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Griffonowner,

Chicago offers some excellent advice on contacting Bryan Bilinski of Fieldsport about AYA's and SxS's in general. You can contact him by either phone or email and he is equally responsive. My experience is that Bryan and his staff are great shotgun resources and very willing to help out a fellow shooter. They truly earned my business since they answered dozens and dozens of my innane questions before I became a "paying" customer.

Cheers,
Chris

Joined: 17 Jun 2004 Posts: 265

I have own and have owned a great many Spanish sidelocks. The have been from every maker and just about every gauge (even one in 24 gauge).

I can say honestly 16 gaugeguy is SPOT ON. I love sidelocks but they require a little more TLC than do boxlocks. I has nothing to do with what county the gun comes from. Most makers do not finish the wood where it is inletted. The barrels are fine with the Fiocchi loads. But the gun was designed for 1 ounce of shot. I would never shoot those Fiocchi Pheasant loads in that gun.

Shoot best grade loads though your best grade gun. I can't imagine running retreads on a Ferrari. Those Fiocchi loads have brutal recoil, and your 6 pound AyA is going to take the same pounding you do. Over time the 1-1/8th loads will cause wood problems. I have personally experienced this on 3 sidelocks.

Well there you go. I was repeating what I had heard from folks more knowledgeable than I about side locks. I've never owned one. I also was passing on info I've gleaned from experience about how guns are made and finished. Brian, on the other hand, is speaking from pure experience about possible damage from heavier loads in a sidelock. He's already paid the price. I'd listen up if I were you and avoid paying for the mistake again. Thanks Brian, we owe you one.

Joined: 09 Mar 2008 Posts: 21 Location: Into the Wild

Yeah, now I am a little disheartened about this sidelock I purchased.

I wanted a nice double, however, if it is wiser to stick to one ounce loads with a side lock 16g I don't see what advantage owning a 16g sidelock is over a 20g boxlock (like an AYA#453) - one ounce loads do pretty good in a 20g in my expierence (I know I am talking blasphemy on a 16g forum).

AYA 453 20g costs less too and weigh in right at about 6lbs even...

Does anyone want to buy a nice AYA#2 from a guy who should have done more homework before spending his hard earned cash? Crying or Very sad

Griffonowner:

You purchased a great gun and before I threw in the towel I would shoot it for a season. Unless it is brand new it is not going to hurt the value to put some rounds through it. I would bet that if you pattern a 20 with 1 oz loads and that 16 with 1 oz loads you may be surprised at the difference. The ultimate test is can you drop the game at the desired distances. Unless you have really open chokes I think the AYA will work fine for you.

Buy a few boxes of shells from an RST dealer and give them a go - I think you will be more than satisfied with your purchase, it is a heck of a gun.

After a season if you still want to use 1 1/8 oz loads then trade for a 12 proofed for that. You should be able to trade that AYA 16 for a 12 pretty easily. Bryan @ Fieldsport might do that straight up.

Chicago Mike

P.S. Just looked at pictures from a previous post. If you really don't want the gun please post the stock dimensions - LOP, DAC, DAF, DAH, Cast, serial number and how much you are looking for. Do you know when the gun was made?

Joined: 09 Mar 2008 Posts: 21 Location: Into the Wild

Gun was made (according to the AYA spec sheet) in Dec 07, I bought it new on about the 3rd of this month. I have shot a little over 1 box of shells threw it at some skeet about a week ago - shot fine (1 oz Win. SuperX #6 2.5dr).

Specs are as follows: 29” with 2 ¾” chambers. Chokes are Improved Cylinder and Modified, double triggers and ejectors. Stocks is english grip with splinter fore end. Dimensions are 14 7/8” LOP over checkered butt with drop of 1 ½” at the comb and 2 3/8” at the heel with 1/8” cast off.

I am not positive if I want to sell this gun for sure or not but I am seriously thinking about it - I have to give it more thought - I obviously did not take enough time thinking about the purchase. An AYA#453 box lock in 20g might suit me better. But then again maybe I don't really know what I want (according to my wife)...

just a little disenchanted right now...

Good grief. Just shoot it and enjoy it. If a higher end gun can't stand up to some hot factory loads then what's the point in owning it? Most of the fretting we do on these sites is about stuff that will never happen. Life's short. Just shoot it.

Joined: 13 Dec 2006 Posts: 694 Location: MN

Griffonowner:
Did you ever speak with Bryan Bilinski at Fieldsport? He can answer the question definitively so you don't worry about the loads.

Dimensions will not work for me or sons.

Chicago Mike

Joined: 08 Oct 2005 Posts: 241

I am sure some will disagree but here goes with my 2 cents:
If you are going to shoot 1000's of heavy loads with this gun every year at wild birds I would call you lucky! Very Happy

Many heavy rounds over a long period of time will be rough on any gun. However if you are only going to shoot a few boxes of 1 1/8 loads every year the gun will not fall apart. Also if you shoot a few rounds of sporting clays you will want light loads.
I have an AYA#2 in 12 gauge that I shoot a box or two of 1 1/4 ounce heavy loads at wild birds every year. On the sporting clays course 7/8 or 3/4 ounce reloads work just fine.
Shoot the gun and enjoy it. A few boxes of heavy loads will not destroy it.
16 crazy

Joined: 17 Jun 2004 Posts: 265

Griff,

If you would have asked me I would have recommended a Merkel (based on the loads you were going to shoot). You did not buy a bad gun you just bought a sports car that needs to be cared for.

Not to brag but many people on the various BBS can vouch for my expertise in dealing with Spanish guns. Calling a Spanish gun dealer is not always going to get you an honest answer. I have no ax to grind, I really like the gun you chose for yourself.

Here's the thing, I don't hate sidelocks I actually have an affinity for them. They handle great, the triggers are awesome and the gun feels like it is part of you. These are great reasons to buy a gun. This is what makes a BEST gun. You are paying for that little something special that makes a AyA feel like fine English gun. To be honest the Spanish guns have what I call "the feel", in other words you are getting a 4500 brand new H&H sidelock with out the 105,000 dollar price tag.

The AyA shotguns are built to the English standard. The English don't fire the kinds of loads you are looking to feed that gun. My solution is for you mail order your ammunition. RST, Federal, Remington and B&P all make loads that are suitable for that gun. When calculating cost of hunting the ammunition you use is the cheapest part.

Fixing a broken sidelock is a very expensive prospect. The cost of restocking that AyA will cost you more than you paid for the gun. Having a broken stock fixed will seriously decrease the value of your gun.

Joined: 14 Aug 2005 Posts: 11 Location: South Jersey

Who makes good 1oz. loads?