Buzz,

Love the look of your Hellis Reliable, thanks for providing the photos, and thanks to Jay for posting them.

I know little about the American Classics, but your Hellis appears to be an ideal field gun to me. I have an A. Sanders BLNE 2" 12 that looks almost identical, including the lined borders, that weighs 4# 15 oz. A near perfect grouse & woodcock gun, IMHO.

I love fine, tight English scroll, but I prefer a plain gun like your Hellis, to one that is haphazardly engraved.

And I agree with you that the British (Birmingham) boxlocks are an excellent value, provided they are in reasonable condition.

BTW, I thought that those lines along the edges of the action are called border engraving... Or is there another name for them?