A nice gun but.........

R

Robert L E

Active member
Here are a couple of pictures of a double 12 that was give to my older boy because of a lost fore end.

It is maked "made in Spain", "JANA - DENVER, CO.", "For 3" CARTRIDGES" and many proof marks.

On the top of each barrel, near the breach, there is a shield shaped crest with "LOYOLA" across
the top and what looks like two squirrels standing facing each other over a large cook pot
and a vertical line of bubbles from the pot to the bottom of the "Y" in "LOYOLA".

We have had no luck at all finding out anything that may help us with a new fore end
or even a similar fore end iron. Nothing current on JANA the importer, or LOYOLA in Spain.


It seems like a pretty nice gun except for this problem. We're at a loss.

Any help, suggestions, or fore end pictures would be appreciated before I
start reverse engineering.


gun1.jpg
gun2.jpg


Bob
 
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I literally looked on the net for an hour and this is what I came up with. There is no information about the "Loyola". I did however find a gun similar imported by the same people, and same name on an auction site. The estimated value of the gun is 400-600 dollars. Seeing as how you can't find them it maybe worth a little more, or maybe not. guns.jpg The gun in question is the fourth from the top, 3rd from the bottom. This is the ONLY site I found anything about a price. As far as the forearm, I say take t to a reputable gunsmith and he can probably retro-fit a foreend on it. It reminds me specifically of a L.C. SMITH. There are lots of repro parts available for those.
 
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Robert: my uncle was in the 10th moutain troups in italy brought back for my dad 12ga hammer gun with the fore end got lost in his travels so my dad made one,A little rough but it worked. Best Bill
 
according to the "Book the Spainish Best" The Loyola model imported by Jana was listed in the 1978 gun digest. It goes on to stay to paraphrase, at that time numerous spainish guns were being imported for a year or two then vanished, it would take exhaustive research to figure it all out. And because they were mostly forgetable guns its not worth it. But saying that it does have a greener crossbolt and double lugs, you may want to check out Sarasquetta guns to see if a forend would work, no matter what its going to be tough to find a forend only.

I just looked at one of Ugartechea's and it has the same forend lug. So you may try to find someone local with one and try its forend, see how close it is. looking at the gun it does have an early Ugartechea look, but don't know that I have seen one with a greener crossbolt. I would also consider posting at the double gun journal forum, many more knowledgeable folks over there regarding spainish doubles.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. If you are ever poking around at the bottom of Lake of the Woods, I'm sure you'll find the original for me. That's where the previous owner lost it.... while DUCK HUNTING.


Bob
 
It sunk? Must have been a splinter fore-end. Make a nice beavertail for it when you find hardware.
Click to expand...
Damn Lee,now I have to float test all my forends.Most of mine are Semi Beavertail.I think I'll wrap tape around the barrel to hold them on.lol
 
An update- Saturday my boy and I went to the gun show at the fairgrounds in Des Moines. This is the first show that I've been to since I made the original post (back in Nov. 2007). Half way there I asked him if he brought the shotgun. "Why?" he asked. "How will we know if a fore end fits it without the gun?" I replied.
Well we did not turn around to get the gun. The show was crowded with every table occupied and we had been past most of them. We got to a guy with a lot of stocks and junk and I spied three milk crates on the floor behind the table skirt, each filled with fore ends, mostly just wood, but some with the iron. One crate held double fore ends.
We looked through them and found two likely candidates but this was just from our memory of the receiver. We chose the one with slots for cocking levers, the other had different holes that did not look right. The one we chose was missing the ejector actuator though, but that is a minor part.
Well, a little work with the rotary tool and a hand file and the fore end fits better than the original which would pop off (which is also why it was lost.)
I spent about 40 minutes making an ejector actuator that sort of worked but had problems. It was close enough that it made making a second one easy.
The only problems now are a finish mismatch on the wood and the metal of the fore end is about 1/64" proud of the receiver on both sides. It also needs a new butt pad. I will clean up the checkering and refinsh both stocks. I will ignore the slight metal mismatch. The gun is usable now but it will look sharp when I'm done.
What are the odds of finding that fore end? At the gun show we figured it would fit at about 1,000-1 against. I was a pretty good $10 buy.

I will post pictures later.

Bob
 
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Here is the new fore end. Like I wrote, when we found this at the gun show, without the gun with us, we gave it a 1,000-1 shot against it doing us any good. Re finishing both stocks made them really look alike.

I decided that the checkering was still good after I got the finish off of both stocks. I don't think anyone will notice that the fore end is a replacement now.

Bob

View attachment foreend.jpg
 
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Robert,
Very cool. It's always nice to have something going your way when you're into a restoration project. It doesn't happen that often. ;)
Lou
 
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