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Member Joined: 09 Oct 2005 Posts: 76 Location: Denver

A month or so ago I posted a message concerning my first impressions of the Mekel 1620 I had just purchased. I said I loved it, but based on a round of sporting clays I thought the chokes were a bit tight. A discussion on this site then followed about my decision to have the opened up. Tubes vs. fixed mostly. So heres what happened:

They came from Merkel marked IC/M
I asked Briley to open them to Skt/LM
Briley measured them at .007/.017
I asked them to open them to .004/.012 which Briley did
I shot a few rounds of skeet and said Cool, theyre open now!

Today I took the gun to the pattern board and got the following results:

Percent of Pellets in 30-inch Diameter Circle
DistanceLeft Barrel (.012)Right Barrel (.004)
40 yds 68% 58%
30 yds 92% 78%
20 yds ----- 100%

I used Fiocchi factory loads of 1 oz of 7 1/2s (assumed 345 pellets per ounce). I only averaged two (2) shots for each barrel at each distance (Hey! It was HOT out!). Conclusions: Got me. They seem tighter than they should be. Maybe Fiocchi shoved some extra pellets in the six (6)rounds I shot! Any thoughts? And yes I can count!

1st thought-I'm jealous Embarassed

2nd thought-try some other loads and pellet sizes. 8s are likely to pattern a bit more open and 5s or 6s tighter.
Looks to me like you've got yourself a wonderful pheasant whacker, quail killer, AND sporting clays gun with a little load manipulation.
Beware the man that shoots one Merkel Wink

Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 787 Location: Indiana

You said it buddy---the 1620 is murder on ducks and roosters. I never bothered to pattern it or open the chokes; mine is IC/Mod and I was hitting so I figured why mess with success? It is admittedly somewhat tight for skeet but I still feel the same.....

Member Joined: 09 Oct 2005 Posts: 76 Location: Denver

Revdocdrew/Wolfchief

Thanks for your thoughts. To be honest, this is the first time Ive patterned a gun by counting pellets and all, though Ive checked my other guns for fit by mounting and shooting at a splatter board. The engineer in me had to do a pellet count! With so little constriction I just expected wider patterns.

I understand what youre saying about different loads Drew. I also understand Wolfs if it aint broke dont fix it attitude. After all, thats the first rule of engineering. The second rule is If you do try and fix it, dont make *#@#! it up.

Sporting clays with the gun in the morning. Its starting to loosen up a bit after 600 rounds

Joined: 03 Jul 2005 Posts: 370 Location: Amarillo, Texas

G Thomas wrote that chokes should be measured by patterning, not by thousandths. In other words if 0.010" patterns as 70% then it is a full choke. Every gun I have patterned shooting shells with plastic cup wads has shot tighter than the bore gauge and choke charts said it should.

Thanks!

Mike

Quite a few European 16 gauge upland doubles designated as IC and MOD have .010" and .020" chokes including many Merkels. It is a very useful and versitile combination. You can use both spreader loads and loads with a cased shot cup to either open the pattern or close it up. Plus, the average "promo" quality hunting load will still pattern reasonably well out to 35 yards as is.

The more open barrel will throw a deadly pattern with 1 oz. of hard #6 shot out to 35 yards and a bit. The tighter barrel will pattern well out to 40 yards and a bit with 1-1/8 oz. of hard #5 shot. Using hard shot and a well designed one piece wad with an ample shot cup will certainly tighten up patterns, particularly in the outer ring.

I suggest using a Polywad spreader insert for nice very open patterns out of the left barrel for shots out to 25 yards. This works very well on the closer skeet targets and for quail, woodcock, grouse, and stocked pheasant over dogs. Using the same spreader insert in the right barrel will provide improved cylinder patterns for doubles and follow-up shots at closer and slower flying birds.

A premium hunting load with a good wad system will give skeet II and improved mod patterns as is. For wild pheasant over dogs in average conditions, this is a perfeect pair. A 1 ounce loads of #6 at 1290 FPS will hammer a pheasant out to 35 yards and a bit more from the more open barrel. 1-1/8 ounce of #5 is a perfect follow-up and good enough for a second bird on a pair. It will dump them out to 40 yards and a bit. The key to this is well regulated barrels and top quality loads.

For the tough days, 1-1/8 ounce of #5 shot and 1-1/4 ounce of 5 or 4 shot will do the job on tough birds like big roosters. Under most conditions. a standard wad will give you all the range you need. Premium shot and a well designed shot wad will provide all you need.

If you want a slightly tighter pattern, use a cased wad cup. Take an wad with an ample shot cup like a Remington SP-16 or a shot cup big enough to hold a full 1-1/4 ounce of #4. I use the old discontinued Herter's 1-1/4 ounce 16 ga wad for this. Run a ring of Scotch magic tape or one of its clones around the outside of the petals. Using a properly sized dowel inside the cup will make taping the wad cup easy. You can experiment with your cased wad by raising or lowering the ring of tape to regulate the amount of flair the wad cup petals provide.

There are also shot cups like the multi metal wads available today. If you can get one without petals, simply snip the cup down the sides a bit to allow some flair. dispence with the tape in this case. You will also need some 16 ga. felt and card wads as well as a wad base/ gas ring to build a proper wad column. With a bit of trial and error, you will be able to get mod and full to improved mod and extra full out of your Skeet II and improved mod barrels easily enough.

In a fixed choke game gun Versatility is the key to success. A combo of Skeet II and Improved mod chokes are very hard to beat for all around use if you manipulate your loads well.

The 16 ga (also available in 12 ga) Trap Commander wad from Ballistic Products www.ballisticproducts will also tighten up the pattern without going through the bother of taping.
XVI

Member Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Posts: 1522 Location: NH

My 47E I started hunting with last year was marked IC/M. It too shot very tight patterns and hunting over The Girls it was actually a bit much without changing ammo all the time. Briley could not install tubes as the barrels were not thick enough. So I had it opened to Skt1 and Skt2. It is just fine now for most anything I do with it.
Now the new 1620 when and if it gets here is going to Briley for tubes. I like having the option of going from wide open to extra full if I want to.

The Glendale Cabela's opened last week and the Gun Library just got up on the website. They have a NIB 16g. 1620E for only $5000:
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/content/community/gun_inventory/inventory/mitchell/european_sg/408190_merk1620e_mit.jsp

Briley called me today about my 47E that was out of reulation. The barrels are aligned the left choke was misaligned. They are installing choke tubes comes with 5 SK,IC,LM,M,IM that should cover all the bases. Could have choked 1 barrel but that would look funny.

Member Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Posts: 1522 Location: NH

Lucky you, I couldn't get mine done. Sad

Should not be a problem with the new 1620.

Member Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Posts: 1522 Location: NH

I would think the 1620 barrels are thinner than a 47E.

Member Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Posts: 1522 Location: NH

I guess the older 47E's that were sold in Germany were not as thick walled Question

Briley told me the new 1620's usually don't have any problems taking the chokes.
I hope not, that was the whole idea of another 16 ga Merkel, the chokes.