for action again.

The fact is the bent trigger is a serious thing if it happened when you needed that rifle in the most dire situation. I suspect the trigger is one that missed the tempering treatment, and absolutely should not have happened.

That being said, you have nothing to be ashamed of carrying a Merkel double rifle! When you get it fixed do some hunting with it, I doubt you will ever have further trouble with the rifle. I have two Merkel double rifles and have owned several Merkel double barreled shotguns, and have never had a problem with any of them. My two Merkel double rifles, one a 140E-1 9.3X74R and the other a 140-2 Safari 470NE. I bought the 140E-1 new in June of 2001, and the 140-2 I bought used from a member here May 26th 2005. While both have had several hundred rounds fired through them without problem.

I have doubled the 9.3 the first time I fired it because I wasn't expecting the recoil to be so sharp, and strummed the back trigger, I've never doubled it again. The 470NE has been doubled by three different people, but never by me. The strange thing is, all three of the people, new to double rifles, who doubled the 470NE were pulling the back trigger first. That was taken by most here as a malfunction of the design. I couldn't see why it was possible to strum the triggers when pulling the back trigger first so had to agree. Later in the thread a clays shooter said that it is possible and happens all the time on the skeet, and trap courses. He said the cause was found to be a poor hold on the grip by the trigger hand. The recoil causing the front trigger to be moved forward hard enough by the trigger finger to press the front trigger spring so the rebound when the recoil subsided the spring pushed the front trigger back hard enough to fire the right barrel.

He said that it is possible to double a single trigger shotgun or rifle as well, because of recoil and a poor hold letting rebound cause the trigger to re-hit the trigger finger firing the gun again. This happened to me many years ago with a Valmet Finish Lion 12 ga shotgun with a single selective trigger. My son who is now 50 yrs old was about nine years old and small for his age wanted to fire the shotgun. The gun was too long for him and when he fire it, it doubled on him! I took the gun apart to see why it doubled and found nothing wrong in the gun, and I still have that shotgun today and it has never doubled again 41 years of dove and quail hunting. So I guess the guy was right.

If that is indeed the case then the front trigger needs to be a little heavier pull, or the shooter needs to have better grip on the rifle or pull the front trigger first.

The thing is I have fired the rifle both ways many times and I have never doubled that rifle, even once no matter which trigger I fire first.

Anyone can draw any conclusion they choose from that but in my experience I have never seen any of my Merkel double rifles or shotguns with a doubling problem. Almost every person I have seen double a two trigger rifle or shotgun, were new to double triggers. Nothing I have seen posted here has changed my opinion of the cause of doubling! Most who do it do not realize they strummed the triggers, but I'd bet 90 % of the doublings that is the cause!

In the final analysis nothing man made is immune from Murphy's antics!

MacD37,
Good post. Merkel ought to eat that trigger that surely was made too soft, missed the heat treatment due to Murphy!
My Merkel has two tough triggers, and has never doubled.
I met a wealthy double rifle tyro in Botswana that doubled his bespoke H&H Royal 500 NE at his first shot(s) with it on game,
a big bull elephant.

Nerves, trigger strumming, to which he of course would not admit.
No sir! That DR was going back to H&H to get sorted out!

Luckily the elephant went down from a close range head shot(s), at least one of which was close enough to the mark to do the job.

Interesting post and story Ben! I envy you and your new "work" location (can't really call it work when there's that much fun involved). Is Alex Beer back into full time 'smithing?

The "Jay Carney" approach to explaining the all-too frequent doubling of Merkels is amusing. We've had some of our own members here, most with experience on doubles (including myself) either seen or have witnessed Merkel's doubling, and trigger "strumming" was not the culprit.

While I am sure this is but a small percentage of Merkels that suffer this affliction, it is clearly evident it occurs with far more frequency than with other doubles. That, and this latest iteration of soft triggers should make even the most strident Merkel defenders at least recognize there might just be an issue here.

Ben,

You were lucky in one respect. Evidently you were not shooting your Merkel with a scope when it doubled.

A friend of mine, now deceased, was practicing shooting his Krieghoff O/U double rifle in .458 WM. He was shooting from a sitting position with a scope mounted. The rifle doubled on him, causing the scope to hit his forehead so forcefully that it bent the scope tube. Undeterred, he continued firing.

This particular rifle was equipped with a single set front trigger. He had been firing the front trigger first, using the set trigger. For some reason, he suddenly decided to fire the rear trigger first, forgetting that he had already set the front trigger. The result was totally predictable.

I have the same model rifle and it has doubled on me only once. Fortunately, I was shooting without a scope at the time. This was a true double, as the two shots on the target were only an inch or so apart. The action was stripped down and cleaned, and it has never happened again.

Incidentally, the recoil from a doubling rifle is not twice that of a single shot, but four times, since the bullet velocity remains the same, but the bullet weight doubles, causing the recoil velocity to double, and recoil energy varies with the square of the recoil velocity, or 2X2=4.

