doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Views on 60s Zephyr Uplander King by V. Sarasqueta

all spanish makers are not created equal.some makers have a much better reputation than others (even if the name sound's the same)i think starting with a good name on a spanish gun is a good place to start.i fact on a spanish gun the name is the first place to start.

I picked up a 10 ga mag Zepher last year. Looks a lot like your gun but with 32" barrels. I would say these are real sleepers. The inside of the locks are jeweled and look like a watch in there. I'm still working with mine and hope to use it this fall. My gun was made in 1955.

I've not taken the lock off my single barrel VS Honker, but I expect everything to be very nice in there. What a great gun.

I got my 10 gauge Zephyr in almost unfired condition, trouble was it had a checkered butt and kicked like you were hit with a baseball bat. I put a recoil pad on it to tame the beast and have been having fun with it ever since.

Kyrie, the vast majority of Zabala-made guns in this country don't look like any of those. And one of the important aspects of "condition" is what happens when you pull the triggers . . . which you can't find out until you shoot it. I'll cordially disagree with you by saying that, from personal experience and that of others, function issues are not particularly uncommon with Zabalas. Less likely you'll encounter them with something made by V. Sarasqueta or AyA.

Larry,

Let�s break this down a little.


The vast majority of Spanish shotguns � Zabala, AyA, Ugartechea, and Victor Sarasqueta � in this country don�t look like those guns because the vast majority of Spanish shotguns in this country are inexpensive box locks. �Those� guns were all made to a higher price point than the vast majority of the box lock guns.

But this is something of a digression. You asked if my �buy the gun and not the name� included Zabala and I answered with three examples where I�d done so, and the prices at which I bought each gun. I was happy with all three deals and the guns have been a lot of fun.

Other folks are free to do as they please, but I give little weight to who the maker of a gun was. I�m much more interested in how much skilled hand labor went into a gun relative to how much money the seller wants for the gun.


True of any gun, especially used guns.


Anther YMMV subject. I�ve had any number of Zabala Hermanos shotguns (and still have five or six) and have yet to have any problem with any of them.

As an aside, did you notice the three guns I posted came from two different makers named �Zabala�? There were a number of different makers named Zabala, just as there were a number of different makers named Sarasqueta.

I�m fine with grouping all the guns made by any Zabala and any Sarasqueta into �Spanish shotguns� (i.e. buying gun, not name), but I�m a little surprised you would aggregate all Zabala guns but not aggregate all Sarasqueta guns (i.e. giving weight to who the maker was).

I was just out on Gun Broker and a couple other of the on-line auction sites, and was reminded of another potential issue with buying the name rather than the gun. Here�s what I hope will be a fun pop quiz:

You come across a nice Spanish side lock, top of the barrels are marked �Sarriugarte�, and it�s an American Arms import. Who was the maker?

Right beside it is another very attractive and highly engraved Spanish side lock, top of barrels marked �Felix Sarasqueta�. Who was the maker?

Beside the gun marked Felix Sarasqueta is another Spanish side lock, top of barrels marked �Trust Eibarres�. Who was the maker?

And last but not least, there is very impressive Spanish side lock marked �Astra�. Who was the maker?

It�s safe to assume the answers aren�t obvious :-)

Francisco Sarriugarte? Do I get a cigar? I have a Sarriugarte boxlock that I am well pleased with. Had it been a side lock I probably would not have bought it. I prefer boxlocks.

Kyrie, I was speaking of Zabala Hermanos, which is the Zabala familiar to most of us on this side of the pond. I've picked up new guns by them, and could see daylight where the stock and receiver meet. AyA also imported quite a few inexpensive boxlocks at one time. (Thinking the Matadors, for example.) Other than the fact that the single triggers were often quite creepy, function was pretty reliable.

The fact you have not had problems with Zabala guns is nice . . . but anecdotal. It's like discussions we've had here before about Parker Repros with single triggers. Some people have never had trigger issues; ask a broad audience and you don't have any trouble finding people who've had problems.

If Matadors had double triggers, they would be priced double what they sell for now. My double trigger Matador light ten was just a wonderful gun. The fellow I sold it to actually has two of them.