Originally Posted By: Kyrie

None of this was true of Spain. Twentieth century Spain was never the battleground for a World War, was never invaded or conquered by a foreign power, and saw socialism rise only after the death of Franco. Spanish guns were never gathered up and sold in mass as was the case in Germany, France, and Belgium, and the Spanish were never forced to sell their fine, old guns to make tax payments.


Sadly, this statement shows an utterly complete ignorance of Spain's history...

The truth is that Spain rose as a gun making trade through the extremely low wages which were the norm after WWII, when Spain was almost completely isolated under Franco's dictatorship.
My parents used to cross Spain by car in the early 60's. Top-end hotels and restaurants were dirt cheap and roads were horrible, equivalent to 1920's Europe. Spain was starving for foreign currency. The economy was dismal.

As for Spanish guns, I have yet to see any that would have a top class workmanship. The best Belgian guns (Cordy, Thonon, Lebeau, Francotte, etc.) are far, far better than the best Spanish IMHO. The same is true for best French (Granger, etc.) or Austrian (Springer et al.).

That's why you can buy them used for a fraction of the cost of their competitors. E.g. there is no free lunch.

Best regards,
WC-