- Ugartechea
Armas Ugartechea is a Basque
shotgun manufacturer located inEibar ,Spain . They build several models ofDouble-barreled shotgun .Overview
Ugartechea is the last of the Big Three of Basque gunmaking from the
1960 s that still exists bearing any resemblance to what it was. The Ugartechea company has survived in an unbroken line, but not without overcoming some serious- even life-threatening- difficulties. Today, it is no longer a mass-production company. It is mostly a custom shop, with a small workforce making high-quality guns to order.There have been three Ignacio Ugartecheas in the history of the company- founder, son, and grandson. It was founded in
Eibar in1922 . The first Ignacio called his company "Casa Ugartechea" (House of Ugartechea) and set up shop in theBidebarrieta , the first of serval locations the company occupied as it grew and diversified. After a few years it moved to San Augustín Kalea, and finally to Txonta Kalea, No. 26, which it occupies to this day.Excerpt taken from "Spanish Best" by Terry Wieland [Wieland, T. "Spanish Best", Page 259. Countrysport Press, 2001]
History
In addition to shotguns, Armas Ugartechea once made rifles and pistols. However, the firm is most famous for its side-by-side
Double-barreled shotgun , and at some point stopped manufacturing the over/underDouble-barreled shotgun configuration. The change in product was due in part to several different factors. After WWII, the international demand for sporting shotguns increased while the demand for pistols and rifles decreased. More importantly, Ignacio Ugartechea made his last double rifle in 1943- an 8x65R Brenneke, for the "Caudillo" himself, Generalissimo Francisco Franco and then Armas Ugartechea was passed on to the first Ignacio's son.The second Ignacio Ugartechea was trained in the tradition of gun making at the prestigious "Escuela de Armeria" in Eibar. At one point, he was known as one of the most prominent
sportsman in Spain, developing a relationship and participating in social hunts with the likes of the king of Spain,Juan Carlos I [Wieland, T. "Spanish Best", Page 261. Countrysport Press, 2001] .Like all of the Basque industries, the firearms industry is based on the Basque ability to reproduce a process or part cunningly and inexpensively. Armas Ugartechea builds guns based on designs and patents originating from
London andBirmingham firms such asHolland & Holland andWestley Richards . When shotgun-making was in its heyday, in the late nineteenth century, patents were only granted for fourteen years. After that period, advancements like theAnson & Deeley boxlock action were reproduced all over the world. When a patent that seemed efficient and easy to reproduce became available, it was not uncommon for Basque shotgun-makers to reproduce it with local components, and market it as a less-expensive alternative to the English offerings. [http://www.sidebysideshotgun.com/articles/anson_deeley_article.html] .Further Changes
Armas Ugartechea originally made matched-pairs of sidelocks guns for export to England. In a sidelock action, the mechanism that makes the gun function can be removed and reinserted fairly easily. At that time, shooting driven
Pheasant andPartridge at large EnglishCountry house s, andPigeon s in Spanish Pigeon rings was very popular. These shooting sports required shotguns that could be repaired in the field. This made the sidelock very desirable (and expensive), and selling the sidelock action became a clear priority [Wieland, T. "Ugartechea Reborn", page 27. Gray's Sporting Journal, August 1997] .Eventually though, the sidelock fad passed and the simpler and less expensive boxlock action gained popularity. Driven shooting and Pigeon rings became less and less accessible, and sidelocks came to be considered more of a luxury. This was especially true for the rapidly-growing American market after WWII. In the
United States , consumers were generally looking for a gun that had the features of the traditional English shotgun, but not the corresponding steep price tag. Up until this point, Armas Ugartechea traditionally spent less time on their boxlock guns, producing mainly lower-end offerings. However, perceiving a change in the market, the company switched its focus to the boxlock, and now exports them to the United States [Venters, V. "Boxlocks by Ugartechea", page 110. Shooting Sportsman, Sept./Oct. 2001] .References
External links
* [http://www.sidebysideshotgun.com/articles/aoc_sg_article.html U.S. Importer site with further reading]
* [http://www.hollandandholland.com/home.htm Holland and Holland - corporate site]
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