Looking for info on Laurona

[jfowl31]

I picked up a Laurona SBS 12 guage about a year or so ago for dove/quail hunting.

Its marked

"Sears Roebuck and Co Chicago Ill
Laurona EIBAR (Espana)"

and then the other barrel

"Made in Spain
Mod 153 512350 12-guage 2 3/4"

Its hand checkered and hand engraved, or at least it appears to be hand-done. It doesnt have any blemishes in the engraving, but you can see that its a little shaky in some areas, and the checkering sometimes goes outside the lines a bit... Usually what you would see in a hand done piece.

I bought it unfired for $300 from a gun show, and its been a great shotty since then. The triggers are nice and clean... it has a full choke on the left and modified on the right. Bluing is perfect and the only blemishes are a couple dings on the stock, and the poly has come loose in a small spot on the forestock.

Im looking for any info I can find on the gun. Ill get a camera here in a bit and post some pics.

Thanks
Jordan

[jfowl31]

sorry forgot to add that I thought its a little weird that the serial is 512350, and my cell-phone number starts with 350, and my area code is 512... In other words, my only phone as of right now is 512350....

weird eh?

[jfowl31]

I take it back... 512350 isnt the serial... its 146xxx... now I dont know what the 512350 is that is marked on the barrel.

[jfowl31]

here's the pics

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i15/jfowl31/100_0902.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i15/jfowl31/100_0903.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i15/jfowl31/100_0904.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i15/jfowl31/100_0905.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i15/jfowl31/100_0906.jpg

[arnaiz]

LAURONA is still in the bussines, you can check them for info.

[cimmaronkid]

Don't know how much detail you want me to get into here, so I will try and keep it brief. The Laurona that you have is one of the low end imports that were brought in from the company many years ago. Checkering is called "Skip" and produces large flat diamonds among the little sharp ones. The engraving was rolled and then quickly chased with a graver to give a little more depth. Double triggers were standard and ejectors would be an upgrade. Gun uses a box lock action and is a pretty common SxS.

Spanish gun making has always taken an extremely unearned "bad rap" in this country. It is a guild and "cottage" system and the people that built your gun were at that time learing their craft and now probably master craftsmen. Laurona builds shotguns in their higher grades that are every bit the equal of the Italian guns and still leaves you pocket change. The other company that comes to mind is AyA.

The Eibar region is full of small "cottage" gun makers that produce excellent firearms of high quality and I plan some day to go there and have a competition gun built that is fitted just for me and built the way I want it. Looking at an AyA but if the wait is too long, I couldn't go wrong with a Laurona with false sideplates for lots of engraving and inlays.

You have a nice shotgun and it will shoot forever,

[XO3319]

I was about to say it looks like a nice shotgun at a decent price

but cimarronkid said it much better than that

[arnaiz]

Don't know how much detail you want me to get into here, so I will try and keep it brief. The Laurona that you have is one of the low end imports that were brought in from the company many years ago. Checkering is called "Skip" and produces large flat diamonds among the little sharp ones. The engraving was rolled and then quickly chased with a graver to give a little more depth. Double triggers were standard and ejectors would be an upgrade. Gun uses a box lock action and is a pretty common SxS.

Spanish gun making has always taken an extremely unearned "bad rap" in this country. It is a guild and "cottage" system and the people that built your gun were at that time learing their craft and now probably master craftsmen. Laurona builds shotguns in their higher grades that are every bit the equal of the Italian guns and still leaves you pocket change. The other company that comes to mind is AyA.

The Eibar region is full of small "cottage" gun makers that produce excellent firearms of high quality and I plan some day to go there and have a competition gun built that is fitted just for me and built the way I want it. Looking at an AyA but if the wait is too long, I couldn't go wrong with a Laurona with false sideplates for lots of engraving and inlays.

You have a nice shotgun and it will shoot forever,

Laurona make most exquisite and expesive shotguns of the world, an others for sure.
Most of the kings, and petrol kings of the world have one..

[jfowl31]

Don't know how much detail you want me to get into here, so I will try and keep it brief. The Laurona that you have is one of the low end imports that were brought in from the company many years ago. Checkering is called "Skip" and produces large flat diamonds among the little sharp ones. The engraving was rolled and then quickly chased with a graver to give a little more depth. Double triggers were standard and ejectors would be an upgrade. Gun uses a box lock action and is a pretty common SxS.

