Educate me on Spanish sidelocks

[DanWalker]

Hi all, I'm interested in adding a sidelock to the cabinet but I don't want to pay English sidelock money. I also like the idea of a gun that was built to take 70mm cartridges from new. Browsing gunwatch and the other sites I see lots of very affordable Spanish guns that look well made for not a lot of money at all. Thing is I know nothing at all about the various makers. Which ones are better and which are better avoided. Are there any particular models which I should look out for? Any info gratefully received.

[oldypigeonpopper]

hello, top of the list for me would be an AYA

[impala59]

I had a lovely Arietta sidelock, good looking, quality wood and engraving, chopper lump barrels sold for £275

[welshwarrior]

Aya are very good however others should not be discounted.

 

Just beware there is a difference between a side lock and a side plate.

 

Side plates are an asthetic addition to make a box lock look nice (ie like a side lock) many are miss labelled and look very good value but are really just a more expensive box lock (not that there's anything wrong with a box lock).

[DanWalker]

Yep, I've got three boxlocks. Definitely after a sidelock this time. Are there any makes to be avoided at all costs? Looks like the Spanish industry followed the English pattern of putting any name on their guns that you cared to pay for. It's very hard trying to sift through to actually work out what you're looking at in many cases. Also are AyA actually worth the premium over other brands or is it just down to better marketing?

[jonny thomas]

I've got an aya countryman and it's great fun nice and light and feels nice in the hand

[dougall]

budget?

[arjimlad]

I always enjoy looking at this chap's sale posts and he seems knowledgeable about Spanish guns.

 

https://www.gunwatch.co.uk/guns/11781-Spanish-Sidelock-for-sale

[panoma1]

Ugartechea SLE, Holland and Holland clone, good gun for little money....I have had one from new (1970's) I had it finished with an English polished action and regulated by a top gunsmith, but don't use it much.........I use a lovely 'best" English BLE now!

[TIGHTCHOKE]

I always enjoy looking at this chap's sale posts and he seems knowledgeable about Spanish guns.

 

https://www.gunwatch.co.uk/guns/11781-Spanish-Sidelock-for-sale

 

Graham is very knowledgeable and easy to deal with.

[dodeer]

AYA, Grulla, Arrieta, are very reliable guns. You can pick up something rather nice for £900+

[TONY R]

Agree with the above they can be a good buy if you drop on one, side by sides are not viewed by everyone as disirable, and some of the less well known brands are cheap silly cheap on occasion, just keep looking you will be suprised what you can pick up often for just a few hundered quid or some times litteraly scrap money.

By example I got this UA 216 SL (Now re invented as Grulla armas from the mid 80shttp://www.grullaarmas.com/en/our-shotguns-and-rifles) when it was about ten years old in nice condition for little money. decades of hard use and the gun is needing a re blue now but still tight and very little wear, its nice and a new Grulla 216 SL will set you back over 6 thousand pounds new i am told.

Keep looking there are some bargains to be had.

 

Edited February 19, 2016 by TONY R

[Penelope]

Looks like Miguel had been at the sangria when he stamped that barrel.

 

Agree with the above they can be a good buy if you drop on one, side by sides are not viewed by everyone as disirable, and some of the less well known brands are cheap silly cheap on occasion, just keep looking you will be suprised what you can pick up often for just a few hundered quid or some times litteraly scrap money.

By example I got this UA 216 SL (Now re invented as Grulla armas from the mid 80shttp://www.grullaarmas.com/en/our-shotguns-and-rifles) when it was about ten years old in nice condition for little money. decades of hard use and the gun is needing a re blue now but still tight and very little wear, its nice and a new Grulla 216 SL will set you back over 6 thousand pounds new i am told.

Keep looking there are some bargains to be had.

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[TONY R]

Looks like Miguel had been at the sangria when he stamped that barrel.

 

Agreed ,

[oldypigeonpopper]

I always enjoy looking at this chap's sale posts and he seems knowledgeable about Spanish guns.

