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Side by Side Club


AYA117

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42 minutes ago, Old farrier said:

Lovely looking little gun very understated caliber 😊👍

thanks for posting 👍

Thanks OF. I’ve shot with 16 bore side by sides for nearly 50 years and would never be without at least a couple.

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  • 4 weeks later...
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After 19 months, after the original set of barrels failed proof for HP steel, after another set of barrels were made in spain and the gun re-imported, it's actually now mine. Luckily, with the joy of insurance, I ended up with a pretty much "new" AYA #1 round body, self opening, articulated front trigger for the price of a 1985 gun. Proofed for HP steel, action fully refurbed.

On a side note, the shop said they now refuse to try to reproof anything at half/half, they go for 1/4,1/4 choke. Of 30 attempts at proofing at 1/2, they lost 3 sets of barrels. Since they now do 1/4, they lost none.

Second gun is a 1937 Churchill XXV we bought for my wife (do not go shopping with your wife :-)), she loves shooting a Winchester SxS (24" barrels!) but the re-cocking is monstrously hard, this one has the same measurements mostly, but is butter smooth, and it looks fantastic with barely any wear and the action open/close/eject is like butter!

6taBNux.jpg?1

Edited by buze
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9 hours ago, buze said:

After 19 months, after the original set of barrels failed proof for HP steel, after another set of barrels were made in spain and the gun re-imported, it's actually now mine. Luckily, with the joy of insurance, I ended up with a pretty much "new" AYA #1 round body, self opening, articulated front trigger for the price of a 1985 gun. Proofed for HP steel, action fully refurbed.

On a side note, the shop said they now refuse to try to reproof anything at half/half, they go for 1/4,1/4 choke. Of 30 attempts at proofing at 1/2, they lost 3 sets of barrels. Since they now do 1/4, they lost none.

Second gun is a 1937 Churchill XXV we bought for my wife (do not go shopping with your wife :-)), she loves shooting a Winchester SxS (24" barrels!) but the re-cocking is monstrously hard, this one has the same measurements mostly, but is butter smooth, and it looks fantastic with barely any wear and the action open/close/eject is like butter!

6taBNux.jpg?1

Beautiful

You still got the 32" arrieta?

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9 hours ago, buze said:

this one has the same measurements mostly, but is butter smooth, and it looks fantastic with barely any wear and the action open/close/eject is like butter!

I am guessing that your (your wife's) Churchill will in fact be Birmingham made for Churchill (an expert could tell you who made it, but companies such as AA Brown and others made for the big names).  As such it comes from a trade that knew the quality boxlock better than anywhere for a great many years.

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2 hours ago, button said:

Beautiful

You still got the 32" arrieta?

No! That's another story for you. The one I "bought" was in fact AYA made, like new (shot 4 times).
So I bought it, but didn't take delivery, as I found the trigger a bit "floppy" -- there was a bit of play on it, and since I have a light finger, that was not nice at all.
So off it goes to the gunsmith. Lockdown occurs, gun's away, as soon as I can get back to the shop I return and find immediately that 1) first trigger pull is now quite crisp (bit too much?) but 2) SECOND pull on that single trigger is floppy. Doh. Off the guns goes back to the gunsmith.
Another lockdown later, I return and now, in the shop, with snapcaps, both pulls are now crisp. Hurrah!

Off I go to a test shoot, the skeet range will do... and on the first pair I realise that the second trigger is now so crisp you need to pull like a donkey to trigger it, needless to say, the muzzle wobbles like crazy and it makes the gun pretty much unusable. So the recoil must be doing something to re-cock even more. Luckily, one instructor tried the gun and found the same problem, so it wasn't just "me"

So, having lost confidence completely, I got a refund for that gun, promising myself I wouldn't even glance at a single-trigger SxS ever again.

2 days later, the shop with the AYA calls saying the gun was coming back from spain, and I still had first refusal on it! Pfew :-)
 

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34 minutes ago, buze said:

No! That's another story for you. The one I "bought" was in fact AYA made, like new (shot 4 times).
So I bought it, but didn't take delivery, as I found the trigger a bit "floppy" -- there was a bit of play on it, and since I have a light finger, that was not nice at all.
So off it goes to the gunsmith. Lockdown occurs, gun's away, as soon as I can get back to the shop I return and find immediately that 1) first trigger pull is now quite crisp (bit too much?) but 2) SECOND pull on that single trigger is floppy. Doh. Off the guns goes back to the gunsmith.
Another lockdown later, I return and now, in the shop, with snapcaps, both pulls are now crisp. Hurrah!

Off I go to a test shoot, the skeet range will do... and on the first pair I realise that the second trigger is now so crisp you need to pull like a donkey to trigger it, needless to say, the muzzle wobbles like crazy and it makes the gun pretty much unusable. So the recoil must be doing something to re-cock even more. Luckily, one instructor tried the gun and found the same problem, so it wasn't just "me"

So, having lost confidence completely, I got a refund for that gun, promising myself I wouldn't even glance at a single-trigger SxS ever again.

2 days later, the shop with the AYA calls saying the gun was coming back from spain, and I still had first refusal on it! Pfew 🙂
 

Result!

Like the case!

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21 hours ago, buze said:

After 19 months, after the original set of barrels failed proof for HP steel, after another set of barrels were made in spain and the gun re-imported, it's actually now mine. Luckily, with the joy of insurance, I ended up with a pretty much "new" AYA #1 round body, self opening, articulated front trigger for the price of a 1985 gun. Proofed for HP steel, action fully refurbed.