Spanish gun making has always taken an extremely unearned "bad rap" in this country. It is a guild and "cottage" system and the people that built your gun were at that time learing their craft and now probably master craftsmen. Laurona builds shotguns in their higher grades that are every bit the equal of the Italian guns and still leaves you pocket change. The other company that comes to mind is AyA.

The Eibar region is full of small "cottage" gun makers that produce excellent firearms of high quality and I plan some day to go there and have a competition gun built that is fitted just for me and built the way I want it. Looking at an AyA but if the wait is too long, I couldn't go wrong with a Laurona with false sideplates for lots of engraving and inlays.

You have a nice shotgun and it will shoot forever,


Awesome info. If this is their low-grade, Id truly love to see their top-end stuff. I knew they were still in business, but didnt get any info from them in an e-mail to customer service. I really love the "skip" checkering. The engraving being done the way you described would explain it somewhat... its all pretty consistent, but wiht a few wavy spots ya know.

Only thing I don't really particularly care for is that the stock doesnt have a whole lot of figure to it. Itd be such a gorgeus gun with a nice curly maple stock or something like that. Im thinking about stripping and restaining it to get rid of the spots on the forearm where the poly chipped off........ do I have a collector's piece here that needs to be left along or is this one of those that wont go anywhere, so I can do with it as I please.

When I bought it, I was in the market for an Over-Under, but kinda sorta fell in love with this one when I saw it and felt how it pointed and then learned it was Spanish made...... fits nicely with the Cetme.

[cimmaronkid]

No collectors piece, but not your average SxS either. Don't be afraid of refinishing the stocks. Because of its lower grade, it would not get really outstanding wood. If you saw their web site, look at some of the competition guns and the wood. It is only marginally better than yours. Reason is, a lot of the high end guns that they build are completely custom. You could go to Spain and walk into the factory and order a shotgun made to your personal specs, in that you could pick barrel lengths, bore dimensions, choking dimensions, action type, rib width, and have the gun personally fitted to your dimensions for the stock. This is done by an expert with a "try gun" on targets of the kind you plan to shoot. Once the dimensions have been established you can choose the stock and forearm style. From there, you can select the wood and the amount and type of engraving and inlays. Be prepared to shell out some $$$ for this, but you will have a true custom gun to hand down for generations and have money left over compared to a high end Italian or English gun. The ejectors will even be synched to throw the empties to the same spot.

I own 3 Spanish shotguns only mine are AyA Matadors which are the same grade as your Larouna. I have one 12 ga. and two 20 ga. guns and feel that they are by far superior to a lot of more expensive guns.

Refinish the stock and don't be afraid of hurting the value. You might also be surprised what you find under the old sprayed on finish.

[jfowl31]

I planned on just stripping them and doing a dark walnut Gel Stain. Im starting to get apprehensive about getting the Gel stain near the checkering as I dont want it to try and collect in these areas. Maybe Ill just do a dark walnut oil based regular stain, but the Gel stain looks much better when applied right.

Hopefully some better looking figure will come out of the wood... it appears to be walnut, but its tough to tell really... whatever it is, its a straight grain, and is very hard.

[cimmaronkid]

Take a look at Birchwood-Caseys walnut stain that is water soluble. Works extremely well and you can control the shade by the amount of water you use. Don't be afraid of the checkering. Go ahead and strip the stocks and make sure that you get all of the old finish out of there. I use a very stiff tooth brush to clean my checkering. Go ahead and stain everything, but when you start to finish, tape off the checkering with masking tape and use a single edge razor blade to go around the outline of the checkering. Refinish as you normally would and when you get down to the last several thin coats, get a new stiff tooth brush and brush the finish into the checkering and keep brushing it in until it goes all into the wood. Don't let it pool in the checkering. Do this a couple of times, and it will look like it was freshly cut.

[jfowl31]

thanks for the advice.

[cimmaronkid]

Since you like Spanish guns like I do, here are a couple of sights to check out. The first is AyA and the second one is Laurona.

http://www.aya-fineguns.com/index.htm

http://www.laurona.com/index.htm

Ok, quit drooling, get some $$ together, and let's go get a couple of shotguns built. I kinda have the hots for a classic or innova trap gun from Laurona or coral de lux trap from AyA. And look at it this way, because we could pay our way over and back, buy the guns, and stay for about 5 days for what a Perazzi would cost in the same grades.

