Info on Spanish Shotguns?

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Beadwindow

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Greetings,

I recently ordered two used Spanish shotguns and was wondering if anyone could provide any information on them. I will be recieving a Sarriugarte 12ga O/U with double triggers, ejectors and case-hardened reciever. It reminds me of the Weatherby Orion or a similar O/U that was marketed by Remington about 10 years ago. The company was located in Eibar, Spain and folded after joining a consortium of smaller gunmakers that folded in the late 1980s. So far I've only heard good things about them. Has anyone else here had experience with them?

The second gun is a Ugartechea 12ga Sidelock SxS with straight pistol grip and splinter forend. Other than for a dent/gouge on the left side of the butt, it appears to be in decent (good +) shape. My research on the net suggests that this gun comes from one of the better Spanish gunmakers from Eibar, the new guns costing about the same as a new Browning or Beretta. Though I paid just over $200 for this gun, (decent range for a nice Stevens 311 or a beater SxS) I'd like to know if I have scored on this gun. If it looks promising, I might open up its chokes from F/M to IC/M, or refinish the stock if that would improve upon its looks/durability. Worst case scenario, it will be a beater gun that I will use with spreader loads for grouse and woodcock.

I also purchased a Franchi-Llama 12ga Semi-Auto, which I gather to be equivalent to the Franch 48AL, perhaps assembled or marketed by Llama. It sounded like an interesting gun from my online research and was wondering if anyone here has had experience with them. It looks to be a light, handy addition to my newly upgraded grouse hunting arsenal. I decided that I'll sell off a few guns that I'm not using to make up for these purchases, which were intended as an upgrade from some more basic guns that I don't use too much anyhow (i.e Win Ranger, NEF Survivor, Full-choked M500). Any info about these new guns would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Frank
 
Little info on those shotties. I've been looking for info for some time too.

most info leads to the belief that they are good shotguns, but it all boils down to the model and when it was made. I suppose you bought them from Tradeex?
 
Yes, I ordered them from Tradeex, after considerable time spent searching for info on the internet. I'm very confident that the Sarriugarte was a good deal, and the Ugartechea is at least worth as much as I paid for it and should in any event point well with the straight stock. My research seems to have indicated that these trade names did not put out many if any lower quality guns like several of the other Spanish gunmakers, and that the Sarriugarte was "the best of the best," quoting from an authorititative book put out on the subject. I guess that I'll see in a couple of days.....

The fellow at Tradeex told me that this will be the last time that they order Spanish shotguns from the exporter that they dealt with, as they did not expect the number of beaters that they recieved from this shipment. A few of the Lanbers looked fine to me and have a decent reputation as a good low-priced O/U, but in the end I chose not to take the bait. There were perhaps two or three other SxS that looked appealing out of the selection, though I was already pushing my limits with three guns, and several were from companies known for considerable variation in quality. Those remaining were too beat up to appeal to me. The appeal of the Franchi was buttressed by my research about them, and despite my preference for doubles I thought that a good semi would provide a nice upgrade to the quality of my upland arsenal.

I have a Kassner Churchill Royal 20ga SxS that was made in Spain, which is the best pointing, light and handy shotgun that I own, not to mention very pleasant to look at. If these guns are anywhere close in quality and design, I will be very happy indeed.

Regards,

Frank
 
You might want to acqurie the book Spanish Best by Terry Wieland. It's the only serious book on Spanish shotguns in circulation. Amazon.ca has it but ordering from Amazon.com in the states will get it to you faster.

Heres a good site with lots of info on Spanish guns and how to deciper the various markings on them. I don't recall who made the guns for Kassnar but there will be maker's marks on the action.

http://personales.jet.es/rafa/b_punzones.html

I've been to Eibar a couple of times and been through the Ugartechea operation along with most of the others.

Ugartechea make some decent guns but quality over the years has had up and downs. I am once bitten by an older Spanish sidelock, from one of the alleged better markers, that was cheap to buy but had some problems inside and cost me a significant amount in gunsmith charges and never was right. Be very cautious if you start going down this road.

As for Sarriugarte, here's what Wieland has to say:

Sarriugarte's first over/unders were medium-grade guns, but gradually the line was improved with higher grades added and lowers ones dropped, until eventually they were among the best in Spain
Click to expand...

Where your gun fits in that spectrum isn't something anyone can say without seeing the gun. They made a wide range of guns.

The Sarriugarte brothers, Juan Cruz and Arcadio, were the driving force behind DIARM which was the government-sponsored amalgamation of several smaller makers. It was a disaster from the start.

The Sarriugarte family is still in the gun business. They own Kemen, a maker of high grade o/u based on the Perazzi design.
 
Thanks Claybuster!

I cancelled my order on the Ugartechea after getting some close up photos of a gouge in the buttstock that was too nasty to ignore and did not seem to bode well for how the gun may have been treated. I saw that some of the used SxS by that make sold for as little as 200 pounds in the UK, so I knew not to blindly compare it to the $2 000 models in production today.

I heard about Wieland's praise of the Sarriugarte's on some webforums and am glad to hear that the gun that I ordered should be at least medium grade. It looks to be in very nice shape, so with a bit of luck I might have gotten a good deal on a later model. At $350, I figured that it cannot be any worse than the Baikals or Stoegers that might be had in that price range and it looks considerably nicer, so I'll be eagerly anticipating its arrival to see what I've got.

Were the Spanish guns at Tradeex not a one-time deal, I'd seriously consider Wieland's book, but it looks like I've currently exhausted the prospects for another Spanish shotgun for the time being and hope to be satisfied with my SxS and O/U. I might have bought a Lanber had they been in better shape, but even there it's clear that they are reputable economy gun and nothing more. All my looking for info on the net surely proves how invaluable Wieland's book would be to steer the neophyte to a decent gun though, and I could not agree with you more on that point.

Regards,

Frank
 
Beadwindow, I don't think at that price you can go wrong unless there is something drastically wrong with the gun. Wieland compares the basic level Sarriugarte with a Browning Citori and that's not bad company.

Don't interpret my remarks about Ugartechea as being negative. They make good guns as you know from your Kassnar. In recent years they have brought up production quality in response to their American and English importers.

Does Tradeex offer a three day inspection with return priveleges? At that price I'd be tempted to look at the gun just to see whether it had serious issues or was the steal of the century. How bad was the gouge in the stock?
 
Claybuster said:
Beadwindow, I don't think at that price you can go wrong unless there is something drastically wrong with the gun. Wieland compares the basic level Sarriugarte with a Browning Citori and that's not bad company.

Don't interpret my remarks about Ugartechea as being negative. They make good guns as you know from your Kassnar. In recent years they have brought up production quality in response to their American and English importers.

Does Tradeex offer a three day inspection with return priveleges? At that price I'd be tempted to look at the gun just to see whether it had serious issues or was the steal of the century. How bad was the gouge in the stock?
Click to expand...

The Gouge in the stock looked fairly deep, in that it would have required some type of filler and probably a refinishing of the stock to make it look decent. Otherwise the rest of the shotgun looked fine. Were I a bit more of a handyman or familiar with woodworking I would have loved to have taken on such a project, but alas I have no such pretensions at this time. The styling and design of the gun actually reminded me of my Kassnar/Uggie.

Thanks again for your advice!

Frank
 
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