On a side note, the shop said they now refuse to try to reproof anything at half/half, they go for 1/4,1/4 choke. Of 30 attempts at proofing at 1/2, they lost 3 sets of barrels. Since they now do 1/4, they lost none.

Second gun is a 1937 Churchill XXV we bought for my wife (do not go shopping with your wife :-)), she loves shooting a Winchester SxS (24" barrels!) but the re-cocking is monstrously hard, this one has the same measurements mostly, but is butter smooth, and it looks fantastic with barely any wear and the action open/close/eject is like butter!

6taBNux.jpg?1

Fantastic looking guns 👍👍

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On 05/09/2021 at 07:46, JohnfromUK said:

I am guessing that your (your wife's) Churchill will in fact be Birmingham made for Churchill (an expert could tell you who made it, but companies such as AA Brown and others made for the big names).  As such it comes from a trade that knew the quality boxlock better than anywhere for a great many years.

Wrights in Birmingham made guns for Churchill before they were taken over by them  . Even when they were Churchill owned many in the trade still called them Wrights .They were in Bath St before the move across town to Orange Sq in the jewellery quarter 

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  • 3 weeks later...

This thread has actually led me to joining this forum… I may only be 22 but all I use is side by sides! I have 3 at the moment… an AYA No.3 that’s my wet weather/ fowling gun, a 1948 Webley & Scott Mod. 700 that’s my main gun for clays and game, and an 1885 Trulock & Harris hammer gun that’s an heirloom used for special occasions! I’ve found a 28” barrelled side by side is perfect for me, with 21g 7.5’s for clays and 28g 6’s for game doing the job in most situations I’ve found. I’ve attached photos of the Webley & AYA as best as I can! 

1948 Webley & Scott Mod. 700C6B38DD7-962B-4C02-8EE0-E08F1409994F.jpeg.877e262092ecd5a0ab569fa6af5d56a3.jpeg

AYA No. 3

CA513084-7098-42A2-A0D6-F474F60BBA89.jpeg.b9bd2a8a702f3a5f83ec21159a40a10f.jpeg

 

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21 hours ago, WessexTom said:

This thread has actually led me to joining this forum… I may only be 22 but all I use is side by sides! I have 3 at the moment… an AYA No.3 that’s my wet weather/ fowling gun, a 1948 Webley & Scott Mod. 700 that’s my main gun for clays and game, and an 1885 Trulock & Harris hammer gun that’s an heirloom used for special occasions! I’ve found a 28” barrelled side by side is perfect for me, with 21g 7.5’s for clays and 28g 6’s for game doing the job in most situations I’ve found. I’ve attached photos of the Webley & AYA as best as I can! 

1948 Webley & Scott Mod. 700C6B38DD7-962B-4C02-8EE0-E08F1409994F.jpeg.877e262092ecd5a0ab569fa6af5d56a3.jpeg

AYA No. 3

CA513084-7098-42A2-A0D6-F474F60BBA89.jpeg.b9bd2a8a702f3a5f83ec21159a40a10f.jpeg

 

Good guns to own,a 700 is hard to beat in the value for money stakes,they always seem to shoot really well.

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16 hours ago, JohnfromUK said:

The same loads I and I think many others use.  Well suited to the nice guns you have.

They are the standard I think… I was taught by my Grandad that an ounce of 6’s will cover most bases so it’s what I’ve stuck to as it works for me! And thank you… they do me proud so I can’t complain!

2 hours ago, matone said:

Good guns to own,a 700 is hard to beat in the value for money stakes,they always seem to shoot really well.

I shoot better with mine than any other gun I’ve used, and to own a proper bit of English gun making heritage for much less than a new mass produced OU it’s a no- brainer for me

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11 hours ago, WessexTom said:

They are the standard I think… I was taught by my Grandad that an ounce of 6’s will cover most bases so it’s what I’ve stuck to as it works for me! And thank you… they do me proud so I can’t complain!

I shoot better with mine than any other gun I’ve used, and to own a proper bit of English gun making heritage for much less than a new mass produced OU it’s a no- brainer for me

I could not agree more with both your statements.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just got my first side by side today. Nothing fancy but I wanted something cheap to open up another slot on my certificate and something I could use round our pond and do a bit of rough shooting with. 

Never heard of the make before and can't really find much on Internet about it. The makers name seems to be Bignotti. Anyone able to shed any light on them or has anyone owned one of these before?

Pics aren't great but I will try and take a couple of clearer pictures tomorrow.

 

IMG-20211013-WA0006.jpeg

20211013_115216.jpg

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18 hours ago, WinkerWatson said:

Just got my first side by side today. Nothing fancy but I wanted something cheap to open up another slot on my certificate and something I could use round our pond and do a bit of rough shooting with. 

Never heard of the make before and can't really find much on Internet about it. The makers name seems to be Bignotti. Anyone able to shed any light on them or has anyone owned one of these before?

Pics aren't great but I will try and take a couple of clearer pictures tomorrow.

 

IMG-20211013-WA0006.jpeg

20211013_115216.jpgPresumably

Presumably Bignotti are the makers, from the same area in Italy where Beretta originate, Gardone VT

Armi is arms in Italian

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