doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Spanish "Not so Best".

Hi Ted,

I have an Ugartechea 28 ga marked 'Churchill Royal'. It certainly is not an English Churchill, but it is a decent knockabout upland gun.

It sounds similar to yours, but it has a straight grip and does not have a third fastener. Looks like photos I have seen of the M30.

Anyway, I really like your idea of carrying spare strikers. Do you remember where you found yours and the 3-pronged tool to remove the disks?

Thanks

Cole Haugh made 'em. He went through a period in his life when he was the importer, sorta' like me with the Darnes, and does gunsmithing as well. If you need parts for an Uggy, start with him.
Google him.

Best,
Ted

Ted: Where do you figure the cut-off is for "Not so Best"? I have a late 90s New England Arms lefty Arietta 557 in 12 that has been used fairly hard and even dropped once or twice (by me)! Live and learn. I wish it was an 800 series gun so it could better reflect my now, more-evolved tastes, but it fits me so well.... I could never part with it. I'm guessing retail value these days would be well under $3K.

Not speaking for Ted, but when I saw the phrase "not so best" my English to English translator popped out "inexpensive, workingman's gun", "truck (or boat or barn) gun"

Here's what I take out when things are slick enough that I'm worried about falling on the gun and breaking a stock:

Astra Imperial,12 Gauge:




Zabala Hermanos "Churchill Windsor", 20 gauge via Kassnar:






Industrias Ilja .410, via Davidsons:

Lloyd,
You're asking the wrong guy. I couldn't pick out grades of Spanish guns if I had a gun to my head.
I will say this-right after the A and D boxlock came into being, there were English firms that finished them up as "Bests".
I'm guessing that era only lasted 10-20 years. Dig would know. People, both buyers and makers figured out it didn't take that much to get a boxlock out the door, compared to a sidelock, and people weren't going to pay best prices for them.
I doubt the Spanish ever went through that same thing. A boxlock is always a shooter, and a sidelock is a bit more.
The boxlock Falcons, like mine and Keith's, came with features that were specified by American Imports, circa 1972, and those features read like a wish list for someone who doesn't want to concern themselves with what ammunition they use today-3" chamber and proof, well fitted hidden third fastener, in addition to double under bolts, disc set strikers, brazed barrels, and a file cut rib. I got 28" tubes on mine, but, I could have dealt with 26" if I had to. I've heard reports that a brazed barrel is the way to go on a beater you feed hot or hard shot loads, but, I'll leave final analysis of that to the people who sell my R10 and my Uggy, after I am dead. I intend to use the hell out of them, both
There is a juncture, if you will, somewhere between where the chokes have been opened up to make steel usable in it, and my lack of concern because I don't have enough time or opportunity to destroy the Uggy with steel, or, just don't care if I do.
I guess I consider it a shooter for the times.

Best,
Ted

I bought this Uggie (model unknown) off someone on the shotgun world forum and it was a mess. The top lever spring was missing, and a coil spring was placed over the automatic safety rod to push the bolt back into battery. One hammer spring was missing, and was replaced with what looked like it could have been the wayward toplever spring. It had been left to rust and then the whole rotting pile had been painted with gunkote, which is glorified Rustoleum.
I did all that I could, and it made a trip to Cole Haugh to finish up what I couldn't figure out, and my son has been shooting the crap out of it ever since. I don't worry about him dropping it that is for sure. If it had been a nice gun to start with I wouldn't have been able to bring myself to cut several inches off both ends either.
He should outgrow it just about the time my daughter is ready for it, and when she is done with it I am sure it will "find" another kid that needs it.
CHAZ

Hoof,
I might have to look you up-I have an 8 year old. What gauge is it?

I have a model 17 with a short LOP, but, it isn't short enough for a kid, not a kid younger than about 14, anyway. I wonder what I will start him with.
How old was your boy when you started him with that?

Best,
Ted

CJ was 9 when he started shooting this gun, but he is large for his age. I am figuring that my daughter will be slightly older before she can handle it. It is a 12 gauge.
I tried several different youth guns with him and this is what worked best. The 12 gauge gun weighs more than most 20's which helped mitigate recoil. I have it cut to 25" barrels and a 12" LOP. I like a break open gun because at a glance I can tell the gun is open and "safe." We hunt over a pointer so for the first year we even carried our guns open in the field until passing the dog for a flush.
It was also (in my experience) much easier to get low recoil/low pressure shells for the 12 gauge than for a 20 gauge. All the low pressure pet loads and RST offerings for shooting aging guns are perfect low recoil shells for a kid.
CHAZ

This is CJ putting "Winston" to work at Hausmanns.

Here's one of mine. It's 1959 Gaspar Arizaga with a straight stock. It's choked imp/cyl-mod so it's a nice one for over my dog.

Here are a couple of Spanish "not so best guns". The top is a 12 gauge Loyola from 1966. The bottom gun is an El Faisan 20 gauge ejector gun from 1964. I use them for upland the odd time. Well, not so much the 20 gauge. It is quite a petite gun but it only has a 12 1/4" LOP. I thought about adding a removable spacer at the pad but haven't done it yet as I have let a few youth shoot it out at the cabin. It's great for a "youngin" or a lady with shorter arms.