doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Ever hear of a "Lady of Spain" shotgun?

There are two things of which to be mindful here.

�Matador� is the name AyA gave to that particular shotgun.

�Pride of Spain� is a name created by a US retailer for guns he bought in Spain, from whichever maker would meet his price point for each batch of guns.

The significance of these two things is this:

The name Matador tells us who made the gun and the price point to which it was made. The name Pride of Spain does neither.

Folks who make much of the acronym �POS� may want to consider why the Chevy Nova was such a flop in Spain.

Here's a 10ga from an auction a few years back

http://www.gunauction.com/buy/9130366

Best!

Greg

Kyrie,
The points about the guns were all very valid, and, thank you, for that.

The car association, unfortunately, is dead, flat, wrong:

http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp

I've been to a few Spanish speaking countries in this hemisphere, and there are LOTS of old Novas chugging around central and south America, to this day. I would imagine you can find them being washed and waxed by eccentric owners in Europe, as well.

Have a great weekend, Nova powered, or otherwise!

Best,
Ted

PS I didn't, unfortunately, see any SS models with 350 or 396 engines.

Ted,

Sorry Ted, but I referred to Spain and not Spanish speaking countries generally.

I don�t know and cannot speak to Central and South American countries and the Chevy Nova, but can tell you the Nova did not sell well when introduced in Spain.

For context:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=543539235

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=543040936

If you want a real treat keep an eye out for the 10 gauge side lock guns Victor Sarasqueta made for Stoeger.

Zabala Brothers is what you want for wildfowling. They had made some with dull finish for Turkey hunting and wildfowling that came with choke tubes. Those made by AyA and Ugartechea were also well made working man 10ga shotguns. You definitely need to stay away from the POS aka "Piece of Shit".

Hi all, IMO lower price point guns imported from Spain in the 50's thru the 70's should be looked at with a bit of caution. Cosmetically, they may look great, but the internal parts should be checked. A lot of them had parts that weren't hardened properly, crudely finished and slapped together. Not all Spanish guns from this period can be called fine works of the gun making trade. Not saying that all are bad, the Spanish gun has taken a big hit in this area. But there is a reason for that, cheap guns are just that, cheap. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. It's too bad that Spanish guns have gotten a bad rap which they still have to some extent today. The Spanish can and do make some very fine guns, I'm the proud owner of some very fine Spanish guns, excellent workmanship and quality pieces. I have also owned some dogs of Spanish make, these are the guns that have given Spanish guns a bad name. So just be careful, looks can be deceiving.

Good luck in your quest for a 10ga gun, as Jagermeister said, Uggies and AyA would be the ones I'd look for, JMO.

Best!

Greg

Used Spanish game guns offer lot of value for the money if one knows what to look for. Last sample was SLE with flat spring-driven H&H style action. Lots of features: scroll engraved bone charcoal CC action, beaded breasts, articulated front trigger, chopper lump barrels of light weight 1,3kg, cast on stock with hand checkered wood including butt. It came with European leather trunk case plus accessories. The cost was $2500 which was reasonable for bench-made gun. The trademark was stork in oval indicating it came from maker of very long proven track record in USA dating back to late fifties. They were imported by Dakin, Orvis and Griffin & Howe plus William Powell in England. Chances that something would go wrong with something like that after much use are very, very low.

Some P.O.S. shotguns worked well...

My first SxS, in the early 1970's, was a Pride Of Spain 12 gauge bought for $77 new at a local hardware chain store. It had 3" chambers and 26" IC & M barrels. I shot it extensively for 14 years, with zero problems. Some heavy load 3" shells were used for duck and turkey hunting. Eventually my tastes became more expensive, and I traded it on the purchase of a Remington 1900, which I still have. The P.O.S. was still in very good condition when I traded it.

gold40

With the POS shotguns having such a bad reputation I imagine one could be picked up at a very low price. How hard could it be to simply take the action apart and case harden the parts and then put it back together. I've made and repaired parts for different things, not just guns, where I first had to anneal the part before I could repair it and case hardening's not that hard to do.

Steve