While they have their followers, I always thought they were just far from well made. After reading all the excitement about them, I was anxious to see one in person. I had just returned from Germany and had looked at many Merkels and nicely made Spanish guns and had a fairly good idea of what a sxs should look at. When I finally held my first Gold Label I was almost shocked by the poor wood to metal fit, the over runs in the checkering and the overall lousy look of the gun itself. To say I was underwhelmed was probably and understatement of the word underwhelmed. I think at the time the gun was about $1,800 at that local shop and my new Merkel had just cost me $1,100 in Germany and was nicely engraved and had great wood and perfect wood to metal fit and checkering.
