Indeed, that stock is most interesting. Looks like a Humped Back Whale mated w/ a Swan.
Serbus,
Raimey
rse
Actually Clay used the term "Swan Neck" in describing the stock.
I will find out friday when it arrives, but one thing that drew me to it was the fact that the stock appears to have quite a bit of cast off, which I really prefer when shooting. If you look carefully at the pictures it looks like it is not due to the stock alignment with the action but was produced when shaping the rollover. The stock is made of quite a nice piece of wood when compared to most 200's I have seen and has very fine checkering. These features and the 3020 number on the fore arm all give the gun a real French look but it appears to be a fully built Merkel with a French gunsmith/dealer name added. It makes me wonder if it was built especially for them or if they may have ordered the gun as marked and completed it as a custom stocked gun. The stock looks like nothing I have seen on a Mefkel. A study of all the marks will be interesting, such as the original proof etc. I had considered the fact that it may be a slug gun, but that could be a plus. The barrels are choked and I have never particularly seen that regulation for slugs in a shotgun led to bad patterning or regulation for shot. I have seen more doubles for shot that had poor regulation period.
