88 WWW.THEFIELD.CO.UK
whenhalf-a-dozenSarasquetamenformed
Union Armera, adopting the crane (grulla
in Spanish) as its symbol. Recent Grulla
advertisementsfeaturea straplinecrowing,
‘Finegunmakerssince1932’.TerryWieland,
whoseslimvolume,SpanishBest,is thelast
word on the subject, has been quoted as
sayingthatGrullaoffers“thelowest-priced
gunsinEibar,if nottheworld,fora quality
sidelock”.ThepartnershipbetweenWilliam
Evans and Grulla dates from 2011, when
theLondonfirmtookontheexclusive UK
agency for the Spanish maker.
SECONDHANDSIDE-BY-SIDES
Ourreaderhassomeclassic Englishside-
locks, including a Holland & Holland, but
theincreaseinreliablegrouseshooting–a
recent phenomenon thanks to medicated
grit– meansthathe,likemanyothers,found
heneededa pair.So,whattobuy?Because
ofcost,newLondongunsweren’tanoption.
Prices forgood pairsofsecondhand Eng-
lishside-by-sidesarereasonablenow–at
lessthan£20,000– sotheywereinthemix
together with new and secondhand Aya No 1s.
Intheend,however,hedecidedtogofora
pairofbespokeGrullasbuilttoEnglishspec-
ifications and finished by William Evans.
Thiswasthe path chosenbythe Dukeof
Northumberland,who shoots pretty much
everydayoftheseason.
The Sportsman, an online magazine,
recentlyoffered this onthe familybehind
Grulla:“OwnerJoséLuisUsobiagahasbeen
involvedwiththeguntradeformorethan
40 years and purchased the business in
1983,whilehisson,Iñigo,hasbeenaround
itsworkshopallofhislifeandhasprogres-
sivelytakenongreaterresponsibilities,now
beingitsexportsmanager.Itsteamofvery
loyal and highly experienced craftspeo-
plepossessa rangeofskillsthatmakesthe
companythe best gunmakerin Spain.”To
appreciatefullycurrentGrullaquality,one
mustunderstandthetrajectorythat brought
it tobeSpain’sbestgunmaker.
During the late 18th century, Spanish
guns,andparticularlySpanishgunbarrels,
enjoyedworldwiderenown.“Spanishbar-
relsnotonlyshotbetterbutwereinfinitely
stronger than English or other European
barrels of the same weight,” accordingto
JNGeorgewritinginEnglishGuns&Rifles.
DursEgg,oneofa clutchofembryonicfine
gunmakersnestled in London’s WestEnd,
mountedMadrid-made barrels to guns he
builtforThePrinceofWales.
During the course of the 19thcentury,
LondoneclipsedMadriddevelopinga repu-
tation forgunmakers ofunyielding genius.
Eventually,evenKingAlfonsoXIIIwouldpur-
chasegunsfromLondon’s premier gunmaker
JamesPurdey& Sons.
Unlike Madrid or London, Eibar had
traditionallybeena manufacturerofweap-
ons of war but Alfonso XIII introduced
pigeonshootingandpigeon gunstoSpain
and Eibar gunmakers responded “with
enthusiasm, perfecting copies of Purdey
pigeongunsfortheirownless-well-heeled
clientele”, according to Terry Weiland.
Despitea briefflirtationwith AlfonsoXIII,
Basquesonlybegan makingsportingguns
inearnestduringtheperiodofstabilityand
prosperityfollowingWorldWarTwo.Even
then,fewfirmsenjoyedanexaltedreputa-
tionasfinegunmakers.Duringtheindustrial
crisisofthe1980s,Eibar lost a greater part of
its skilled workers.
I wanted an extremely versatile pair
of guns that I could future proof
Above:JonathanPointer’sartwork for the guns
based on the client’s vision
ANDREW ORR; HOLTS; ANDY HOOK; DANIEL GOULD; GRULLA
