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AYA Super Solway


BellySlater
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Thunderbird,

 

As far as I know the difference between the Super Solway and the AYA No. 3 is about 2" of barrel length.

 

The Super Solway was an AYA no3 specially commissioned and sold only by Elderkins of Spalding. It was the same in all respects as the No 3 except that it had 32" barrels whereas the No.3 3" came in, originally, either 28 or 30" barrels, and laterly, 29".

 

I`m sure someone will correct me if that`s too wide of the mark.

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You are correct.

 

Thunderbird,

 

As far as I know the difference between the Super Solway and the AYA No. 3 is about 2" of barrel length.

 

The Super Solway was an AYA no3 specially commissioned and sold only by Elderkins of Spalding. It was the same in all respects as the No 3 except that it had 32" barrels whereas the No.3 3" came in, originally, either 28 or 30" barrels, and laterly, 29".

 

I`m sure someone will correct me if that`s too wide of the mark.

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  • 5 years later...

I dont believe either the AYA No: 3 magnum or the Solway were originally steel proofed. Thats not to say they wont handle steel. I have a No:3 magnum that was originally full & full, to be on the safe side I had it opened up to 1/4 & 1/2. They are a big strong gun and I have no hesitation in using steel through it.

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59 minutes ago, Rockpig said:

Anyone familiar with AYA model 3A

 

From a book I have on AYA guns, the No: 3  3in. Magnum was generally imported with 30in barrels.

The 3in chambered Super Solway had 32in. tubes as standard. Both are boxlock non-ejectors with beavertail type forends and a semi-pistol grip stock.

However, like most of its production, AYA would always produce different barrel and chamber lengths to special order. Consequently there was a limited production run of a fairly small number of No:2 sidelocks imported, that were chambered for the 3in cartridge. These were ordered and sold by what was in those days `Gentrys`; now John Forsey Guns.  My understanding is that the Solway was ordered and sold by Elderkins.

The No: 4 box lock ejector also occasionally shows up with 3in chambers.

I am not sure what the `A` suffix means, in your mention of a No:3A unless it defines it as the 3in. magnum as against the No:3 which has 2.5 in or 2 .75 in. chambers.

Edited by JJsDad
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Thanks JJsDad. The gun I saw does have 32” barrels. Maybe it was a special order one like you mention 

The feedback was from AyA when I gave them the serial number. Not surprisingly, they were against using steel shot as I gather they weren’t used in the 80’s? My predicament is whether I can use it in wild fowling/ steel shot

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1 hour ago, Rockpig said:

Thanks JJsDad. The gun I saw does have 32” barrels. Maybe it was a special order one like you mention 

The feedback was from AyA when I gave them the serial number. Not surprisingly, they were against using steel shot as I gather they weren’t used in the 80’s? My predicament is whether I can use it in wild fowling/ steel shot

Not an AYA, but I use an English 3", bored 1/4 & 1/2 with 3" steel up to size 1. My AYA Matador 10, bored full & full is fed steel and also was by it's former owner.

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On 25/07/2019 at 07:16, Rockpig said:

My predicament is whether I can use it in wild fowling/ steel shot

There are pages & pages of information on this forum concerning the use of steel shot and the degree of choke that is deemed acceptable. The BASC website also has lots of info. The general advice is that while steel shot can be used in a gun that is not proofed for steel you should not use High Performance (HP) steel cartridges and should use no tighter than half-choke. There are a number of posts on here from members who use HP steel through their (non-steel proofed) gun on a regular basis with no evidence of barrel scoring or other damage.

At the end of the day, you need to have a read up on the various sources of information on this subject and make your own mind up. I personally restrict my AYA magnum to non HP loads, but my wildfowling ranges are usually in the 25 - 35 yard bracket and I dont feel the need for the extra bit of range and pattern density afforded by the heavier HP loads. I am not suggesting an AYS magum cannot handle HP loads; they are a big strong gun that is already proofed to a higher level than a 2.75 chambered gun.

You appear to have already received advice from ASI or direct from AYA. Have a look at the other information available and make your own mind up.

Edited by JJsDad
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On 25/07/2019 at 07:16, Rockpig said:

. The gun I saw does have 32” barrels. Maybe it was a special order one like you mention 

 I see on the advert I posted from Elderkin's catalogue it states 30" barrels, the gun I have has 32" barrels, and all the others I have seen had 32".

 

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