doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Who made this double?

Two weeks of internet research tells me that I have a 1967 Spanish made double barrel, Boxlock, 12 Guage/2-3/4 (12-70), 27-1/2" barrels, extractors, double trigger, auto safety. Receiver has bushed firing pins, greener crossbolt, and side clips. Simple, but nice engraving throughout. Duck profile engraved on both sides. Nice case coloring. Choke size is stamped metric, but conversion puts it at imp.cyl/ex-full. Stock has full pistol grip with brass cap (medallion missing) and pancake cheekpiece. Splinter forend with anson release. Checkering on both. Proof marks show it was proofed at the Eiber proof house in 1967. Only name on gun is Forest-Standard, which is stamped on top of the right barrel and faces the rib. Serial number is 404XX preceded by PG. All this research and I can't identify the manufacturer/seller/importer. Photo searches lead me toward a Ugartechea, but have not seen a photo that is a perfect match. Does anyone have any ideas?

In general Spanish guns bear a makers mark in the proofs even though a makers name may not be present anywhere. Consult Spanish Best by Terry Weiland for a good listing of many marks, or if you can spot it and post it here, I can help you, as can others.

Unfortunately I can find no other marks on the barrel or flats, except a 4 digit number followed by Gmos.

I am pretty sure it'll be on the water table and/or the barrel flats. The closest thing my lists show for Gmos would be the initials G.S.M. within an oval ring, indicating made by Gregorio San Martin. Unless yours takes that exact style, it's likely an incorrect identification, so keep looking. You might also look for the date code, which will appear as a capital letter followed by a single number. 1970 is O2, 1971 is P2, 1972 is Q2, etc.

Your gun was made by Pedro Gorosabel, no longer in business. They made a wide range of qualities, but all I've seen are nice. My first gun was a Gorosabel which I still have. It's digested many thousands loads and is still tight. I've only replaced one firing pin. Very durable barrel finish on mine, almost no wear after 35 years of use.

"Gmos" followed by a number is the weight of the barrels in grams.

More pieces of the puzzle...thanks. The Gmos is followed by 850kgs. For Hammergun: What in the description makes you think Gorosabel? Have you seen any pics that I can compare to? Did the PG in front of the serial number give it away? Maybe the PG is the missing "makers mark". It is tight and lever is still a right of center. Can you shoot steel shot through it for waterfowl hunting?

Just looked up Pedro Gorosabel. He is shown as an italian manufacturer. Was it common to not have proof marks from the origin country? I only have spanish marks.

Wouldn't 1967 be at the end of the DIARM era?

If so, I thougth that very few Spanish makers were producing their own guns at that time and instead were trying to work thru the DIARM conglomerate.

Noooooo that govt gargantua come into being ca. 1984. You know, sometimes companies fail because they make crap.

I have an 1864 Waffen-Frankonia catalog which lists a "Forest" double barrel shotgun. They state ""We purchase the "Forest" double barrel shotgun from one of the best Spanish hunting weapon manufacturers"". Gun is an A&D boxlock with double underbolts & Greener style crossbolt & is stated barrels have lugs demiblock-forged from one piece. It was listed in 12 or 16ga's with 71cm length bbls(28"). Engraving was small game scenes on grey-anodized action. Actual maker was not stated. Export price at that point was $82.00.
A Simson 35/70 was $141.25 or $168.75 with ejectors
A Sauer "Kim" was $145.00 or a "Royal" @ $197.50 which included ejectors.
PS that 850KGs sounds more like the proof pressure than bbl wt. Total gun wt was listed as 3.2 KG in 12ga & 3.1 KG for the 16ga on the Forest.

Markvb, Pedro Gorosabel is definitely from Eibar. Nothing Italian about the name either. He would have been Pietro and not Pedro,

The PG before the serial# is the give away as to the manufacturer.
This proofmark is surely present:

and it is a Spanish proof.

I believe the 850kgs are proof pressure.

Here you can find a list of Spanish manufacturers and their proofs:
http://personales.jet.es/rafa/b_punzones.html
P.G. - L.G. are for Pedro Gorosabel

JC(AL)

Agree with guys above on the 850. That's standard CIP (Brit/European) proof pressure. I would not shoot steel through such a gun, both because of the likely higher pressure of those loads and because the barrels may well not be steel-safe regardless of pressure.

Thanks for the info JC. I guess the riddle is solved. Any idea of value and if steel shot can be used?

postings crossed in cyberspace. thanks for the answer on the steel.