Thread: Single Shot Rifles - Blaser & Merkel

Originally Posted by Frodo

Had a play with a Merkel K5 a few weeks ago. Went to my dealer with the intention of buying it, but it didn't win me over.

The aluminum receiver felt a bit cheap and gave the impression it would scratch/gauge easily. Aluminum doesn't wear as nicely as blued steel, nor can it be retouched as easily as blued steel (the K5 is either nitrided or anodized). I don't mind scratches and nicks, but there's a difference between something ageing gracefully, and looking trashed.

Despite the steep price ($7800) it still felt like a factory made gun (which it is - both the action and stock are CNC'd). It didn't have the heft or character of something that's been hand-built. It was beautiful to look at, but it had the soul of a Tikka T3, and felt far too fragile (I suspect the aluminum components contributed to this).

The trigger was nice and crisp, but it had a fair bit of over-travel, and from what I understand, this is not user-adjustable.

I have quite small hands (being a Hobbit) and the trigger-to-grip length was also a little too long for me.

The other potential issue is sourcing replacement barrels. These Euro manufacturers have a habit of phasing out rifles, and when that happens, good luck sourcing spare components. What would you do if you buggered the barrel (for whatever reason)? Probably not as straight forward as taking your bolt action to your smith to have a new barrel screwed on. Blaser seem to be more customer-service oriented than Merkel and have a larger presence in NZ, so between the Merkel K5 and Blaser K95, the Blaser would be the safer option.

If I was going to buy a single-shot rifle, I'd save some more and buy a top quality, all-steel firearm from one of the smaller European builders (i.e the Ferlach gunmakers). There are plenty of 2nd hand rifles on the market that were built by some of the top gunmakers when they were younger/not as established. Guys who are now charging upwards of $50k for a rifle. These early rifles are not particularly ornate, but they're solid, well made, no-nonsense tools.

Wow , you must have owned and used a lot kipplaufs (new and old) to be so knowledgeable on the subject.