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Member Joined: 11 Apr 2006 Posts: 21

I've been shooting my old 16 ga Browning A-5s for a while and am thinking about buying a 16 ga sxs. Anyone have any experience/opinions on the AYA 4/53 or other AYA models, especially regarding quality and reliability? The sxs I buy gun will have be a durable, tough shooter that will get used a lot.

Thanks,
Keith

Joined: 03 Jul 2005 Posts: 370 Location: Amarillo, Texas

I bought my son an AYA #1 20 gauge for graduation. It came in just like I ordered, down to the trigger pulls. Wood to metal fit was excellent as was the metal to metal fit. The engraving is hand done and is very good. The checkering is excellent. The trigger pulls and perfect and set to the pounds I ask for. The wood is very good. The barrel finish is very shiney and very good. POI/POA was very good. It took about 6 months longer than the first finish date I was given. Forutnately or unfortunately he flunked Spanish and had to take it during the summer so the gun got here in time.

The only defect was the drop points stuckup too far and wore a hole in his hand during a high volume dove shoot. I need to find someone to trim those down.

Thanks!

Mike

Member Joined: 15 Mar 2005 Posts: 358 Location: Houston

He flunked Spanish so you gave him a Spanish gun?

Geez, Mike, couldn't you have bought him an English gun?? Laughing

Good thing he wasn't taking Canadian - He'd be shootin' a "side by each"

I had an AYA #4 that I used on grouse for about a year. It was a Bill Hanus birdgun with 28" barrels that were the lightest barrels I've ever owned. They were choked .004 and .008. Hanus says his guns are choked skeet 1 and skeet 2, but this and others I hear about are really more like skeet 1 and improved cylinder. By 35 yards, the patterns from the left barrel with either 1 ounce or 1-1/8 ounces of shot were wearing thin. The gun weighed 6-1/4 pounds in 16 gauge, which I think is on the light side for AYAs. The best thing about the gun was the triggers, which were redone by the famous English gunsmith rep for AYA in Oklahoma (Rowe). Triggers on factory AYAs seem not only heavy, but in some cases not well matched in a pair. This gun had a 6# and a one pound trigger to start with! The gun balanced better than many factory guns I've handled, and better than the Sterlingworths I use.

I didn't paticularly care for the slab sided boxlock action, and had to make space in my collection so I sold it. I sometimes wish I hadn't, because it worked for me on ruffs!

I think #4's and 453's are way better than Matadors and some of the other low priced AYAs. I would suggest anyone interested in owning one carefully look over and handle a few of them before settling on a particular AYA boxlock. Mike

Joined: 03 Jul 2005 Posts: 370 Location: Amarillo, Texas

Gimme a break! You have to order 9 months ahead of time - how was I to know he was going to flunk Spanish? Shocked

He had passed three semesters of Calculus, differential equations, two semesters of thermodynamics, fluids, dynamics, statics, heat transfer, vibrations, four semesters of physics, two semesters of the hard chemistry (not the cowboy chemistry). Besides all the English, government, political science, humanities etc... And he flunks Spanish - I am getting all upset again! Then, right after he passed Spanish in the summer course i took him to Argentina dove hunting and he couldn't speak a word and I could read it better than he could. I am getting all worked up again!

All in fun Very Happy

Mike

You might also check out the Ugartechea SxS line. The boxlocks are so close to an AyA 53/4 as to be almost indistinguishable. Quality is also on par. However, if you get the opportunity to buy an AyA Matador from the last two years they were made, you will get a real bargain. Avoid the earlier pre-1959 models like the plague.

Member Joined: 11 Apr 2006 Posts: 21

Is there a way to tell from pictures if it is a pre-1959 gun?

Thanks,
Keith

I picked up a used 4/53 16 three years ago and love it. Interesting that the trigger pulls were similar to Little Creeks. I also sent it off to have Jack Rowe fix the triggers. No problem since.
Mine was also a "Bill Hanus Birdgun". New ones seem a little pricey, might look for a good used one.

Jeff

There is by the letter and number code on the gun. I just have to remember how it goes. I'll look at mine tonight and get back to you if I can shake the cobwebs out of my somewhat creaky old brain pan and remember how it works.

