Brittany Man,
Beretta's SO series are all monobloc, most would rank them as "best". All sleeved chopper lumped bests are ersatz monoblocs and they do not seem to lose their "best" designations.
Technically speaking there is no way a chopper lump can outclass monobloc in my mind. The thought that the breech ends have been heated to 650 plus centigrade to induce braze flow gives me the creeps. Add to the monobloc replaceable hook and bite shoes (a la Parker) and you have an infinitely repairable double. But to each his own when it comes to bespoke.
John- the Round Action is KING! The late Geoffrey Boothroyd had sent me a photo of a 16 gauge side pedal Dickson and it still ranks as the best looking SXS I have ever glimpsed. The form of that action is so elegant it would be sacrilege to conceal it under engraving.
The design I am working on tries to keep as close as possible to the DRA shape, the trigger plate principle while eliminating the superfluous. An ABS plstic prototype has been built using the CAD drawings, and it looks good (to me anyway).
