UnitMaster (or anyone else who might help)
I recently bought a Dakin 20 gauge SXS which sounds like the same model purchased by 72IH. It's a beautiful little gun that flies to the shoulder, but as with many of the Spanish guns I'm having trouble with the single, non-selective trigger. The first barrel fires fine but the second does not. The gunsmith who looked at it (and he is not a shotgun specialist) commented about the soft steel, but he said the primary problem appeared to be a sear that had been set at an incorrect angle by some shade tree artist; and was beyond his repair. I am currently searching for a replacement and wondered if you might have any suggestions, since you said you owned several Dakins. I have contacted but not heard back from some obsolete parts suppliers. Dakin's advertisements in the 50s and 60s referred to their complete inventory of parts, but the company is no longer in the gun business and I cannot find who purchased their inventory.
Gaspar Arizaga appears to have been at least a mid-level Spanish/Basque maker, if not a bit better. It had been around since the late 1800s and made some high-end shotguns, but it became part of the socialist Sp. government's DIARMS venture after Franco, and like the other 20 or so other companies involved, did not survive that experiment.
Jack O'Connor owned a Gaspar Arizaga 28 gauge, which he extolled, but he had its trigger completely replaced by the Miller Company in PA. Miller charged about $200 for trigger replacement at that time, but the cost is now $1,600; ruling out that option.
If anyone knows where you can find parts for this gun, useable substitutes or someone who can fabricate them, I would love to hear from them. I live in S. TX but if it's necessary to ship the gun out of state in order to get it put in working order I would do so. Thanks.
