Quite a few guns get openned up because the new owner says "I only shoot ______ and I have no use for chokes tigher than _____" and the other "It will improve my ______(insert 'skeet, trap, sporting clays' here) scores".
I'm not a real collector, but I do believe that taking an otherwise intact vintage gun and modifying it to suit a utilitarian shooting situation is somewhat foolish. If scores or maximum hunting utility were the goal, a new Beretta gas gun or specialized O/U, Perazzi, Krieghoff, etc., would beat an old dog legged sxs any day and shoot many more rounds before it needed any work.
IMO, if you want a modified vintage gun that shoots its best for you, start with a gun that will never be original again. Guns with broken or non-original stocks, cut barrels, mismatched parts, etc, make great projects for getting custom stocks with your choice of wood and dimensions. I have a few of them myself.
