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Old February 19, 2010, 10:55 AM   #11
WillyB71
Junior Member
 
Join Date: February 18, 2010
Posts: 4
Dakin SxS Quality

I have seen many spanish doubles made in the late 60s & 70s that were rough, but the two 50s/early 60s made Dakins I have used for the last 30 years were well made and have performed flawlessly for me.

The Model Especial (higher end Model 100) is a 12 ga 2-3/4", 28 1/2" F/M, double trigger gun w/pistol grip, hand checkered Pyreneese walnut stock, & BT forearm. The Anson & Deely type box lock is triple bolted, has ejectors, & is new gun tight after many, many, high brass loads duck & pheasant hunting. The engraving & fine checkering are well done. The walnut is striking. Gasper Arizaga made these guns for Dakin out of Eibar, Spain.

This gun is light, quick pointing, and sold for $108.50 in their 1956 catalog, advertising #9 Gutter St, San Francisco. CA as their home address.

The Quails Fargo model is a gun I was told Simmons Gun Specialties out of Kansas City imported and modified for Dakin for local markets. This is a straight stocked 3" 20 ga cut down to 22" Cyl/Cyl barrels & 39" overall, with a Simmons vent rib, extractors, and a NS single trigger. It isn't as fancy as the other gun, but is well finished, has hand checkered dark walnut, & is still very tight after many 3" mag loads hunting birds in tight cover over the years. Their 1963 catalog advertised this gun for $160 and showed their home office to be at 1739 Locust St, Kansas City, MO.

There aren't many of these guns around, but the ones I have seen have been tight, even if they have been abused cosmetically. They are usually good buys if someone wants a shooter. The last one I saw in a gun show was $500, which is cheap for a decent double. I looked in Cabela's fine gun room just before sending this and they had one listed for $1100.

As to finding parts, who still stocks parts for any 30+ year old double gun???
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