doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Merkel 200 clones?

As I spend more and more time perusing double gun sales I've come across a number of shotguns that seem to be clones of a Merkel 200, Simson, BSW, Belgium and Spanish Aya. I've always liked the looks of a Merkel but most of them are beyond my reach but a number of the clones seem quite reasonable. How do they compare in quality to the Merkel? I'm thinking along the lines of a dedicate skeet and SC gun.

Thank You

oskar

The Merkel 200 is not out of reach of any serious shooter. If I wanted a Merkel 200 type of gun, I would find a 200. A real Merkel is a real Merkel. I would kill for a nice Merkel 200 with 30" barrels and decent stock dimensions. The clones, not so much.

I've owned Francotte, Daly (made by Masquelier) and Abercrombie & Fitch (also Belgian). All of mine have been lighter weight 20's or 16's, but all quite reliable. I expect you might do quite well on a heavier, longer barreled 12, because most guys looking for target guns won't pay much attention to them. Especially if they have double triggers.

Larry, most serious shooters won't pay any attention to a Merkel if it has anything but double triggers.

I have a shooter grade 16 Gauge Merkel 200E with double triggers with articulated front trigger. Very well used but tight as a tick as they say. Choked full/full and I have not messed with it. Swivels and german cheekpiece. I carried it last year in Nebraska and Okie chasing quail behind a long ranging setter. Was quite nice to keep it slung until the dog came on point. Weight 6 lb 10 ounces. Bores are .661 and both chokes are .026. Barrel length 28".

Count me as a serious shooter whose single trigger Merkel 201E with barrel sets in 20 and 28 has never had a trigger failure. One trip to the smith in the last 30 years for a broken spring. it has been my go to gun for dove, quail, grouse and partridge. At one time I had an AYA, I think the model designation was Coral, in 12 gauge that was also very reliable although a bit heavy.

I have both double trigger (203E) and single trigger (303E) Merkels. The single trigger has NEVER malfunctioned once. What I will add is that (in the UK anyway), they come set to very heavy trigger pulls and both have been adjusted to a more reasonable pull. I was told by the person who did the work that they are quite hard to get just right, but once right stay there and don't misbehave.
Merkels are not a popular gun, but are respected by the trade for good build standard and materials

There are a number of AyA 'clones' that have been available in the UK, none of which have been all that popular. I have not heard of any particular problem ..... but here the Beretta/Browning models have a much better resale value.

Make that a serious MERKEL shooter . . . which is a pretty small contingent among target shooters.

I think most of the single trigger issues were on earlier sxs when GSI first started importing them, not on OU's. But I also heard that the later ST sxs were OK.

But then most of us here understand that any gun with 2 barrels ought to have 2 triggers.