Just circling back on this post. After lots of indecision about which of these two guns to buy, I did the logical thing and bought both! I decided to buy the Orvis Upland Classic primarly as an upland field gun (28" barrels, ~6lbs) and a Beretta White Onyx Sporting (30" barrels, ~8lbs) primarily for clay targets.
The Upland Classic appears to be a hybrid of several Caesar Guerini field models - it manages to feel light and solid at the same time, fits well and points nicely. That said, I am not sure I would repeat the purchase through Orvis. They did a nice job with the wood and Jordan Smith is a great guy to work with. But the ejectors did not function well right out of the box (Orvis took the gun back immediately and rebuilt them) and there have been some other miscellaneous miscues on their end. Looking at the costs of buying a custom-fitted gun directly from CG (basically $1k), that may be the better way to go if you are looking for a new custom O/U.
The advice I received here on the Beretta was spot-on. I am going to shoot that gun for awhile while my bank account recovers and then send it up to Cole's for some customizing. Thanks again for the input.
