Here’s one of the finest German O/Us I’ve ever seen. It’s a sidelock Merkel Paragon, made in 1928 and ordered for an American through A.F. Stoeger’s in New York City. I spotted this shotgun at the Orvis Game Fair Show a couple weekends ago.
The gun is built on Merkel 303-style action with Double Kersten locks and double underbites and removable sidelocks with a concealed lever release (the lever is the round thing you can see behind the gold inlays in the pic to the right). It was an awesome, and I couldn’t believe how well it handled. Absolutely stunning.
This Merkel changed hands between dealers at the show, and now it looks like it’s sold. I think the price was close to $60,000 — a ton of money, but not that much when you consider what you’re getting: one of the finest and most unusual over-unders you’ll ever find, at any price.
MERKEL PRE-WAR PARAGON GRADE 2 BARREL SET 20 GAUGE: MADE 1928 I HAVE SHOWN THIS GUN TO A LOT OF PEOPLE AND ITS THE VERY BEST OF THE BEST MERKEL EVER MADE PROBABLY A FEATURE ARTICLE ON THE GUN IN AN UPCOMING DOUBLE GUN JOURNAL ARTICLE AMAZING PROVENANCE AND ORDER SHEET THIS GUN IN 1928 COST THE SAME AS A BOSS OR WOODWARD O/U IN THE STOEGER CATALOG JUST OVER $1000 AND MORE THAN A PARKER INVINCIBLE. 32″ VENT RIB SPLIT BARRELS 28″ VENT RIB BARRELS HEEL AND TOE PLATES THE PHOTOS WILL TELL THE REST ALONG WITH T HE UPCOMING ARTICLE. PRICE: SOLD
