doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Ugartechea?

I'm on what has become my annual quest for a new gun. Ugartechea has come up on my radar. Having only had one in my hands, I'd be interested in what others might have to say about these guns. I'm looking at buying a Grade II from Lion Country, specs for a 12 ga. are about what I prefer. I've looked at used, but most are M/F chocked and I really like open chokes. Perhaps you could share your experiences and thoughts, good, bad and ugly (no pun intended).

Hi, I've owned a couple of Uggies over the years and my current Uggie a Model 1030 in 16ga is a delight. Never had a problem with any of them, except I did have a Model 30 that had soft firing pins, sold that one (after it was fixed) for an upgrade. They are very good quality guns and are well worth the $$$. The wood can be fairly plain compared to other Spanish makers, but that's just cosmetic. To be honest you'd do just fine with a Uggie.

As far as chokes go, you'd have to look around for one that has the chokes you want or just open them up.

Good luck in your quest. Half the fun is looking!

Greg

I have an I. Ugartechea Falcon which Ted Schefelbein educated me about. As I recall, they were a Model 30 upgrade version imported in the 1970's. Lion Country has one in their used listings for $1050.00, and it looks like the fit and finish is somewhat better than the new Grade II you are interested in. Did you see the major flaw(s) in the forearm checkering in their pictures of the Grade II? Here's a link to the used Falcon. Scroll about 1/4 way down the page through the used guns.

http://www.doubleshotguns.com/used-shotguns-side-by-side.html

The description says that this gun was originally bought in the early 1980's. I believe they were actually imported in the early 1970's and the white line buttplate and pistol grip spacers kind of confirm that. The Falcons have 3" chambers. I haven't used mine a great deal, but it has always worked flawlessly, and it makes a nice alternative to my vintage doubles when I have a bunch of modern ammunition to burn up. I bought mine 5-6 yrs. ago at a gun show from a guy who was walking it around. For $225.00, it was too hard to pass up.

Keith,
Educated is far too generous a term for those conversations we had.
I just stumbled into the information before you did. I still have my Uggy, used it on day trips a few times this fall. No complaints. If I was to take a clean sheet of paper and design a nice Spanish boxlock for myself, it would end up looking a lot like a model 30, or a Falcon.
A guy could do a lot worse than an Uggy.

Best,
Ted

Like Greg I have a 20 ga 1030 and it is a fine double in every respect.I have an early 119 28 gauge and it is fine! Bobby

I've got two grade II's - 28 gauge and .410 bore. No issues with either but I bought both used for about 60% of the new price. I buy all of my guns used and if they need choke work they go for a visit to Mike Orlen.

Two Uggies here. One is an AOC/SG boxlock .410. The other is a sidelock 20 with 30" barrels made for the Brit market. Both are English grip/DT/splinter with checkered butts, oil finish, and very nice wood. The .410 is case colored and the 20 is coin finished. They are very nicely finished. The chokes on the .410 are marked IC/Mod, but my recollection is that they mic at .011/.017", so a bit tight for IC/Mod in a .410. Good value, there is no ugly.

I also have an AOC/SG Uggie, which is an upgraded version. 20ga, 28", IC/M. There are enough Uggies on the used market, in very good shape, that I'd suggest looking for what you want and having chokes opened to suit (which is not an expensive proposition). You'll come out way ahead $-wise.

Cobbhead,
I also had a Uggie 20ga Bill Hanus gun years ago. VERY nice gun with nice wood. It was one to be proud of. The Falcon that Keith linked looks very nice. Would look excellent with the white line spacers removed. It had your chokes also. A 6.55lb 12ga should be pretty sweet.

Keith also pointed out the checkering on that GR2. If that is the quality of the current 2k$ guns, I'd make a wide path with craftsmanship that bad. What kills me is they put that as an example on their web site. It's as if they are saying you people are to stupid to know what your looking at. WT heck!

Nope Ted, educated is the appropriate term. I owned that gun for several years and knew virtually nothing about it until you shared your knowledge. I had spent some time searching for information on that shotgun and had come up empty handed. Credit where credit's due.

I also wasn't familiar with the Grade II Ugartechea guns, and was a little surprised at the difference between it and the used Falcon that Lion Country had. If you look at the close-up photo of the action, it is easy to see it is not as nicely finished or engraved as the earlier Falcon model. The checkering is cut checkering, but poorly executed. I prefer the color case hardening too. I have to wonder, if the level of fit and finish on the outside has declined that much, can the same be said about the insides? This is what another guy had to say about that on Shotgun World, comparing a Falcon to a Grade I:

"I have owned and own a few other Ugartechea boxlocks. There is no doubt in my mind more work went into the Falcons than the model 30, 40 or the present day Grade I.

Better fit and finish; 22 lpi checkering and more engraving. Plus, it has the third lockup in the breech face, dropped by Ugartechea and other makers, after about 1986 as a cost savings."

Some folks don't like to buy used guns, but I would consider a good lightly used Falcon at a fraction of the price of the brand new Grade II. I've seen a number of nice ones on Gunbroker selling for $400-$1000. I feel lucky about the price I paid for mine, and I was lucky enough to get one with above average figure in the wood.