doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Sarasqueta Zephyr Honker

Made by Victor Sarasqueta, I picked mine up at the Holts sealed bid sale. I’m intending to go back to my roots and do a bit more wildfowling and it seemed a good option.

II think the SxS version ( sidelock) of the Honker was called the Thunderbird- offered in 12 or 10 gauge magnum. I considered buying one at one time , good value for the price, but never felt the need for the 3 1/2” capability.
I have hunted in some areas where I have observed others throwing shots at birds that too far away to be hit by 88 mm AA- and more than once locked up heading to my spread…..surely unbridled optimism or unjustified confidence.
That Honker looks like a fun gun, and certainly will be a conversation starter!
Best Regards,
JBP

There is no reason to put a recoil reduction device in a "Honker". I shot a lightweight AYA Matador for years at random waterfowl with 3 1/2" ten gauge ammo without feeling a bit of recoil. That sweetheart didn't even have a recoil pad. It's exceptional performance at long range shots helped me to ignore the recoil.

I had an AYA matador and shot for years with it like you I wasn’t bothered by the recoil especially in the excitement of taking a shot at passing geese but it’s weight was 10 pound plus whereas the Honker is around 8 and a half so it’s recoil I’m guessing will be that bit more. A friend who shot an old single barrel 10 hammer gun with heavy ammo added 1 lb in weight to the gun to make it a bit sweeter shooting.
Was the lightweight Matador significantly lighter than the standard weight Matador and around the same weight as the honker at 8 and 1/2 lbs ?
Regarding its long range potential I’m more concerned that it provides me with a good pattern with larger shot at the average range I would take birds at.

From the advertisement Parabola posted it looks like deliveries of the gun were supposed to start November 1957 & priced @ $125.00.

In the crowd I grew up with that would have been a lot of $$ for a Spanish made or any other single shot with a 3" M12 w/matt rib listing for $121.40 so I would expect the quality to be pretty good but not many buyers.

Does anyone know how long they were produced & numbers sold?

The lightweight Matador with case colored frame ran about 9 pounds or a little more or less. It is a wonderful gun. No single trigger to go bad.

Getting good at pass shooting geese coming off the roost, is an expensive endeavor with 2 ounce non lead loads.

An aerial lift and a gravel pit might get you close as far as sight picture.
The nice thing about shooting the flight line, is that gravity does most of the work.

No interest in shooting geese here. With the exception of specks they're pretty much poor victuals anyway, IMO. For me, this is about ducks flying over the river from GA to SC, to roost. High ducks. Old waterfowlers didn't practice in gravel pits, with aerial towers. But, they killed ducks anyway.

We use to shoot the geese coming back into Black Water Refuge for years at a farm we had in the family. Then that person died and the farm was sold, the next owner got the bright idea to put several platforms up in the trees, to make the shots easier. Most likely they were surprised how close the geese were when you were in a deer tree stand. Lasted about a season until the made regulations to outlaw shooting geese from elevated platforms.

We, the family, had shot several hundred geese over the years by learning where they came across the tree line or a hedge row depending on the wind direction and then learning to lead them enough to kill them. Next group never learned how to lead a goose 15-17-20+ feet and got closer to them. After that one year, that farm was never hunted very much again. Heck, if they had asked me how far I would have shown them. We used H&R 10 gauge single barrels Model 6 or might have been the later 176, the old farm had three or four of them, short ten doubles and a Model 12 3". Lead shot too, to be fair, because it was still legal.

Those H&R were stout, single barreled guns, but not too heavy. Recoil never bother anybody unless they missed. Most of us could shoot and quickly reload and shoot a second time, sometimes three times, before the geese started to fly higher or move to the side. If they came in low and right over us we switched to number four shot and head shot them. At 30-40 yards, a tight 2 ounce pattern of 4's would kill a goose stone dead if hit in the head and neck area every time.

Stan,
For the most part I agree with you on the goose as table fare thing, and years ago vowed never to shoot another. Another Giant Canada, anyway. But, Lloyd will happily share his recipe for “corned goose” with you, and should you get a chance to take one, it might change your attitude about them.

Around these parts, it seems the geese spend lots of quality time around golf courses, and end up tasting like whatever they treat the weeds and bugs with. No recipe will help with that, unfortunately.

Best,
Ted