Sarasqeta

[Benelli m2]

Just bought a nice victor boxlock ej as new 27 1/2 barrels full an
And 1/2 choke yet to try it thoughts pls on this nice Spanish guns

 

[reiver]

I had two Sarsqeta a o/u and a sidelock ejector with 25-26 barrels back in the late 80s they were ok
I think the firm went bust in the early 1980s from what i was told at the time .

 

[ileso]

I have a very beautiful V.Sarasqueta SxS. Victor died in the 1930's and the firm was taken over by his son becoming Victor Sarasqueta S.A.
They can be of very high quality, as good as any AyA, Arrizabalaga, Grulla or Arrieta.
In his heyday V.S became the armourer to the King of Spain, he was obsessed with building quality guns.. The company closed in the 1990's about two decades after Victors son's death. Probably due to lowering quality standards and family squabbles etc...

Here is the catalogue

When was yours built? The earlier in the last century the better they were. Two indicators of the dating will be the stamp which changed after Victor died and the serial.

 

[hendrix's rifle]

Just bought a nice victor boxlock ej as new 27 1/2 barrels full an
And 1/2 choke yet to try it thoughts pls on this nice Spanish guns

I picked one up a few months ago, full and half, light weight and don't really know your carrying it! A costly 50 quid is all it cost me

 

[enfieldspares]

Thank you for posting the link to the catalogue. I didn't know they had finished. Just thought that nobody imported them nowadays. There's some real bargains in quality Spanish s/b/s guns presently. I bought my son an equally as new Sabel BLE a couple of months ago. Unbelievable that nobody seems to want these things today.

The barrel length 27.5" is some exact metric figure...28cm I think? Some of the Parker Hale Spanish BLE and SLE have similar length barrels. Ideal for walking up with that weight and choke configuration although you may want the right barrel taken out to 1/4? For full on driven I'd go 1/4 and 1/4 in both barrels or even IMP and IMP. But these are elegantly light guns and silly use of 36 gram loads will take them off the face in short order.

But 27" was a quite popular standard length in the UK in the late 1920s and 1930s and immediately post- WWII. Gough Thomas had Henry Atkin build him his gun with that barrel length and there are a few Boss guns similar. It is supposed to have the virtues of Churchill's XXV length of 25" but with none of its vices.

 

[ileso]

Is the use of heavy loads detrimental to the gun? how?

 

[enfieldspares]

It will take it off the face quicker than the use of light loads. Just the same as consistent of .357 Magnum loads in a S & W Model 19 wasn't good for it. When any break open type shotgun is fired the barrels try to move away from the action. Heavy loads exaggerate that strain effect.