AYA No1 Sidelock  - 12 July 05

AYA No.1 20 Gauge. 21 October 2003

The AYA No.1 is a gun that many would aspire to owning. They are not by any means a rare gun, though neither are they very common to find. For every No.1 there are probably 10 No. 2’s. in the field.
Today the No.1 has all but elevated itself to a bespoke status. Whilst a few are brought into the UK as stock guns of standard specification, most are now made to order. With that bespoke label so it follows that the guns are now individual to their order with many options being available to the customer.
In truth any AYA may be ordered with a wide range of options available to those prepared to wait and wanting something a little away from the rest of the crowd. But in most cases of special order it is the more expensive models that are most frequently ordered.
The range of options are quite extensive; with different ribs, barrel and chamber lengths to chose from. Also stock and forend shapes and styles. You could choose to have a self opening action or even a completely left handed opening gun. Very few gunmakers will offer this.
The gun for test is a 20 gauge gun that has an element of special finish.
The most striking thing is the wood quality. A superb piece of wood with lots of figure. It has a wide contrast of golden honey coloured wood and a great deal of black figure. The stock is straight hand with a splinter forend; in very much the style of the classic British gun. The hand of the stock is formed in a diamond cross section in much the same way as the Holland and Holland style of grip.
It could be said that much inspiration is drawn from the mechanics of the Holland guns.
Stock length is 15” at centre with about a 1/8” right hand cast. The drops at comb and heel are 40mm and 60mm respectively.
These are well within the standard window of stock dimensions that will suit most shooters.
Chequer pattern is in a classic traditional style, finely executed with hand cut diamonds. The pattern on the forend compliment that on the stock.
The finish of the woodwork is very good with a traditional oil finish.

The barrels are made from a different type of steel to that used in the rest of the range of guns. It has a chromium content which does make it a little tougher than most, but the barrels are not chrome lined, so there can be no short cuts when cleaning.
Barrels on the test gun are 27” long which is itself an option as standard 20 gauge barrels are 28” long.
The chambers are 70mm long with standard Spanish Proof. As Spain is a member of the CIP Proof Agreement the Proof marks are acceptable in this country.
The chokes are ¼ and ½ , standard on a game gun and suited to most types of shooting.
The rib is the usual concave rib, slightly sunken in the middle and finished with a small silver foresight.

Mechanically the No.1 is a very straight forward uncomplicated gun. It is a bar action sidelock; the mainspring is located in front of the hammer.
The strikers are disc set for easy removal should it be needed. The discs are locked in place with a lock screw that is also a gas vent.
The lock plates are hand detachable by a pin from the left hand lock. This hand detachable pin appears as a tab on the side of the lock.
When the locks are removed one of the other features of the No.1 becomes apparent that being the gold plating on the lock work. Al parts other than the springs are gold plated. This is largely for cosmetic purposes and certainly does look good. Though there is a practical aspect that the gold does not rust so there is some protection to the parts.
The workings of the lock work are fairly simple. The hammer is powered via a swivel by a vee mainspring.
The sear is behind the hammer and also is powered by a vee spring. There is also an intercepting safe sear. This lays beside the main sear in the lock and is lifted in tandem with the main sear. Its purpose is to prevent the gun discharging if it is dropped or jarred. It does this by catching the hammer should it escape the main sear.
The hammer and sears of the gun are held together by what is called the bridle. This is the brace like part in the centre of the lock. On many guns this will be pierced as a decorative feature. On this particular No.1 the bridle is also engraved. This doesn’t have any purpose other than decoration, and won’t be seen unless the lock plate is removed, but it does give the gun a nice touch and shows attention to detail.
The locks are cocked by limbs in either side of the action. These appear through the front of the action knuckle and are worked by the forend as the gun is opened.
The cocking limbs also engage with the ejector work when the gun is fired. Having been pushed up by the hammer firing forwards, the tooth on the side of the limb positions itself just in front of the ejector kicker leg. As the gun opens the two parts make contact and this has the effect of forcing the ejector kicker to rotate until it is kicked over by its spring and hits the extractor forcing the gun to eject the fired cartridge.
The ejector mechanism is cocked as the gun is closed by an assistor that engages with a cam in the knuckle of the gun.
The action is colour hardened to give it that mottled finished look. The furniture of the gun i.e. top lever, forend iron and trigger guard are blacked for contrast.
The engraving on the gun is very good. It is hand cut and is in the form of a fine rose and scroll. This pattern is very similar to that seen on Purdey guns and has obviously been influenced by it. However it is very neat work.
At a glance the No.1 and the No.2 appear very similar, and they certainly are similar but there are many features on the No.1 that set it apart. Most are to do with the action shape.
On the No.1 the action strap is nipped in at its end in the same way as an English gun. Also the action is much more carved with its lines and beads. The cover plates are much larger over the cross pin.
The trigger guard will usually have a rolled edge for decoration.
The forend furniture is also more ornate with a tip similar to an English gun and quite an ornate diamond in the centre. This diamond would, I think, look better as a diamond but that’s just me.
Overall this would be a lovely gun to own. It is pretty and well made, as well as being elegant in its handling and shooting.

It isn’t quite what an English gun would be, but at £6570. the VAT on an English gun comes to more.

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