doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com AyA Celebrates Century of Involvement in the Shotg

King, Kyrie has a different approach. Instead of "just buying the name", he just buys the country of origin. Seems to me one doesn't make much more sense than the other . . . unless you're focusing maybe on collectible guns from country X, Y, or Z.

Yes, Merkel is not a importer any longer and the pricing for the dealers is not what it once was as I understand it.
Bloody shame too, Grulla build some nice guns and gave a good bang for the buck compared to some of the others.I think Arrizabalaga is now under Arietta ,lots of changes in the Spanish builders ,perhaps time for another book by someone to update the current market/manufactures

Excellent point! "Buy the country, not the name" I like it, except, any country but, England, Italy, Germany etc unless the name starts with S.

Be Good!

Greg

Ah, Larry. Never met a wrong conclusion you wouldn't jump to.

I buy firearms for some combination of reasons, including but not limited to, workmanship, utility, interesting design, historical significance. I have guns from, to name a few places, Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Czech Republic, Czechoslovakia, Germany (Imperial, East, West, Unified), Hungary, Italy, Peoples' Republic of China, Russia, Soviet Union, and Turkey.

And I've not wasted a dime buying a company name :-)

You got any 7-pin 578s?

But no British, nor French? Strange omissions, especially given the very clear heritage of the major designs used by current Spanish makers. Looks like you ought to be moderating an anything-but-British shotgun forum.

Cost is one good reason to buy, or not to buy--assuming equivalent quality, of course. Which might lead one to ask why one should pay more for a new Spanish boxlock, based on the same design as a Webley & Scott Model 700 . . . when one can buy a very nice used W&S for less? Why waste one's dime buying Spanish, now that prices have gone up significantly? And if one is looking for a 12ga game gun, the Brit gun will also be lighter--if that's what you're looking for. And many of them still in regular use, after half a century plus. Nothing like the pre-WWI guns, of course . . . which seem to be scarce as proverbial hens' teeth on this side of the pond. Where one can find thousands of Brit guns that have passed the century mark.

There you go again gun rag writer! Buying the name - Webley & Scott! When will you ever learn!

Greg

I know Greg . . . I know. What I have learned, writing for some pretty sharp gun rag editors, is that I'd better have my ducks in a row when I submit an article. If I claim there are 7 pin 578's, I'd better be able to link an actual photo. If I talk about all the Spanish guns that were around before WWI and want to compare how good they were to the British guns from that era . . . well, I have no trouble finding the Brit guns, and finding lots of people who shoot them on a regular basis. Likewise, I can find French and German guns from that era without much problem. Century old Spanish guns? Or people who regularly shoot century-old Spanish guns? There I have a problem.

They can build very good made to measure game guns in Spain that quite amazingly commoner with good job can actually afford.

I wonder about lack of real old Spanish guns. Was it that they were not imported into America like old Greener guns they disappeared during Spanish Civil War or simply fell apart from hard use. Obviously our armies did not rescue Spain from Hitlerism so their guns could not be freed and brought back here in "green duffel bags". I seem to recall in centuries past Spanish barrels like their old swords were considered among worlds best. Given that I have hard time believing that well made Spanish guns simply fell apart from hard use.

What surprises me, Jager, is that it's not uncommon for Americans to go to Spain and order a "bespoke" gun. I'm surprised that people with an interest in Spanish doubles don't seem to seek out and purchase fine vintage Spanish guns and bring them back to the States. None for sale in Spanish gunshops? If one wants a Purdey from 1900, there's no problem finding one. Equivalent Spanish gun from 1900? Given the wide interest in doubles of all kinds on this forum, I find it surprising that no one is raising a hand and saying "I have one of those". Or "I've seen many of them in Spain."