As the days go by, my senior moments are fast becoming my normal state of mind. The one good thing I have to look forward to when facing senility is that every minute will bring a new beginning. Laughing

Keith,

I also have a 4/53 16ga. Bill Hanus Birdgun. Bought mine 2 yrs old, LNIB, a couple years ago for several hundred less than Bill was asking at the time. The quality is very good and I can repeat everything Amarillo Mike said about his #1. Unlike Little Creek and jchandler my gun came with even, crisp trigger pulls of 3-1/2 to 4#'s. I added a couple coats of Pilkington's Oil to the wood as the finish was on the thin side. Even Bill Hanus once said somewhere on his website that AyA uses a very good finish on the 4/53's, they just don't use enough of it. The chokes on my gun measure .004" & .010", Skt1/Skt2, just as Bill advertises. It has 28" barrels and weighs 6# 5oz. and balances beautifully.

I have shot a few rounds of skeet and carried it on a couple Gambles Quail hunts so I have only put about 300 rounds through it but so far it has performed flawlessly. When I bought the AyA I was seriously looking at a Ugartechea grade I. The guns are very similar in design, weight and balance but the AyA has much nicer wood, checkering, engraving, and metal finish. Also the AyA has ejectors, a trigger inspection plate, and the triggers are mounted on screws instead of pins. I have never held a higher grade Uggie in my hands so I do not know how they compare to the 4/53.

Dennis

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

Hey AmarilloMike!

That's a pretty expensive interpreter you've got.

I'll cover my own tuition, next time you go to Argentina, you just pay for the trip and my new gun. Now there's a deal you can't beat! Laughing

16gaugeguy-What is the difference between the late model Matadors and pre-1959. From your statement, there should be an obvious quality difference. The Matador was made in at least three models, with vent ribs on a couple. Folks here that own them sometimes have trouble with the single trigger. Mike

Guest

I just looked at the flat under the barrels of my old Matador. There is a stamped letter and number code next to the AyA makers mark. It is F1. If memory serves me right (no gaurantee here Rolling Eyes

), the F stands for the sixth decade or 1960. The 1 is the first year, in this case again, 1960. So mine is a 1960 AyA Matador. I'm presuming 1959 would be E9. Anyone with more knowledge about this might like to chime in here. I think Larry Brown pointed this out to me a couple of years ago. He would know for sure. HEY LARRY---HELP!!! Laughing

The Matador was imported by FIE out of Washington DC.. A few monthes back, one of our members needed some R16 wads for his dad. I sent him some. Come to find out, his dad was a co-owner of FIE. I got the whole history first hand from the man during our very pleasant conversation. He is the fellow who helped AyA turn the gun into a very reliable piece. I think he told me that post 1958 guns had the stock and parts upgrade. Anyway, he stated the last couple of years they were made, they were excellent. If my gun is any indication of this claim, he is exactly right. Mine is a keeper.

I also bought one of the french greyed double trigger AYA boxlocks made on the same basic reciever as the Matador this spring. Unlike the basic locking lugs on the Matador, it had a cross bolt lock up as well as side clips. However, the barrels very nearly fitted right on the Matties frame, so the block is the same basic type. It was a very problematic gun. The code on the flats showed it was a 1981 model if I was reading it right Question

), and it proved to be a real dog.

I tried shooting it. It proceeded to double almost every time. The safety was unreliable. Then the forward trigger fell right out of the gun. I examined the part. The hole for the trigger pin was drilled too close to the edge of the metal and ripped right open. Further, the gun would not consistantly lock up. I've had some bad guns, but this one was pure crap. I sent it back with fingers crossed and got my money back. The seller obviously was not trying to put one on me. He just did not know how bad it was.

So it goes to show, AyA has had its ups and downs if my two guns are any indication of quality. However, two guns is a pretty thin sample.

I have handled some of the later, post 1995 AyA boxlocks and they seem very solidly built. However, I will venture that the later 1959 though 1963 Matadors are a real bargain and almost as good IMO even if more plainly finished. They are a basic funeral model with a bit of engraving and some gold inlay in the AyA emblem on the top lever. I like the look.

The prices for matadors have remained low because their initial quality was not so good, and that bad rep has followed them around to this day. However, i recently saw one at a gun show, a .410 model not quite as clean as mine. The seller, one of the nationally known robber barons of Maine wanted $1500 for it. Rolling Eyes

If someone is lucky enough to find a well maintained 1958 or later Matador, he probably has a real bargain in his hands unless its that ridicoulyly overpriced .410. However, it won't be mine. This one is a keeper so forget about trying to buy it. You can't. Cool

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