I was really torn between a light 12 and a good 16. Because of the better payload options of a light 2 1/2-inch 12, I really wanted to make that work. As usual, it boiled down to time and money (the time being how much longer I wanted to wait). I looked at lots of guns that would fit the bill, but they were either too much money (I'm fairly cheap, so Lancaster 12/20s and Dickson Round Actions weren't really viable) or they didn't fit me very well (and I wasn't looking for a project). I looked fairly hard for a healthy Thomas Turner Lightweight, but almost everyone I found had major pitting problems. In the end I settled on a light 16 built on a 20 frame. It has even been re-prooved to 2 3/4-inch in 2001, so if I have to, I can use light American shells.