Hello Fallschirmjaeger,
Congratulation on your acquisition thats one fine box lock.
1933 would be my guess. If the year proof code isnt F it would have to be F1 (1960) or F2 (1986).
We can exclude F2 as Victor Sarasqueta went out of business before 1986. The code F1 wouldnt be unreasonable, but would be stretching a bit as Greener (and Scott) cross bolts had almost completely fallen out of use by 1960.
But Im reluctant to accept F1 as there just isnt any sign of any number after the F proof year code.
Also there is this:
Ive gone through some old Sarasqueta catalogs and have found a model in an undated (but likely 1930 1940) catalog that pictures a model similar to yours (described in the catalog as a model 97).
We need to consider Trust Eibarres, as that was the retailer under whose name the gun was retailed. Looking through a 1930 1933 Trust Eibarres catalog I found a gun that is nearly identical to yours (a model 154), except that illustration shows a Scott cross bolt rather than a Greener cross bolt.
All things considered, my opinion would be a year code of F and a proof year of 1933.
With that in mind I went back through your photos and think I can see signs of considerable use, and that someone who knew what he was doing has had the action apart at some point (suggesting repair). So, in spite of the absolutely stunning cosmetic condition of the gun, I can believe it was made circa 1933 and has seen use consistent with that age.
Turning to Trust Eibarries (TE), TE was (and still is) a major ammunition manufacturer in Spain. From the very early 1900 up into the 1960s TE was also a retailer of shotguns made by a host of Spanish gun makers. TE sponsored shooting matches and was a heavy supporter of live pigeon matches. Ive owned a couple or three TE guns, and had more pass through my hands, and can say from experience you can find just about any maker sold under the TE label
Concerning the location of proof and manufacturing data, we have three periods (call them eras) during which proof/manufacturing data was found in some specific place. Most recently (beginning about 1995) proof year was moved from the barrel flats to the water table (and the year code was abandoned).
From about 1929 into the 1940s the proof year code, barrel weight, and maker mark were placed on the barrel tubes, in front of the barrel flats. Thats the case with your gun (which has the Victor Sarasqueta makers mark V.S. on the left barrel tube.
Beginning in the late 1930s the makers began to move these marks from the barrel tubes on to the water table. This was something of a slow process, with quite a bit of randomness in where what mark went on any gun by any maker at any point in time. But by circa 1950 the move was pretty much complete. This practice lasted until the mid-1990s, which is why we are so accustomed to looking on the barrel flats.
So what you have isnt just a very fine shotgun; its also a walk through the history of Spanish shotgun making and an introduction to some of the major players :-)
