. Cat.logo_AYA(1-15).fh8 - AYA, Aguirre y Aranzabal

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The Basque Country And the Ancient Art of Gunmaking T he Basque Country consists of three provinces in northeastern Spain, with the Pyrenees to the east and the Bay of Biscay to the north. It is a land of steep green mountains, hidden valleys, and rugged coastlines. The Basque Country — El Pais Vasco — is an ancient land, and its inhabitants have dwelt in its mountains since the dawn of mankind. The Basques are believed to be the last of the original Europeans, with their own language and unique culture. They are seafarers and fishermen. Fishing villages dot the coast like pearls, and great navigators have sailed from Basque ports to explore every corner of the earth. With a wealth of water power and substantial iron deposits, however, the Basque Country is also an ancient industrial centre. Steelmaking and manufacturing have been mainstays of the Basque economy for centuries. From the beginning, the Basques were great arms makers. They began with swords, spears and shields, and graduated naturally to gunmaking when gunpowder was discovered and the technology swept through Europe in the late 1200s. The center of Basque gunmaking is the town of Eibar, situated in a narrow mountain valley cut by the Ego River. For centuries, gunmaking has been the raison d’être for Eibar’s 28,000 inhabitants. It is home to the Escuela de Armeria — the gunmakers’ school — as well as the government proof house (Banco de Pruebas) which proof-tests every shotgun made in Spain. – 7 – Spanish Treasure The era of fine gunmaking in the English tradition began in the Basque Country during the Peninsular War, when Napoleon’s troops were driven out of Spain by Spanish guerrillas and British forces under the Duke of Wellington. Wellington’s officers took home gun barrels of Spanish steel (Spanish steel was renowned for its strength) and had them made into fowling pieces by London gunmakers such as the Manton brothers. This gave birth to a strong bond between London, the commercial capital of the world, and Bilbao, the Basque port and center of banking, shipping, and iron mining. The Basques shipped iron ore to Britain, and sailed home with cargos of British coal. The close commercial ties between London and Bilbao throughout the 1800s naturally led to exchanges of technology and technique; as the English perfected the game gun in the late 1800s, the passion for fine guns crossed the Bay of Biscay and established itself in the Basque Country. If John Manton was the father of English gunmaking — making artists out of blacksmiths, as James Purdey described it — then Victor Sarasqueta was the father of the Basque finegun trade. Sarasqueta established his company in 1881, and for the next hundred years set a high standard for Spanish “best” guns. Although Sarasqueta was the oldest, however, his company was not the largest, nor was it the most famous. That honour belongs to a firm founded in 1915 by Miguel Aguirre and Nicolas Aranzabal — Aguirre y Aranzabal, known around the world as AYA. ✦
Aguirre y Aranzabal From 1915 to 1938 A lthough the centre of the Spanish firearms industry has always been the Basque Country, another small gunmaking center existed for many years in Catalonia, near Barcelona. One of the most famous of the Barcelona gunmakers was a transplanted German, Eduardo Schilling. Word of Schilling’s skill spread to the Basque Country, and two young Basque gunmakers, Miguel Aguirre and Nicolas Aranzabal, left their home in the Basque province of Guipuzcoa to work with Schilling and perfect their skills. In 1915, they returned home and went into business together as Aguirre y Aranzabal — AYA. The Basque gunmaking industry traditionally has consisted of hundreds of small shops, ranging in size from two craftsmen to two dozen. Each has its own speciality — making locks or lock blanks; soldering barrels or finishing bores; fashioning stocks or applying oil finishes. In this respect, the Basque industry closely resembles that of England’s second city of gunmaking, Birmingham. In the 1800s, Birmingham’s gunmaking quarter was a maze of streets lined with shops producing all manner of guns and gun parts. During working hours, the streets were filled with apprentices dashing from one shop to another, carrying bits of guns in various states of production. Today, in London, many guns with old established names are made “in the trade” — that is, by subcontracting them to outworkers — rather than in a full-time factory staffed with craftsmen. Similarly, Eibar has shops that produce locks, or barrels, or frames. Individual craftsmen either produce these bits, or are employed as outworkers, handling the overflow from larger shops. – 8 – AYA began as a small shop producing components for established companies. At that time, Victor Sarasqueta was the dominant producer of long guns, but there were dozens of others, large and small, producing every manner of firearm from handguns, rifles, and military hardware, to trade guns and top quality side-by-side shotguns. AYA’s first shop was in Eibar, close to Carmelitas Church. As the company grew, it expanded and moved, first to Calle Julian Etxebarria in the center of town, and later to a large, new factory in the Vista Alegre. Each move brought larger quarters and more craftsmen, and the company’s reputation for high-quality work grew along with it.
Page 2 and 3: “ From beginning to end …” A
Page 4 and 5: Spanish Treasure by Terry Wieland S
Page 6 and 7: A fondness for AYA by Michael McInt
Page 10 and 11: The first half of the 20th century
Page 12 and 13: were the trade’s major customers.
Page 14 and 15: As the rest of the Basque firearms
Page 16: This partnership with its importers
Page 19 and 20: Model Nº 4/53 T he Nº 4 has been
Page 21 and 22: Model Nº 4 “de Luxe” T he Nº
Page 23 and 24: Model XXV / BL O ne of the most fam
Page 25 and 26: Model Nº 2 & Nº 2 Round Action T
Page 27 and 28: Model XXV / SL O ne of the most fam
Page 29 and 30: Model Nº 53 T he Nº 53 (also know
Page 31 and 32: Model Nº 1 & Nº 1 Round Action T
Page 33 and 34: Model Nº 1 - “de Luxe” T he N
Page 35 and 36: Model Nº 56 T he Model Nº 56 was
Page 37 and 38: Model “Imperial” T he “Imperi
Page 39 and 40: Model Nº 37 T he Model Nº 37 is t
Page 41 and 42: Model Augusta T he Augusta is a “
Page 43 and 44: Special Shotguns The following page
Page 45 and 46: - 44 -
Page 47 and 48: Picture courtesy of The Shooting Ga
Page 49 and 50: Making an AYA E very AYA is made by
Page 51 and 52: Why an AYA? S ixty years ago, in th
Page 53 and 54: Wood T he quality of a gun stock ma
Page 55 and 56: Optional extras A ll AYA shotguns c
Page 57 and 58: Serial numbers and historical data
Page 59 and 60:
Gun Cases S uch special shotguns de
Page 61 and 62:
Accessories T hese are a few of the
Page 63 and 64:
Gun and rifle slings - 62 - Belt Kn
Page 65:
AYA, Aguirre y Aranzabal Gun Makers
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