One additional thought. Spanish guns seem to have put on some weight in the last couple of years. 28 gauge guns used to run around 5 pounds 10 ounces to 5 pounds 13 ounces. Today you have to look hard to find one under about 6 pounds 2 ounces to 6 pounds 4 ounces. (I focus on the 28 gauge because that's what I was looking to purchase.) It seems true for 16s, which are approaching the standard British 12 gauge game gun weight of 6 pounds 12 ounces. The 12s are now running up to 7-1/4 pounds. I'm sure some of this results from strengthening the guns to handle the higher pressure of American factory loads, but if you're marketing to a traditional game gun buyer, that matters as well.
There’s a misapprehension here. The weight of a Spanish shotgun is determined by purpose of the gun, within the constraints of the configuration desired by the customer. A light game gun will usually run lighter than a medium game gun, and the medium game gun will usually be lighter than a pigeon (i.e. competition) gun. There is no standard gun weight because there is no standard gun. Here’s an example:
Both guns are 12 gauge. The gun on the right is an AyA model 53 built as a classic medium game gun. The gun on the left is a Luis Arrizabalaga model 228, built as a live pigeon gun. See the difference? The medium game gun is made for the occasional driven hunt, or for boar, and will be fired maybe a few hundred times a year. The pigeon gun is made to stand up to week in and week out high money competition, and may see a several hundred shells a week.
Those are examples of medium to heavy guns. Here is a light game gun, a 12 gauge Ascensio Zabala:
Note the thin and narrow action and the absence of any reinforcement or bolsters. This is a light game gun, made to be “carried much, shot little.”
When we see a significant difference in weight between two Spanish shotguns, we’re seeing two shotguns with different purposes.
