doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Spanish Doubles

There were some really cheesy Spanish handguns produced in the 1920-1940s. This was not just a Spanish phenomenon either, France, Italy and Germany all had what you could call "severe price point" handguns, but, folks seem to remember the Spanish guns.
I think some of the problems occur when a manufacturer tries to make the leap from small scale to large scale producer. Double shotguns don't lend themselves well to this leap, not as well as more modern designs, anyway, simply for the amount of hand work that has to go into them. Couple this with the price point being dictated to same manufacturer by a distant importer, and it has the possibility of being a receipe for disaster. We live in times where it is expected to take X amount of time to fit an action, and someone is constantly harping on that guy fitting the action to get it done, a little sooner.
Cole Haugh told me he had decided, based on his experience working on Spanish doubles, that when a gun comes in, no matter the problem, the bits get re-hardened. He might be onto something. I hope that for the effort he puts into doing that, the outcome is much improved and he sees fewer guns a second or third time.
I've heard of problems with all three of the manufacturers you listed as "pretty good". I also witnessed the uncasing of a brand new William Powell boxlock, circa mid 1980s, that had so many problems develop that the owner simply gave up on it, three seasons into ownership. It was traded for an old English gun. The gun cost most of what I made in a year, back then. It looked good, coming out of the box. Note that this was before Powell's had Spanish guns for sale.
I think it will be tough to nail down years that are good or bad. I also don't believe that a single improperly hardened sear, in a random double, should condemn a whole countries output of double shotguns, either, as some seem to believe.

Best,
Ted