{"id":67758,"date":"2013-02-01T08:37:49","date_gmt":"2013-02-01T08:37:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2013\/02\/01\/merkel-rx-helix-world-s-fastest-bolt-action\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:23:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:23:13","slug":"merkel-rx-helix-world-s-fastest-bolt-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/off-duty\/gearscout\/2013\/02\/01\/merkel-rx-helix-world-s-fastest-bolt-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Merkel RX Helix &#8211; World&#8217;s Fastest Bolt Action"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the more interesting weapons I fired at SHOT Show&#8217;s Media Day at the Range was the Merkel RX Helix. It&#8217;s a straight pull bolt action rifle made in Suhl, Germany that comes standard with a wood stock. Why should you care, oh tactically-minded individual?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because it&#8217;s fast. Really, really fast, and easy to operate, and it offers a quick change barrel\/bolt head, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although the bolt is 130mm in length, it travels only 65mm. So \u00a0the bolt doesn&#8217;t even protrude out the back of the receiver when you cycle it &#8211; it stays inside the action. In the photo above, the bolt is to the rear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This means that you can maintain a perfect cheek weld between shots. The example I fired was in .308 and had a Swarovski 1.7-10&#215;42 mounted on top; although I didn&#8217;t fire it on a timer, I felt that I was at least as fast hitting steel targets as I would have been with a .308 semi auto, and I never missed a shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The trigger was crisp and set to 2.2lbs. It was incredibly easy to work the action, too &#8211; one finger to the rear, a gentle push of the thumb forward. I should also mention that I liked the straight stock, and feel that it added to the &#8220;shootability&#8221; of the rifle. Picatinny rails are integral to the receiver, and Merkel says it maintains zero between barrel changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"331\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/wp-govmedia-gearscout-18169-merkel21jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-75087\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/wp-govmedia-gearscout-18169-merkel21jpg.jpg 500w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/wp-govmedia-gearscout-18169-merkel21jpg.jpg?resize=300,199 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Skeptical of the strength of the action? Merkel has tested it to 8000 bar &#8211; that&#8217;s 116,000 psi in American.\u00a0Current calibers range from .222 Rem to 9.3&#215;62, and various grades of wood stocks as well as synthetic and carbon fiber stocks are available. Prices start at roughly $3,800, and they&#8217;re currently available in the US.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the more interesting weapons I fired at SHOT Show&#8217;s Media Day at the Range was the Merkel RX Helix.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":90,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[90,15,16,88],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1908],"class_list":["post-67758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gearscout","category-news","category-off-duty","category-your-military"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"4YTQWQLFRNGKNIJIGDDCNRJKRE","arc_canonical_url":"\/off-duty\/gearscout\/2013\/02\/01\/merkel-rx-helix-world-s-fastest-bolt-action\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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