Twenty years ago in his book Spanish Best, Terry Wieland wrote: “. . . a Spanish best is typically modeled on the classic English game gun.” The book’s contents page listed a half-dozen Basque gunmakers that qualified as aspiring to London ideals. One was Armas Garbi. Now Garbi has available a 28-bore side-by-side with Holland & Holland-style hand-detachable sidelocks called the Partridge—a propitious name intended to conjure images of shooting driven redlegs in Spain.
Garbi is an acronym made up of the first initials of the five original founders of the firm. Wieland tells us the word also means “graceful,” but when we punched it into a Basque-to-English translator, it came up as “clean.” Either way, the new Partridge is both graceful and clean of line. Much of the grace is achieved by long 29-inch barrels with a smooth concave rib and a straight-hand stock with splinter forearm. The gun weighs 5 pounds 14 ounces in 28 bore, and the action body is color case hardened and hand engraved with ornamental scroll. Prices start at $11,500.
At press time William Larkin Moore & Sons, Garbi’s US importer, had four examples in stock, but proprietor Dave Moore said that he can “take customer orders for bespoke guns to deliver here in the States. Each gun is made to order, fitted and finished by hand and is available in 12, 16, 20 and 28 gauge. Each gauge has its own action size and can be truly bespoke and built to the customer’s specifications.”
It may at first appear counterintuitive to introduce a new model during a pandemic, but with most sales currently taking place online, it may actually be the best time to do so.
For more information, contact William Larkin Moore.
