Arrieta 871 Boss pattern 16-gauge
 

I'm in need of some help. A gentleman is offering me in trade for a custom rifle an Arrieta 871 round body, Boss pattern engraving 16 gauge. His photos are not clear enough for me to look extremely closely at the shotgun but it looks to be in quite good condition. 15" LOP to front trigger, straight grip, leather pad (so about 14" w/o pad), very nice wood. He says the barrels are 28" with thin-wall choke tubes. I've asked about the barrel length and tubes, as I thought all of these guns were metric and therefore around 29" with fixed chokes.

I'd provide photos he sent me but they are such low resolution they'd do you no good in answering the question: what ballpark value should such a gun be?

Thanks in advance for any help,

John

71cm is close to 28”.

Arrieta
 

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Arrietas were definitely built with even dimensioned barrel lengths measured in inches. I've got a 2-bbl. set that I custom-ordered direct from Arrieta with exactly 28" barrels and had another with exactly 29" barrels.

Boss-style engraved 871 Arrietas are not ubiquitous -- I would say they're actually quite rare. I've only seen one other and that, too; was a 16-ga. with very nicely figured wood and a leather covered pad, but I don't recall if it had Briley's or not -- as a matter of fact it may be the very gun you're considering. Would the fellow you're looking to trade with happen to be named Greg?

Nope, his name is not Greg. I wish the photos he sent were of a higher resolution.