Training Day with something different

[vaturkey]

My little restocked Fox 20 has a safety issue and will be headed up to see Dan Rossiter next week for that and a couple of other things. Accordingly, I decided to rummage through the safe and pull out something different yesterday. 1955 Merkel 16 gauge 200E with double triggers, solid rib, cheekpiece and swivels. Pretty she's not, as she was a GI carryback. She however is really fun to shoot and I sure can't hurt her. Sophie nailed 2 Woodcock (which were flushed unarmed to continue their flights north) before I put out a few training birds and then she and my Golden Gracie tag teamed them. Sophie on points and then Gracie handled the retrieving. Fun day except the damn ticks are out. 32 degree's and I was still picking the off me and the dogs at the end of the day.

[Jim Cloninger]

Tom, I really appreciate your pictures of Sophie and Gracie and keeping the gun dog thread going. I wish I could post some pictures of my 2 Black Labs, Mandy and Mazie, but I only have email and hard copy photos. Funny you should mention your Merkel. I had a 12 gauge made in 1953 for several years, but sold it last year. Merkel 12 gauge 200E with double triggers, solid rib, 291/2" barrels (metric conversiont to inches), swivels, but no cheek piece. It was choked .040/040 and was the tightest shooting shotgun I ever owned. It was my go to turkey gun and I considered it the absoulte best turkey gun ever, bar none. Consistant 60 yard head shots, instant selection of turkey loads (magnum 5 or 6 in one barrel and magnum 4 in the other) with double triggers, and carried easily with a Euorpion sling mouted. I hadn't turkey hunted in a few years so I sold it, but now I miss that gun!

[vaturkey]

Thanks Jim. Those Merkel's are stout guns for sure. Someone wrote years ago you could put a stick of dynamite in them and touch it off and it wouldn't hurt the gun a lick as they were so overbuilt. I used to own several Merkel sxs but sold them all when the Fox addition took over. Only miss one, but miss it bad. Had a beautiful 16 gauge model 122 sxs with wonderful engraving that fit me to a T. Shot the heck out of that gun and you could shoot anything out of it. Hunted pheasants in ND one year and was shooting 1 1/4 oz Federals out of it and dropping roosters at unbelievable distances. It killed like the hammer of Thor.

[eightbore]

When I worked at The Gentleman Hunter in Bethesda, Maryland a while ago, we had a 12 gauge 200E on the rack, a minty gun. It was a 28" gun with about .719 bores and at least .050 of choke. I never test fired it, but always wondered how the wad got out of the barrels. One of our regular hangers on offered me $800.00 for it one day, and I took it. I would love to have that gun back today so I could shoot some patterns with big lead shot.