http://sportingclassicsdaily.com/shotgun-of-a-legend/

Not to my taste: Beavertail forend, single trigger, and it's nearly a 6 1/2 lb. 20 gauge! My 16 g. Greener weighs 5 3/4 lbs. They don't list the price, but it will undoubtedly be high.

I kinda like it...

Kind of unfair comparing it to a W.W. Greener but I always thought he disliked Spanish guns. Might be mixing him up with someone else.

Over 15 years ago I passed on a beautiful Eusebio Arizaga 20ga Sidelock. I still regret it to this day.

Regards
Ken

Back before the GCA 68, based on Jack's writing about his 28-gauge Eusebio Arizaga (mentioned a lot more in his writings then this 20-gauge) my buddy and I pooled our money and ordered five H&H style sidelock 20-gauges through their exporter Laureano Villar. Each with a different finish to the actions and lockplates. We got double triggers because of Jack's mentioning his problems with the Spanish single triggers and that he'd had them replaced with Millers. I kept the one with the blued finish and Wayne kept the one with the coin finish and we sold the other three. Wayne got rid of his after one season. I kept mine through two broken right tumblers. Bill English the good Seattle gunsmith of those days told me the best thing to do with mine, after he installed the third, was to get rid of it because of the poor metal in the locks. So, it flowed down the river of commerce.

It appears to be a reinforced frame sidelock 20 with 3" chambers, and, no doubt, proofs, in both barrels. 6 1/2lbs would be about right if a steady diet of that ammunition was intended. Maybe a little light, actually. The stock configuration would likely help you hold on to the thing if using that ammunition, as well.

It isn't really a game gun, more like an old guy's fowler/prairie bird compromise gun.

Documenting Jack's guns (did he even own a .270?) might make them more valuable to a particular collection, but, no more useful for the task at hand.

Best,
Ted

I don't know if he owned a .270 but he wrote about them and the .375 a lot. Being young and tending to follow all the gun writers expert advise I took a .270 to Alaska and almost became bear scat. Now I understand gun writers write in part to generate interest in new gun sales or new calibers. Back then I though they were passing on sage wisdom. Yeah (I) we were very trusting back then.

One of his often printed points was the value of short barrel shotguns. He help sell a lot of 26" guns which are dead wood in today's used gun market.

If I were shooting driven grouse in Scotland, I'd want 28" or even 30" barrels, but for Ruffed Grouse in thick cover, speed is of the essence and 26" barrels on a 16 gauge is just what the doctor ordered.

Seems hardly anyone likes 26 inch barrels but where are the higher grade ones listed for sale at a cheap price? Bobby

The description questions the identity of the installer of the trigger. That would be the Miller Single Trigger company. I don't know of any gun builder that installed Miller triggers other than Ithaca. I have never been impressed by the Arizaga guns. O'Connor was more of a gun guy than his writings would lead you to believe. Read the book written about his collection and you will be impressed. Not so much shotguns, but his rifles are interesting.

I pulled O'Connors "Shotgun Book" out of the closet to see what he had to say about this gun. On P 33 he tells about the crappy trigger that he had replaced by Miller, in Pennsylvania. Apparently this gun was the 2nd Arizaga he ordered, the 1st being a 28 bore, for which he paid 160 bucks. He seemed pretty happy with this one, except for the checkering. He had Al Biesen rechecker it..Wonder where IT is? The 20 came to him in 1962 at a price of around 250 bucks with two sets of bbls. He mentions that after the Miller was installed, he had about 500 bucks in it..I should be so lucky...He had nothing good to say about Spanish single triggers...

Here's is a very similar configuration by AyA in my collection. A two barrel set 20ga & 28ga sidelock ejector with single trigger and auto ejectors. This has been very reliable and I've hade zero problems with the set. I do not recall the weight and it's currently in my safe.
Jim

I have a hard time warming up to most Spanish engraving. The very best of their rose and scroll is nice, but most of the rest is easily identifiable as Spanish, without seeing the maker's name.

SRH

Jack was my favorite back in the day and one of the reasons I like 26 inch barrels. He wrote that he wanted a CHE Parker but never got one I believe.Bobby

I have a letter that he wrote me when I was about 14..I had asked him for advice on what Caliber rifle I should buy with my trapping money. He said .257 Roberts..best choice I could have made! Still shooting it...I told him I had done so, and very shortly thereafter I got a package from Fred Huntington containing a set of loading dies, some cases and recipes, courtesy of JOC...

Great story, LD. I wrote him in 1971 for scope advice, care of Outdoor Life. Jim Carmichael had just taken his place and my letter was answered by him instead. I got to shoot with Jim a few years ago at a S x S shoot. That was special for me. Not so much for him, I imagine.

SRH

Beautiful Spaniard Jim. My Spanish sidelock built by AMR was by far my favorite shotgun I have ever owned.

Thanks treblig1958! The ironic thing is if I wanted to have this made today there's no way I could afford it without making some real sacrifices!
Why not post some pictures of your example?
Jim

I bought and sold many guns that I really regret now. The only one I keep throughout all these years is my Nitro Special, which is not in the same league as my Spaniard.

The Robert Anderson book, which documents Jack's life as well as his gun collection, is a good read and sells for way less than twenty bucks. It includes some serial numbers so you can recognize an O'Connor gun when you see it.

Oh, those older Spanish side locks. The internal metal may be soft but I truely found them enjoyable and the perfect ruff grouse upland gun.

When Jack was growing up in Arizona he hunted quail a lot with his favorite Uncle. The Uncle had a Purdey they used a lot. Jack said he liked everything about it except the double triggers. His Aunt was mad for years that the Uncle spent so much on a shotgun that cost that much, when Jack's Uncle passed she gave it to a cousin that didn't hunt. The cousin would led the Purdey to anyone who wanted to borrow it, and it was lost when it wasn't returned and the cousin couldn't remember who had it last!

I don't remember where mine is either.

As soon as I saw OConnor's name I knew it would have a single trigger. From the articles I've read of Jack's about shotguns, I think he was writing about them because he had to. He exhibited limited understanding of upland game hunting and the proof is his advocacy of a single trigger gun and a boat anchor Model 21. He looked like a big man so maybe a 6.5 pound 20 ga wasn't so much of a burden.