doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com AyA Quality in the 60's

I am looking at AyA No.2's.I have a friend who's Dad has one made in 1962.How is the quality from that period? I have not seen it yet or photos but have no reference as my Dad shoots 21's and Parkers. Opinions?
H

That is a hard question to answer from your description. Was it custom built for a customer, or retailer, in Spain, or part of a group of guns that came to the US, that the importer fought over every last penny with the maker?
The quality between those two examples could be great. The Spanish makers would build what the customer ordered.
We would need more facts.

Good luck.

Best,
Ted

The 1962 " No 2 " is not quite the same gun as we know today . It is my understanding that it was designated Model 2 as opposed to No 2 .There have been quite a few changes since this gun was built and the current No 2 parts will[largely] not be the same.Specifically locks and ejector work/extractors.
That said the over all quality was generally good and I do see many of these older guns still in regular use and in good over all condition .

What about steel quality?

I have a lot of friends who own AYAs along with myself, The steel is very good, my biggest [censored], is the blueing on the older guns are not the best. Out of the 5 I own, internal steel and action are good, the barrels shows some freckles on the underside, that seems to show up after a day of hunting. (Which drives me crazy). All my AYAs were bought in the mid 70s directly from Spain,
Mid 60s the model 2 is different from the # 2, not sure what year the 117 hit the market, I know we had a couple in our order in the 70s .
Just wish we could buy the guns at the prices I paid for them in the 70s.

Spanish makers made a lot of poor quality guns , mostly box locks, in the 60's and 70's but they also made very good quality guns at the same time. When you work to a customers price point quality often takes a back seat.

bill

I agree price point plays a role, however, the most expensive gun on the order was the Augusta at $1265 with 2 sets of barrels, my 53e was next at $129. Both guns custom ordered with cast and drop. The lest expensive gun on the order was the 117s at $77 each, my xxvbl was at $86 each.

I wish I would have bought more of the 117 along with the 53e.

Each gun ran an additional $10 for handling and A 1 time fee of $99.99 for import. To note none of the gun we ordered direct from the factory have any additional import marks.

Just can,t believe the price of what they are going for now.

Now the 2 number 2s I picked up in the early 80 while in Spain ran me just under a grand a 28 with 2 sets of barrels and a 410. My biggest mistake was not getting a case for the 410.

Now I did pick up an Ibar in 20 with triple bit the barrels are great steel, the locks and internals are soft and poor steel, but it's still going strong