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Brewster11
PostPosted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 6:00 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 08 Feb 2009
Posts: 1301
Location: Western WA

All,

After reading the post from the individual seeking a 16ga SxS, I thought it might be useful to relate our experience with the merits and maintenance of the AyA No. 2 Round Body, which is a classic sidelock SxS.

First, the No. 2 is a remarkable Spanish firearm, a hand crafted precise reproduction of the legendary H&H sidelock, at the cost of maybe 10 to 20 cents on the dollar compared to the original. I doubt if many would be able to detect the difference between the two in shooting and handling in the field. Our example is 6 lbs 4.5 oz with 29" barrels and, for me, shoots great with excellent crisp light trigger pulls.

It is one of the few, if not the only 'affordable' SxS guns today with true single lump struck barrels, and not using modern monobloc (two piece) barrels. I question whether that is an advantage or not with today's technology, but traditionalists believe so.

Most, but maybe not all, of the engraving on the No. 2 is done by hand. Some boxlocks have false sideplates to admit more acreage for engraving, but they are functionally inert, being purely cosmetic.

Is there an advantage to a sidelock? One supposed advantage is an extra set of sears to prevent firing if dropped or otherwise mishandled, but I can't vouch for that.

There is less wood supporting the sidelock action than in a boxlock. That might be a problem...or not...this 13-year old example is extremely solid with no hint of looseness or rocking after a couple thousand rounds.

Now to the real heart of the difference and between sidelock and boxlock: The real point (to me) of a sidelock is that they are completely field maintainable. If something goes wrong in the guts of the action, you can get at everything and try to fix it in the field. Yes, you really can...I will tell you how to do it.

I would never take a rifle on a serious hunt today if I could not field strip it. And back in the days of the British Empire, the same was true and necessary if you were in Botswana or Burma or wherever. You would not want to put it on a steamer and ship it back to England if something broke.

The British model sidelock, and the AyA No. 2, is like those old prewar Rolls Royce cars that could be completely torn down and repaired out in the middle of nowhere, using the tools supplied with the car, and a forge on occasion.

Is that necessary today? Probably not. But almost everything in a sidelock is made to be disassembled and repaired in the field by the user. The tools and parts were supplied with the original H&H gun (but not with the No. 2). In any event, it can be difficult or impossible to fiddle with a jammed boxlock without taking it to a gunsmith or trying to learn gunsmithing on the fly in your shop or garage.

You might argue that the trigger group might drop out the bottom of your boxlock, but in general boxlocks are not designed nor intended to be field strippable by the user. They are meant to be compact and strong.

So What's the Deal With the No. 2?


The No. 2 locks are easy and simple to remove if you understand the procedure. If you don't follow the precise procedure you could damage the locks or the wood, or both. Once the locks are out, most of the action is right in front of you...except for one very important exception: The firing pins, aka strikers! They are troublesome because they seem to want to bend and break at the most inopportune moments, for reasons I have yet to determine.

In the old days of the British Empire, if the striker broke, one merely pulled out the spanner from the travel case carried by your porter, removed the breech plug, replaced the striker, and then resumed stalking your prey.

Evidently the standard protocol today for broken No. 2 strikers is to ship the gun back to the fine people at NECG for a quick replacement. NECG is indeed a wonderful and helpful shop, but sending a sidelock back to New Hampshire for a broken striker completely defeats the best aspect of a sidelock!

The reason being for this today is that the breech plug on a No. 2, by all reports and personal experience, is almost impossible to remove by anyone except a trained gunsmith. In our case, several attempts at fabricating a simple spanner proved futile. The plugs were immovable...stuck...frozen solid.

However, we had the good fortune to be acquainted with a skilled machinist, who being an avid shooter, leaped to the challenge. He designed and machined a precise and powerful tool (pat. pending) from high strength steel and hardened pins, to which the stubborn breech plugs yielded like butter without as much as a squeak or groan, no heating, no soaking, no extraneous tasks. There are locking screws and springs to attend to, but those are simple to manage.

Yet all was not finished, because the replacement strikers needed to be fitted, rounded, and polished to within a few thousandths. Yet that was merely a rainy afternoon diversion with a Dremel, and more are ready.

The breech plugs, after a series of test firings, removals, treated with anti-seize (why couldn't AyA have done that?), and re-installs, now go in and out pleasantly...like they were supposed to from the outset!

So now we have a beautiful and perfectly functioning sidelock fit for an Imperial British Viceroy, with all the trimmings.

Was it worth it? Of course not, if good shooting alone was the objective. A decent solid boxlock like a SKB would fit the bill perfectly. But after many decades of wrangling with classic German cars, amazingly accurate rifles, Italian motorcycles, and other excellent pursuits, it was most satisfying to piece together another pinnacle of civilized sport.

V/R

B.

P.S. If anyone wishes to borrow the AyA breech plug tool, please PM me. I offer it to 16ga Society contributors and members of record only.
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nutcase
PostPosted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 8:35 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 01 Jun 2006
Posts: 268
Location: Meridian, ID

Will it fit a Garbi? Laughing

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Brewster11
PostPosted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 9:32 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 08 Feb 2009
Posts: 1301
Location: Western WA

Quote:
Will it fit a Garbi?

Possibly. Need exact dimensions (hundredths): Diameter of plug, diameter and depth of spanner holes, distance between holes (center to center).

Precision fit is critical because of the high torque. Spanner holes should be cleaned out thoroughly by hand with wire or fine drill bit. A drill bit can be used to determine size of spanner holes.

B.
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Riflemeister
PostPosted: Fri Aug 09, 2019 6:32 am  Reply with quote
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Joined: 27 Jun 2012
Posts: 1111

Very nice info on your AYA #2. One issue with sidelocks came to light when I attended the late Jack Rowe's double gun gunsmithing course at Tishomingo. He was the AYA repair rep in the USA for many years, and when I attended the class, he was working on an AYA sidelock that the owner had lost one of the locks. No explanation was provided as to how one loses a lock, but the theater of the mind offers endless possibilities.

I have two sidelock guns, an AYA 117 and a Ugartechea 257. When bird hunting, I really can't tell any difference in the performance of the sidelocks compared to my boxlocks, but they do run a few ounces heavier than a comparable boxlock. I actually tend to use the boxlocks more than the sidelocks because of the weight difference.

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airmedic1
PostPosted: Sat Aug 10, 2019 6:27 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 23 Feb 2008
Posts: 191
Location: Nebraska (It’s not for everyone)

Very nice post about your #2. I love sidelocks with hand detachable locks. They, to me, are super cool. I have three, one Ugartechea, one Grulla and a Jablai. All Spanish. I also usually carry a box lock because they are lighter and more round in the action.

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double vision
PostPosted: Sat Aug 10, 2019 8:18 am  Reply with quote
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I've been eyeballing a #2 16. Cool
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