Skip to main content

Merkel Firearms Single Shot: A Teeny Tiny .270

Merkel Firearms Single Shot: A Teeny Tiny .270

(Welcome to the Gun Crush. After coming to work for Petersen's HUNTING and Intermedia Outdoors 10 months ago, I realized I was falling in love with a new gun of some sort or the other about every week or two, with so many firearms being reviewed and written about here at HQ. Like any new romance, I feel compelled to gush about my crushes, so they're letting me do it in my new blog if I promise to not get to lurid about it.)

Normally, a gun crush will start to burn once you've seen some sweet-looking firearm for a while, learned what it is capable of, and played with it a bit. All that went right out the window when I spotted this tiny single shot Mannlicher  (how fun is THAT word to say) by Merkel Firearms. Some guns just don't require that awkward getting-to-know-you dating period.

With a "you gotta see this," Mike Nischalke (hunteroc.com) dragged me past the rows of pricey German rifles and handed me the Merkel K3 Stutzen in his booth at SHOT, and I could not believe my eyes.


Well hello, gorgeous€¦A feathery full-blown .270 fit for a light-gun fetishist, a little magic death wand of a rifle that reminded me of that tiny Browning SA-22 autoloader.

Merkle Single Shot .270 BarrelWith a lustrous stock running clear to the end of the barrel, it still barely weighs 5 pounds and comes in 13 calibers with standard fiber optic sites, but begs for a compact scope to get the most out of that elfin barrel. This wasp-waisted single-shot marvel is all German steel and sex appeal, still thin as a flashlight handle in my favorite caliber€¦and in modern Superformance-style loads I consider the .270 to be something of a light magnum.

We tend to think of mountain or sheep hunting rifles in terms of bolt guns, typically fugly, with carbon this, titanium that and in short-action-only calibers.


But not the Merkel. A 5 pound gun just 36 inches long with movie star looks and lacking an action that requires extra length, it's pretty as a figure skater and equally proportioned, at 36 inches long with a 20-inch pipe. This is the Mila Kunis of hunting rifles.

The clincher? It breaks down in three pieces, the longest being the barrel, and fits in a briefcase-sized travel box so you can travel like a business exec to your planned meeting with that mule deer.




Like so many guns that come through our office for a photo shoot, I never did shoot the Merkel, but am quite sure with that German barrel it only would have broken my heart, probably punching holes that touch with any decent ammo.

Broken, my heart, alas, because I don't have $3,000 laying around. Yes, it's a pricey unit. And I might get a shorter caliber.

Party pooper Payton Miller, the Guns & Ammo gun guru who works here in Peoria, who has forgotten more about just about any gun than most of us know about our favorite, says 20 inches is just not enough pipe for a .270. "It'd be a f*#king flame thrower. You need at least 22 inches."

Recommended


So yeah, this one might be better in a 6.5 Creedmore, .260 Remington or .308. Then you could add "laser" to the magic death wand title.

COMING SOON: Building the .475 Turnbull

Merkle Single Shot .270

Current Magazine Cover

Don't Miss

The Essentials Gear Box.

Our editors have hand-picked these essential pieces of gear to make you a more successful hunter when you hit the game trails this season.

Learn More

GET THE NEWSLETTER Join the List and Never Miss a Thing.

Recommended Articles

Recent Videos

Kali Parmley of Gun Dog Magazine talks to George Thompson from Benelli USA about the new features from the Benelli line ...
Hunting

A Boy's First Whitetail Hunt

Kali Parmley of Gun Dog Magazine talks to George Thompson from Benelli USA about the new features from the Benelli line ...
Gear

Steiner Optics Predator Series

Kali Parmley of Gun Dog Magazine talks to George Thompson from Benelli USA about the new features from the Benelli line ...
Gear

Introducing the Burris Veracity PH

Kali Parmley of Gun Dog Magazine talks to George Thompson from Benelli USA about the new features from the Benelli line ...
Gear

Taurus Raging Hunter

Kali Parmley of Gun Dog Magazine talks to George Thompson from Benelli USA about the new features from the Benelli line ...
Gear

Streamlight Pro Tac 2.0

Kali Parmley of Gun Dog Magazine talks to George Thompson from Benelli USA about the new features from the Benelli line ...
Gear

Streamlight Bear Trap

Kali Parmley of Gun Dog Magazine talks to George Thompson from Benelli USA about the new features from the Benelli line ...
Gear

Beretta A300 Ultima Turkey

Kali Parmley of Gun Dog Magazine talks to George Thompson from Benelli USA about the new features from the Benelli line ...
Gear

Ascendant from Rock River Arms

Kali Parmley of Gun Dog Magazine talks to George Thompson from Benelli USA about the new features from the Benelli line ...
Gear

HEVI-Shot Turkey Loads

Kali Parmley of Gun Dog Magazine talks to George Thompson from Benelli USA about the new features from the Benelli line ...
Gear

CZ 600 Series Trail Rifle

Kali Parmley of Gun Dog Magazine talks to George Thompson from Benelli USA about the new features from the Benelli line ...
Gear

Burris Veracity PH Riflescope

Kali Parmley of Gun Dog Magazine talks to George Thompson from Benelli USA about the new features from the Benelli line ...
Gear

Benelli Montefeltro Shotgun

Petersen's Hunting Magazine Covers Print and Tablet Versions

GET THE MAGAZINE Subscribe & Save.

Digital Now Included!

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Give a Gift   |   Subscriber Services

PREVIEW THIS MONTH'S ISSUE

Buy Digital Single Issues

Magazine App Logo

Don't miss an issue.
Buy single digital issue for your phone or tablet.

Buy Single Digital Issue on the Petersen's Hunting App

Other Magazines

Special Interest Magazines

See All Special Interest Magazines

Phone Icon

Get Digital Access.

All Petersen's Hunting subscribers now have digital access to their magazine content. This means you have the option to read your magazine on most popular phones and tablets.

To get started, click the link below to visit mymagnow.com and learn how to access your digital magazine.

Get Digital Access

Not a Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Enjoying What You're Reading?

Get a Full Year
of Guns & Ammo
& Digital Access.

Offer only for new subscribers.

Subscribe Now