doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Arrieta 873 Rare SXS Shotgun

Hey y'all! My name is J.T. I'm new here and wanted to reach out to see if anyone could possibly give me an idea of how to find the true value of a supposedly one-of-a-kind Arrieta 873 Double Barrel Side-by-Side shotgun I inherited earlier this year.

I've spent the last few months gathering as much information as I can from family, a local gun store here in Savannah, GA, and more. I don't want to take up too much of your time with too much detail, so I'll give you the highlights...

I inherited a shotgun that was supposedly my Great-Grandfather’s. Photos are attached via Imgur link: https://imgur.com/a/yhwglxo, and you'll see it's in pretty great condition for being a WWII-era shotgun.
I couldn't find the exact engraved design on any of the Arrieta forums I combed through, so I decided to take it to a local gun shop that does appraisals and also pay them to give it a full cleaning.
It took them two months to get back to me because the serial number didn't match anything in their database.

They finally called me to come in, and the guy behind the counter was very excited to speak with me. He said they found out that the reason the serial number wasn't in the database is because the gun was most likely manufactured in a building affected by the destruction of WWII, and the records of the firearm were burned within the building.
Furthermore, the gun's engraved design was most likely somewhat of a special custom order by whoever had it made. There's a likely chance that it's the only one of its kind.

With all this information, I went to my grandma, who said that she remembered her father buying the gun when they lived in Germany post-WWII from a guy who lived there when it was occupied. He traded the gun for a bottle of Wild Turkey Bourbon since they couldn't have bourbon shipped in, if you can believe that! Just a fun fact.

Anyway, the guy behind the gun counter told me that they have to value the gun at the price of an Arrieta 873, but that I should reach out to someone who knows much more about that specific type of gun to get a true value on it because it's most likely way more valuable. He did say it's still in working condition, and I can fire it if I wanted to, but I haven't and most likely won't since I use other much less valuable shotguns to hunt. I'd be open to selling it depending on the value.

I don't know much about antique guns, so I found this site, and figured I'd post a thread. If you've read all of this, thank you so much for your time. Any information would be extremely helpful!

Have a great day!

Welcome on your first posting

https://www.shotguns.se/html/spain.html

Mike

Welcome. That isn’t what most folks consider an antique gun.

There is a member here, “Kyrie” who is quite knowledgeable about Spanish guns and the gun trade in Spain. I’m hoping he will show up to provide some insight on your new gun. In the description, there is wording that describes a “cheek rise” but, no photo of the wood on the left side. I presume this refers to a cheek piece, popular on European spec guns at that time, along with the sling swivels and the leather sling. A photo of that side of the stock, along with the flats of the barrels, and the markings on the barrels would help a lot.

Best of luck. I will speculate that it is worth more than a bottle of wild turkey at this juncture in time.

Best,
Ted

Any of the Spanish gunmakers built guns to order on a regular basis. You may call it a "one-of-a-kind", but that doesn't increase the value or desirability. The Germanic touches of sling swivels and a cheekpiece are deducts in the value in today's market. Also, I must say your gun looks unusually new for a piece from that era, with what appears to be no actual use whatsoever. Regardless, I'm guessing maybe around $4500 would be a retail value.
JR

John Boyd is the Arietta expert and retired Arietta importer to the USA (Quality Arms of Houston, TX). He is a member of this forum. I am satisfied that the will see this post and comment on your gun

Regards;
Stephen Howell

The Spanish proof house marked date codes starting in 1927.
This is the image we need (which might be Kyrie's)

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1075835038

This look like it?

Go shoot it.

Hey there Mike! Very close, one of the closest I've seen, but not the exact design. I added a few more photos to the Imgur. Thanks so much!

First off, what an awesome community! I post, check back half a day later and every reply is super helpful! I really appreciate y'all.
I added some photos to the Imgur that include some proof marks and what I believe is a maker's mark.
Thanks again y'all!