[jfowl31]

Im in... give me a few years, and Ill get right on it.

Now when you go over there and order one custom made, how do you get it back into the country?

Im having trouble with which style of shotty I like... I always wanted a over-under, and bought this side-by-side as kinda a fallback due to the price and overall look, and now I dont know if I want anything different. Ive shot some really nice OU's as well. About 3 different grades of Beretta silver pigeons, and a couple other Italian made guns, and thought that I was sold on the over-under design. I hadnt shot a side-by-side itl I bought this one, and really like the wide look down the barrels, and how it points for me. Only complaint is the skinny forearm...

You name the date in 2015 Cimmaron, and Im there.

[cimmaronkid]

Most SxS use what is known as a "splinter" forearm and if you ever study English wing shooting, there is a CORRECT way to hold this forearm (like holding a tea cup with your pinky finger out. They also have a correct way to place your feet, etc. when shooting). You can have a "beavertail" forearm made for the gun so you can shoot it "American style" (whole forearm resting in the palm of the hand) or Galazan makes a leather covered spring steel guard that slips over the barrels to keep your hands off them.

I learned to shoot with a SxS and much prefer looking down the barrels of one for a game gun or a skeet gun. I think that the eye picks up on the taper of the barrels and gives you a better focus (like looking down a railroad track) and a quicker target acquisition. I also know they handle faster than any other type due to the relative small and flat action compared to the skinny and tall O/U action. Also, the SxS is the acceptable gun (preferably in a brace) for hunting driven birds anywhere in the UK or Europe. They also cost more to produce due to the regulating of the barrels compared to O/U of the same grade. Pick up a Boss, Holland & Holland, or a Parker, mount and swing them one time, and you will be ready to sell your soul for one.

When I was going to college at Oklahoma State, we used to shoot at the Issac Walton clubs trap range. I borrowed a true trap grade Winchester Mdl.21 from one of the members there to shoot. It was absolutely beautiful and still had the original leg o' mutton case it came in from the factory and I said one day I would own a gun like that. Imagine my suprise about 9 years later when I was contacted by an attorney saying that I had been mentioned in his will and was left this shotgun. Really upset some of his family. He, however, wanted to make sure that his favorite shotgun was passed on to someone that would shoot and enjoy it as much as he did with the only requirement being that I do the same and continue the chain he started.

[CrossFire]

Back when, Sears was one of the world's largest firearms retailers. I still own a Ruger MKI .22 auto I bought thru the catalog for something like $50. And the Mailman brought it. Sears had the power to contract guns from some very good makers, and because Sears was actually concerned with their customers back then the quality was really pretty good. I also own an old Sears bolt action 30.06 that is a Husquavarna Mauser action, beautifully blued, that was stocked by High Standard on a walnut Monte Carlo stock. I doubt it cost me more that $100 back in the mid-late 60s but it's the equal of any of my Model 70s or 700 BDLs.
There was an old saying that "The Best English guns are made in Spain". Cimmaron is right on AyA, I have one, and there are several others. Keep that gun, it'll be a nice wingshooter.

[7.62-chunker]

If memory serves me right, a guy by the name of Tommy Barker, from Victoria, Tx. was one of the first dealers to bring in those shotguns, I shot next to him in alot of shoots, Those guns ran fine. FYI

[jfowl31]

bringing this one back up to the top to ask another question.

Dove season is coming up pretty soon, and I want to take a weekend and refinish the wood on this puppy to see what kind of figure I can bring out of the wood. Problem is, I can't get the damn thing disassembled down to the wood on the buttstock. Forend is no big deal, but because I'm not familiar with break-overs, I don't wanna take out a screw that will make the whole thing fall apart.

I figure pretty much all break-over SBS shotguns have to be "somewhat" similar as far as break-down goes, so can someone point me in a good direction for disassembling this guy? Even if its not an exact guide for this rifle, just 1 similar to it would be a great guide to point me in the right direction for what screws to touch and what not to.

gracias in advance.

jfowl

[okie shooter]

Jfowl, ran that number you thought was the sn and got this out there on the net, its just sears model number for the gun.

http://www.gun-data.com/sears_roebuck_guns.html

The first three numbers 153 point to the maker, the last must vary with model of firearm. (this info is also available out at e-gunparts too.

http://www.e-gunparts.com/crossref.asp

[jfowl31]

thanks for the info okie