At one point I owned 5 Merkel's. Then I got bit by the small bore Fox disease and all the Merkel's got moved. Mine were a mix of 47E, 147E, 1620 and even a 28 gauge Merkel. They are hell for stoudt and the older ones IMO are better made then the newer ones. My buddy has a 28 gauge Merkel 147E and a 47E in 16 gauge. He has hunted with them for 20 years and they are still tight as a drum. They are indeed overbuilt. I have owned quite a few SKB sxs. Still have a model 100 20 gauge 28" with chokes opened to .004 and .014. It's my cold weather wearing heavy gloves sxs. I shoot it well and it goes bang evertime.