Posted this experience on another forum relating to my Merkel which some here have already read.

OK, for the follow up.

Jorge, you will be delighted to know you can now count 10 Merkels that you know of that doubled.

I finally received my used Merkel that had been purchased new several years earlier by the previous owner but had remained unfired. I immediately went about rectifying the situation by shooting various loads with 515 gr. LBT WFNGC bullets.

All was going splendidly until I went one day to try yet another load. Upon gently squeezing the trigger while waiting for the hammer to drop until I thought the safety must be on, I lowered the rifle to check. The safety was off, so I shouldered the rifle again, but this time jerked the trigger unintentionally. The rifle still didn't fire, so I lowered it again, opened the action to check as if I would be able to see some cause for the difficulty in releasing the hammer. Seeing nothing obvious, I once again shouldered the rifle and again began squeezing the front trigger until I again thought the safety must be on when the rifle finally fired.

I had shot a similar load previously but it had been a few days and I didn't remember the recoil being quite so robust. As I was thinking to myself I should cut the powder charge in half, I noticed the left cocking indicator was down. I opened the rifle and both spent cases jumped from their respective barrels. That of course explained the extra stout recoil.

The first bullet hit about 1-1/2" to the right of the bull and a half inch low. The second didn't hit the paper, a target printed online on letter size paper.

I shot several more rounds without incident. However, I also let a young fellow shoot who had never shot a large bore rifle before in his life. For him, I used the same bullet with a charge of 5744 for a reduced load. This load shot about 1,650fps, so recoil wasn't too bad. This fellow proceeded to shoot a couple of rounds OK, then he too, had a double.

I happened to video his shot and called his double as soon as he shot as I heard two separate shots. His first shot hit about two feet low in the dirt, indicating his flinch, while the second shot hit about 6 feet above the target in the dirt bank we were shooting against. His finger can't be seen at the start of the video, but during recoil it certainly appears as though his finger is on the rear trigger. I suspect he was the cause of his double.

I called Merkel and explained the situation and my guess on the other fellow hitting the rear trigger accidentally. The fellow I spoke to asked a few questions, one being what I though the front trigger pull was compared to the rear. Seems they like the front trigger to be set at around 3.5# while the rear trigger is set around 4.5#, and recommends the front trigger be pulled first. Not having a pull gauge handy, I guessed at both being around 3#'s.

I was told to send the rifle in and they would have a look, which of course I did. About 10 days later I received a call stating my rifle was finished and they would be returning it to me. I asked what they found wrong, and the answer was "we changed the hammers and trigger sears". When I asked why, it was because "they were the old style".

I've since shot the rifle enough now to satisfy myself all is well and the doubling issue is behind now.

I can't say enough good about the service Merkel provides, taking in a rifle several years old from the second owner and never once a discussion about cost or money. Granted, the rifle was as new and unfired when I received it except of course for regulation purposes but everything was taken care of without ado.

A couple of things I can't understand is why someone would put up with a rifle that doubled. I'm sure some were sent back, but from all I've read it seems to be when a rifle doubles, that's just the way it is and one must live with it.

That being said, I also understand a double rifle should never double in the first place and there is little excuse for any rifle these days to double. Merkel made mind whole without accusations or fanfare of any sort, which is what I expected.

It still sports that hideous plastic grip cap (my words, as I fully and wholeheartedly agree with Jorge that given the price of these rifles, one would think a metal cap would be in order or nothing at all) though, something I asked Merkel about early on but still haven't received a reply about. I've got a plan for that as well.

David

Howdy David, long time no see. Glad to hear your Merkel got fixed! Cheers, jorge

Hello Jorge,

Sorry I missed you in Dallas, but did get to hook up with Doc, Pat & Leonard.

Thought you might have seen this post on the 'fire, hence the reference to number 10.

Yes, they fixed it even if we agree it shouldn't have ever been an issue, and they never quibbled so I'm happy.

David

Hi Mark! Yep, very lucky to live here! Love it!

Nope, unfortunately Mr Beer is not back in business, but he is a good friend of mine who can help me out in a predicament like this one. He is currently crafting a replacement trigger from scratch.

Now, fellows, I am not a real smart bloke, but I couldn't help but feel incredulous when a Merkel representative told me that Merkel make the triggers softer so that when they hit your fingers under recoil they don't hurt as much! My goodness! He wasn't joking. Alex and I had a good laugh about that one later.

My thoughts: Having had a stock drama, and now this, in this very good entry level double rifle; and having observed here the level of care and support available from the likes of VC and Heym; I have concluded that the service from Merkel leaves a lot to be desired. It takes them a long time to reply to e-mails, in fact, they don't reply at all sometimes. So, while it is a good rifle for the money, once you get a few bugs ironed-out, the service really isn't that great.

Check your safety pivot lever, I bet it is bent too