Barrel length 63,5 cm (25"), stock length 37,5 cm (14,75"), overall length 107,5 cm (42,25"), choke 1/4 & 1/2 (IC & M), weight 2,9 kg, year of manufacture 1971 Austrian proof, condition 2
Demibloc barrels, raised, engine-turned inverted-V rib, brass front sight, ejectors, sliding edge trigger guard with gold inlaid "S", double trigger with articulated front blade, color case hardened bascule with mid-arch arabesque engraving, manually removable bar-action sidelocks, sear, cocking indicators, gas release valves, disc-set strikers, calm grained walnut stock with straight grip and drop points, rubber recoil pad, forend with Anson push-rod, crown signed stock monogram plate, gold numbered on all gun parts, both breechblocks tight.Right barrel of number 1 with numerous small scratch marks in the bluing.
In the classic Churchill XXV configuration, which legend has it was created at a Monte Carlo competition: After the 30" barrel was clogged with snow and damaged by the following shot, the unlucky shooter chopped the barrel after 25" and successfully finished the competition with the very short shotgun, which was unusual at that time.
The acronym AyA stands for the founders of the gun manufacturer located in Eibar, Spain. Aguirre y Aranzabal were the names of the original gunsmiths who created AyA in 1915. In similar spurts to what once happened in Birmingham, and later in Belgium, Spanish gunmaking flourished in the mid-20th century. As early as the 1950s, five-digit quantities were being produced each year. AyA is even said to have been considered as a possible contract manufacturer for Holland & Holland. The former repurchase policy of H&H of Indian stocks for resale or the production of boxlock shotguns outside the company, are only an indication that this cannot be completely dismissed. What is undoubted, in any case, is the successful adaptation of the well-known Holland & Holland lock elements for the manufacture of AyA shotguns. The popular locks (whether in a simple or hand-detachable design) have enjoyed worldwide popularity to this day and are still state of the art in side-lock s/s shotguns. The once flourishing Spanish gun manufacturing industry collapsed more and more over the years. A circumstance brought to a head by Desarrollo de Industrias Armeras, SA (DIARM) in the 1980s. AyA was probably the most prominent representative in this conglomerate of independent gunsmiths and the ultimately failed attempt at state-subsidized large-scale production in the Basque Country. Of the original 20 gunmakers, only AyA was able to rise again independently. AyA focused completely on the area of qualitative production and was thus able to stand out from the mass of forgotten Spanish manufacturers.

Category: Shotguns