doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com quality of AYA, Arrieta and Grulla

In a few of my recent posts, a couple of responses said not to buy Spanish SxS's made in the past few years. Is there a quality issue with AYA, Arrieta or Grulla? I have recently purchased a 20 ga AYA 453 and a Grulla 16 ga 216rl. I am currently looking at a couple of new 28 ga Arrietas's to buy ... should I re-think this decision?

Yes you should rethink buying anymore, if you will just send me the money (money order ok) I will look around for you and see if I can help.

I have three that were custom made for me. They are great. What can compare at that price?

Hmmmm... lets see:

A Savage/Fox BST?
A Hopkins & Allen single barrel?
A Winchester Model 24?

The mind reels with possibilities...

He meant "tailor made" shotgun for the money not something off used gun rack made to fit nobody particular.

You're buying high quality pieces.... Anybody that tells you otherwise is a doing so because they're "gun snobs"..... Well if it means anything, the AYA #2 is the best-selling SXS in England. And more and more English makers (like E.J. Churchill, William Powell, J. Rigby, etc) are turning to the likes of AYA, Arrieta, and Arrizabalaga to build doubles for their clients. I think that speaks volumes about the quality of the guns coming out of Spain today.

Hi Adam is pretty much correct. I've owned or have owned guns by the makers you listed. All are good makers. The guns they produce today are IMO very well made. I would have to give Grulla the edge in the fit and fitting department. They are not producing the numbers of guns that AyA or Arrieta are. They are now more of a custom gunshop. Yes they do produce guns for the open market, just not as many as the other makers you listed. They also have cut back on the number of models they produce, thus a little more care into what they make.

Arrieta is a fine maker with a wonderful reputation. The guns they produce are also considered some of the best made in Spain. They do produce for other markets on a much broader scale, that does say something about the quality guns they produce.

AyA, what can one say. The main stay of Spanish guns in the world. Their guns are all over the place. But they do have their ups and downs with quality over the years.

As the saying goes buy the gun. But to be honest, the name also means something. If folks are honest with themselves, they'll take an AyA over a Zabala any day, just the reputation that the maker has does come into play.

I wouldn't worry to much about the quality issue with modern Spanish guns, your going to get a bad one here and there with some problem or the other, but overall in the general big picture, you should be just fine.

Best of luck to you!

Greg

Quality in Spanish guns remains questionable to this day. They are an OK value if you do not mind having issues straightened out after you buy it. I just had in a brand new Arrietta 570. Not a bad gun but it had a few issues. Terrible checkering, huge(big enough to slip a dime into) inletting gaps in the forend, an ejector that worked as an extractor, sears that bound against the opposing sides lock giving a crunchy 9.5lb trigger pull. I do agree with Greg that Grulla seems to be the best of the lot. In my opinion a well cared for German or English gun can be had for less money and you end up with more gun.

Good Spanish gun can be had for very little money. A sample is 3" 20ga Aguirre and Aranzabal SLE with 28" barrels. It's little "Trap Gun" with sparingly engraved but lovingly polished action in "Funeral Gun" style, slim btfe, pgs, sst, and VR barrel with weight of about 7lb. The asking price is $1100. It has seen enough field use so I know it works and lead ammo for it can be bought at local Walmart.
The Made in London version would be about 4x better and cost 30x more.
Yeh, one can buy ugly German BLNE for price of that Spanish AyA.

I guess value is in the eye of the beholder. I see bunches of good blne brit guns priced at sub 2,500$. Daryl H had a lovely Brit SLE posted for sale here at below 5K. To me, both are better options and will be fit and finished to a much higher standard. German guns do often lack aesthetically, but that is a matter of taste not quality of the build. I have had LOTS of Spanish guns apart and I remain unimpressed.