Re "wear" on vintage guns . . . Many of the American classics were overbuilt to start with, American gunmakers recognizing that we tend to treat them as tools rather than objects of art--especially true of the field grades. As for vintage British guns, if they're ejectors of a decent grade, they may well have seen use in driven shooting. I've shot driven birds in Scotland the last two years, using an average of just under 250 shells/trip (3 driven days, 1 rough day)--which is likely more shells than most upland hunters will shoot at wild birds in a season or two. Loads appropriate to vintage guns, but at 1 or 1 1/16 oz, both heavier and higher velocity than what I shoot at targets (7/8 oz at skeet, mixture of 7/8 and 1 oz, sporting clasys).
It's obviously a personal choice, but I think we may worry too much about what we're doing to our older guns by using them for a fair amount of target shooting--especially if we're shooting low pressure, low velocity, light shot charge loads. On the other hand, if we're shooting WalMart Special loads--and in many vintage guns, we shouldn't be shooting any American factory stuff anyhow--then it's wise to use more modern guns.
