I am not really focused on breaking even on the gun; my intent is to keep it for the long haul. While I do not want to get ridiculous, $2-3k fixing it up will not kill me
Currently the gun is butt heavy because of the amount of weight lost by cutting the barrels. While I could lighten the butt and add some weight to the forearm, the barrels are shorter than I would like.
The reason I purchased the gun (expecting the barrels had been cut) was because it is almost the twin of another gun I have in 16 gauge having been engraved in a similar pattern by the same engraver who did my 16. As a pair lying next to each other they are lovely.
I agree over a dog for close work the current configuration would work but as I see it today the unaltered 16 fills that role in both weight and choke and setting up this gun for heavier longer range work makes sense to me as a pair they complement instead of duplicating each other.
The odds of finding another 12 like this one on the market that matches the 16 are tremendous. I know of only one other similar gun in existence and it is not on the market and not likely to be.
