AYA sxs & ou

Hardly any in the o/u. I know of one owner of an AyA o/u, a sidelock based on the Merkel action and have never seen another.

There is more interest in the sxs but I see a lot more Beretta sxs in circulation than guns from AyA. Of the higher grade Spanish makers however AyA would be the most common compared to Garbi, Arrieta, Grulla or Arrizabalaga.
 
There is considerable interest in better-grade AyA - sxs's in the U.K. and to a somewhat lesser extent in the USA, primarily from upland hunters. Their o/u's have not seemingly received the same amount of interest at all.

In the UK they are held up to be a viable "quality alternative" to the London & Birmingham made doubles - at a fraction of the cost - and with a much quicker delivery time. The few that I've run across have been very well-made with very good wood to metal fit, and have been utterly reliable.

The Canadian market for quality sxs's is, as I'm sure you can imagine, somewhat limited.
 
Win/64 said:
Didn't J.P. Sauer market a double made by AYA?
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I don't recall Sauer marketing one but AyA like many Spanish makers made guns for a lot of different companies including Sears in the U.S. I've even seen AyA-made guns marked for a long since defunct Toronto gun store. I believe the name of the place was Skinner Sports or something like that. They were on King St.
 
Claybuster...
Didn't Hollman & Hickey from Toronto distribute Spanish goods???
I seem to remember buying AYA through them in the early 70's.
Thegunnut
 
thegunnut said:
Claybuster...
Didn't Hollman & Hickey from Toronto distribute Spanish goods???
I seem to remember buying AYA through them in the early 70's.
Thegunnut
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Before my time. Not chronologically but at the time I was living in Northern Ontario and didn't have much exposure to what was happening in Toronto. Although I do remember going into Hallam's in the mid 70's when they were on Yonge St.

I know about the Skinner(?) guns because I saw three of them years ago at Precision arms, a 12, 20 and 28, all made by AyA. I didn't get back soon enough to buy them.
 
I too remember seeing some AyA's at Harry Hickey & Bill Hollman's place on Dawes Road.

At the time, AyAs in particular, were being touted by Francis E. Sell, an American gunmag writer who liked to play around with long range 3" 20 gauge handloads. Seemingly an article almost monthly. ( But just about as boring as reading Boddington,Jamieson, Simpson & some of the other current hacks)
He and Jack O'Connor shared some differences of opinion in print - I remember O'connor calling Sell a "Backyard Ballistician" and refuting many of his "findings" ... but Jack too was a bit of an AyA fan, as was Gene Hill.
 
beretta boy said:
I too remember seeing some AyA's at Harry Hickey & Bill Hollman's place on Dawes Road.

At the time, AyAs in particular, were being touted by Francis E. Sell, an American gunmag writer who liked to play around with long range 3" 20 gauge handloads. Seemingly an article almost monthly. ( But just about as boring as reading Boddington,Jamieson, Simpson & some of the other current hacks)
He and Jack O'Connor shared some differences of opinion in print - I remember O'connor calling Sell a "Backyard Ballistician" and refuting many of his "findings" ... but Jack too was a bit of an AyA fan, as was Gene Hill.
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O'Connor speaks very highly of AyA guns in "The Shotgun Book". Interestingly he warns against single-selective triggers in European guns. That's good advice today too. They are best avoided in the Basque guns.
 
The aya side by side would be a desireable gun to own here in Canada, even here things have come full circle, the sxs is in vogue again, and getting more popular!
 
I learned after my first shot with a Spanish SxS how wonderful they are in comparison with our typical pump guns...... It was the first shotgun with which I could be pretty sure of finding its mark on the first shot, which is really nice on those days where you only get a couple of opportunities!

I would highly recommend any reasonably priced Spanish shotgun for upland hunting and do not doubt the quality of the more expensive models of recent manufacture. Having just acquired a Spanish O/U and Franchi-Llama semi, I'd have to leave it to someone else to purchase an AyA at this time, but not for lack of appeal.
 
I have an AYA 10ga. 3 1/2" boxlock that I bought a number of years ago for Ducks & Geese. Actually this is the second one. Shortly after I got rid of the first I decided it had been a foolish move and had the opportunity to pick up a second. There was a benefit however, as the wood in this one is very nicely figured for what was a relatively inexpensive firearm at the time. I was going to get the chokes opened up to allow me to use steel shot but I may bite the bullet and go the Bismuth route instead. I've been told that it is a Matador model but I don't see that marked anywhere? Does anyone Know?
 
beretta boy said:
I too remember seeing some AyA's at Harry Hickey & Bill Hollman's place on Dawes Road.

At the time, AyAs in particular, were being touted by Francis E. Sell, an American gunmag writer who liked to play around with long range 3" 20 gauge handloads. Seemingly an article almost monthly. ( But just about as boring as reading Boddington,Jamieson, Simpson & some of the other current hacks)
He and Jack O'Connor shared some differences of opinion in print - I remember O'connor calling Sell a "Backyard Ballistician" and refuting many of his "findings" ... but Jack too was a bit of an AyA fan, as was Gene Hill.
Click to expand...

Hey hey hey, don't be knocking old Francis too much. :D Looking at the book shelf in my den I see I still have book of his, The American Deer Hunter. Jack O'Connor also shared a number of differences with one of my favorites, Elmer Keith.:)
 
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