Gentlemen, I am a very big fan of Spanish guns (and German guns as well). When it came time to finally put down some real money for my very first handmade gun, it was an Arrieta 557 from New England Arms. The products coming out of Eibar these days are the absolute best value available in the world today on a handmade doublegun, bespoke or otherwise. With that said, however, I've personally handled English 2-inch 12s down to 4lbs15, and English 28s down to 5lbs1. While most 2-inch English 12s aren't quite that light (this one was Scottish), they generally run slightly under 5 1/2-lbs. The 28 bore I mentioned has 28-inch tubes and a 14 1/2 LOP, making it if anything slightly heavier than average. As much as I like Spanish "bests" it has been my experience that they generally weigh just a bit more than their vintage English counterparts, and for all the reasons that I mentioned earlier. And, as a practical matter, that is not necessarily a bad thing.
Last edited by Lloyd3; 02/20/13 01:02 AM.
