Interesting point Greg. I am not sure the realy good ones did deal with a 3" drop. Every turn of the century competition gun which I have handled with a history of use in this country, has had what would be considered modern drop. Pigeon guns were the acme of the breed and L.C.'s and Parkers of the type have much more in common with their English cousins than with their own lesser field grade brethren. That doesn't mean that great grandpa couldn't hit with his dog leg stocked gun, but I bet he would have hit better with something less than 3".