Merkel 313E

About the Merkel 313E

The Merkel 313E is a German over/under combination gun (Bockbuechsflinte) that pairs an upper smoothbore shotgun barrel with a lower rifled centerfire barrel on a break-open sidelock action. Handcrafted in Suhl with detachable sidelocks running quick V-springs, a Kersten double crossbolt and double underlug locking, it is offered with a 12/76 or 20/76 shotgun barrel over rifle chamberings from 6.5x57R and 7x65R through .308 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield, .30R Blaser, 8x57 IRS and 9.3x74R. The 60 cm barrels, double set trigger, walnut cheekpiece stock and English arabesque engraving make it a traditional all-round mixed-game hunting arm for both feathered and larger game.

In the Central European hunting tradition the Bockbuechsflinte, or over/under combination gun, is prized as a single walking gun for a mixed day afield: the shotgun barrel takes birds on the wing while the rifled barrel handles roe deer or boar met on the same outing.

Merkel 313E specifications

Merkel lists the 313E with 60 cm barrels, an overall length of about 103 cm and a weight of roughly 3.5 kg; ejectors are an option and the wood grade starts at class 8. Specs vary with the chosen rifle caliber, shotgun bore and stock configuration. The current combination-gun range also includes the boxlock B3 (with a hand-cocking system) and B4 models.