Brian,
I've been around a mess of them; probably seen 25 in training and another 25 in testing. I've watched a number of their very influential & successful dogs go through the training and testing process.
They are not exactly like a small setter; males will average in the 55-60lb range and I've seen some pushing 70. Females can be pretty small, but the bigger boned ones can push 50. Heavy coat; longer and thicker than a springer.
The good ones are awesome water dogs; can handle cold water like a Lab. Great tracking dogs as well, both on land and water. The ones that retrieve, retrieve very well and with a ton of desire.
Weaknesses; While they have a good nose, they are very weak in pointing, compared to most other pointing breeds. They generally flag on point. Some will have an amount of point, others will be very weak. LOTS of variation within litters, and inconsistency within the breed. Some of the females tended to be quite soft.
If you are looking for a hard hunting meat dog on both land and water, and don't care how much pointing the dog does, or how well it does it, they are an ok choice IMO. If you are looking for the kind of reliable pointing you see in the major pointing breeds (EP, ES, GSP, Britt), they are not a good choice IMO. As a breed, they tend to be very "quirky", which is consistent with the other less developed versatile breeds here in the US.
If you are looking for something different, for the sake of having something different, then you'll fit right in with the SM folks. If you are looking for a breed that gives you the best chance of getting an excellent all-around gundog, there are much better choices IMO.
JMO,
Dave
