doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Aya over/under, when was it made?

I have recently bought an Aya over/under Merkel 303 clone and I am not sure when it was made. I have contacted Aya but they couldn't help me. Perhaps someone here will be able to?

The serial number is 182.

Images of the markings:

http://forum.robsoft.nu/album_pic.php?pic_id=4609

http://forum.robsoft.nu/album_pic.php?pic_id=4610

http://forum.robsoft.nu/album_pic.php?pic_id=4611

None of those marks indicate a date of manufacture. You need to look for an alpha numeric (A1, D2, etc). It might be hard to see and/or look like an afterthought. Once found, refer to this chart. http://star-firearms.com/firearms/proof.shtml

Pete

That date code chart says not to use it except for pistols made by Star. I think that means it won't work for an AyA shotgun. I have not compared it line for line, for all I know it could be exactly the same as the correct chart that is published in Terry Weiland's "Spanish best" and in other places as well. The caution to only use it for Star pistols caught my attention, at any rate. The procedure mentioned is certainly sound. Find the date code stamped generally on the barrel flats. If you do not have access to the book Spanish Best, post your findings here and I'll look it up for you.

Sorry, I can't find any more markings, except 18.5 choke and 1500 grams (probably the weigt of the barrels). And where are the barrel flats on an over/under? The first and the second picture in my previous post are the markings found just above the lumps on either side of the barrels. I have not removed the two wooden bits of the forend that are attached to the barrels, I do not have the right turnscrew.

If the gun has no date codes, and if AyA says they cannot date it by serial number (they have dated and identified some for me by serial number alone) then you may have an everlasting mystery. Enjoy the gun, maybe some day you'll see another gun with a close serial number that can help date yours. It surely is a high grade gun and well worth the $$ figure you posted earlier.

I have one just like yours (AyA Model 37 Super A) The date of manufacture of your gun is between 1960 and 1965. Reference:
http://www.guntex.dk/index.php?id=6&produktet=0205020&aktivkat=1

I will look tonight at mine and let you know exactly where the date codes are located. They are not easy to find, and are not stamped in very deep. I will also post dates of manufacture and get back to you tomorrow on this thread. You can see a photo and specs of your gun at this address. Check on the "Super". The "Augusta" is their top model of O/U and runs about 35K - 40K.

http://www.aya-fineguns.com/ingles/modelos/superpuestas.htm Jim Haynes

Guys, thanks for taking your time to help me with my problem. And Jim, I am looking forward to the info on where to find the dating marks.

But Jim, I think you misread my thread, the serial number on my gun is not 182.XXX, it's just 182, and I am a little bit confused about such a low number. I mean they have made over 600.000 guns!! According to the guntex.dk chart it was made between 1945-1948, maybe it's true, but it "feels" younger than that. On the other hand it has got 2 3/4-inch chambers and is only proofed to 900 bars and not 1250, so that may indicate that it's that old. By the way, that's why I got it that cheap ($1100). Lead shots are about to be banned here in Sweden (it's not decided yet) and the seller (the largest gun store in Sweden) thought that he couldn't sell an over/under not suitable for steel shots.

Part of the confusion over Spanish date of proof codes is the complication that arises over whether the proof house used the Spanish letters rr and ll in the codes. Does anyone have any information on that? All I heard was that there was some question about it, but if they didn't use one or more of these letters, it throws the whole date code system off a few years (because each letter has been used several times with a numeral change like F1 and F2, etc). I suppose this is only important to us nuts, but if a gun were being sent to a C&R license instead of an FFL on the basis of a wrong reading of the date code, the feds might could get interested....

Here's the link I was looking for when posting earlier.
http://personales.jet.es/rafa/b_punzones_eibar_fecha.html

Pete

That link to a different listing of date codes agrees with the list published in Weiland's book. I would suppose it's the legit table to use.