The Merkel 40E side-by-side is a new shotgun offered by the German brand Merkel after almost ten years. The new Merkel 40E shotgun is a Field Grade, basic version of the Merkel 47E side-by-side shotgun, but without its rich finish and hand engraving. The new Merkel 40E has been designed to be “used” in the field: a functional and reliable shotgun for open ground hunting, rather than a precious gun closed in a safe.

The Merkel 40E shotguns are perfectly balanced when swinging and have a comfortable recoil. Light and modestly dressed to provide everything you need and nothing you don’t, the Merkel 40E are very responsive. The internal mechanics of the Merkel 40E has the precision hand fitting typical of the German tradition craftsmen, with a very reliable Anson & Deeley boxlock action with a Greener cross-bolt locking mechanism and double under-lump locking lugs.

The 28-inch barrels are cold-hammer-forged and cold blued and polished. The barrels are assembled on the proven monobloc construction, and a solid sighting rib tops the pair. The Merkel 40E also features selective automatic ejectors.

The steel receiver of the Merkel 40E is finished in silver nitrate with simple, full-coverage Arabesque engraving, and an automatic safety is mounted on the tang. The Turkish walnut stock and forend are finely checkered and have open pores with a single oil-and-sand finish, instead of the typical six oil hand passages of a Merkel 47E. Custom stock are available, but the standard one of the Merkel 40E has a “made-to-measure” fit.

Weight is slightly over 6 pounds and the Merkel 40E is available in 12 or 20 gauge, with either double triggers or a single-selective trigger and the choice of a straight, English-style stock or a pistol-grip stock. In limited quantities, is available also a 28 gauge version, built on the 20 gauge frame and with a single-nonselective trigger.

Both the 12 and 20 gauge shotguns have 3 inch chambers, while the 28 gauge version has 2 3/4-inch chambers. The integral chokes are Improved Cylinder and Modified.

The suggested retail price of the Merkel 40E for the US market is $4,595.

www.merkel-usa.com