You like your dime test. Let's try it with just one modern gun like a Mossberg 835. That gun has a oversized factory bore of a 10 bore. Subtract .040 for a full choke and that dime drops down the barrel like a stone into a open well. The seller was willing to give real measurements for the gun and got the dime question. I've got atleast four side by sides in just my little collection which are full choked and the dime would not be stopped by the choke. Perhaps the dime worked on Belgian clunkers and farm guns but these days get a set of bore micrometers and measure the bore to honestly know what you are buying. Many modern and more than you expect old guns have larger bores, so this test is obsolete at best.
If you want to know if a set of barrels has been cut look at the end. 99% of cut barrels are not refinished well enough to hide the butchery. Heck, often you can still see the hacksaw marks or the fact no one bothered to put new fillers into the space around the ribs. Same goes for reamed chokes. Left rough and stand out like a sore thumb upon visual inspection. If you can't inspect the gun have the seller measure them.