 

https://www.gunwatch.co.uk/guns/11781-Spanish-Sidelock-for-sale

hello, i can recommend graham to as being a good RFD to deal with, purchase a nice single hammerless 12 guage for not to much money and while i was visiting took a look at some nice S/S in the cabinets.

[Gin steady shooter]

Depends on budget, aya #2 range vastly in price and offer something to suit most wallets. Personally I have a arrietia 803 sxs same 7 pin rebounding action same as h& h. Aya #2 r based on 5 pin same as purdeys (if that matters to u)

[oldypigeonpopper]

hello, i can recommend graham to as being a good RFD to deal with, purchase a nice single hammerless 12 guage for not to much money and while i was visiting took a look at some nice S/S in the cabinets.

hello, there looks to be a nice sable sidelock 12 guage for sale on the bbs airguns £275 newcastle area i think

[DanWalker]

Thanks for all the replies guys, good food for thought. Looks like there are a lot of users of Spanish SxSs on here. Just to clarify, I'm not actually looking to buy just yet, probably towards the end of the summer. I like to do my research first and it's great to hear from people who use Spanish sidelocks and give feedback on how they handle, what they are like for maintenance and reliability etc. So far it looks like Arietta, AyA, Grulla and Ugartechea are on the list to examine a bit closer. Any others worth looking at?

[Bungle The Bear]

I have three Gunmark Royales and love them - made by Garbi or Arietta

[Wingman]

Have a look out for a Gunmark Silver Kestrel, I bought one recently for less than a hundred quid, and its a decent gun. Spent a bit of time tidying it up but for the money its hard to beat, so bargains are definitely out there! Lockwork is pretty basic but seems to work fine..

 

 

Edited February 19, 2016 by Wingman

[Gin steady shooter]

Possibly single trigger guns r one to avoid. 2 of my rfd advised me not to go down this route when going Spanish. Double triggers more reliable apparently. Also I found at a higher price point aya to be more expensive for guns with deluxe wood than arrietia: possible as aya r more sought after and know of in the UK.

[triumphant59]

 

Thanks for all the replies guys, good food for thought. Looks like there are a lot of users of Spanish SxSs on here. Just to clarify, I'm not actually looking to buy just yet, probably towards the end of the summer. I like to do my research first and it's great to hear from people who use Spanish sidelocks and give feedback on how they handle, what they are like for maintenance and reliability etc. So far it looks like Arietta, AyA, Grulla and Ugartechea are on the list to examine a bit closer. Any others worth looking at?[/quote

 

Only quality make not mentioned is Arrezabalaga, lower end Sarrasqueta, laurona are well worth a look. If you keep a watch on here decent guns often come up. Search on guntrader for sxs and restrict your search to Spanish and you will see what's out there. Until early 80's there were dozens of small workshops making sxs guns and most made a reasonable quality sidelock. Buy the gun on its condition and looks not its name!

[kody]

Victor sarasquita very good quality guns I paid 600 for mine a model 6ec Churchill rib

[JohnfromUK]

As said earlier in the thread, single triggers can be troublesome. I would also avoid the 'English named' clones such as Denton & Kennel. Popular about 20 or 30 years ago, they haven't held value well - even though inexpensive new.

 

They used a number of Spanish makers - and some were not as good as others. Parker Hale used Ignacio Ugartechea, which are good - and Gunmark guns also have a good name (again made by various makers, often Arrietta? All of the major Spanish names are OK (AyA, Arriatta, Grulla/Union Ameria, Ugartechea etc), though of course there are different grades.

 

I think that AyA followed by Arrietta (Arrietta are also sold by some English makers under their own names but with declared Spanish origin - such as I believe William Evans and William Powell) hold value best, and I suspect that these two brands are probably amongst the best sellers.

[Wingman]

My gunmark silver kestrel is made by Zabala Hermanos.