I knew I came to the right place. I am a member here and a member of the NYS Arms Collectors Assocation. The show is in Syracuse, NY usually with about 1000 tables. I have looked at Parkers there before but never bought one there. There are usually quite a few vendors with doubles of all makes, thus the need for knowledge. I will definitely take my time before making a purchase since I have a 28ga. DHE Repro and a 12ga. VH, plus Ithaca's and LC Smith's. Please keep the info coming. And thanks!

I've bought exactly 5 guns at gun shows, mostly back when I knew even less than the little I know now, and all were pretty straight forward and hard to mess up. I've been lucky; never bought a stinker. Frankly I wouldn't trust myself to buy anything very expensive that way. All the rest I've bought from reputable dealers or site members that I was familiar with and trusted. There are a lot of shady folks out there, and even worse, a lot of folks who don't know anything but think they do. JMO.

Russ knows that he forgot to mention measuring bore diameter and choke length and diameter and comparing the bore diameter to known original dimensions.

Thank You Bill , I even take my Hosford Barrel Wall Thickness gauge if I am going to a show where I can measure thickness ! Especially with the Damascus Barreled guns !

As the gents here have indicated, the wealth of knowledge and genuine camaraderie of this group is what helps make the adventure worthwhile. They (we) will guide you. Ask the questions and do your research. I’ve been fortunate with the past several acquisitions due to everyone’s assistance here, both before and after I made the purchase. There are details and nuances that are important. Gun show sellers and on line dealers have a single objective. Collectors and enthusiasts have many. Caveat emptor. As someone said here, very few of these pieces have not been tampered with. Your challenge is to find out how much and how badly or how carefully that work was done. Running that down is part of the journey and the fun of assessing the potential and history of a piece. And what really makes it all worthwhile is going to the range and throwing the double to your cheek and shoulder and watching the clays go to dust…or not! I love my little 20. And the members here have helped with some special upgrades to make it all the more special. Good luck. Keep us posted. Ask questions.

Quote from a member on here with more experience than I: "For my money, the poorest value will always be the gun with "borderline" barrels".

And from my own experience: That gun with the borderline barrels can beguile you with its exceptional exterior high original condition, so that you dispense with measuring the minimum barrel wall thickness before buying it.

Late entry: I want to be clear: my buying that gun, being so beguiled; that is, having assumed that such a nice-appearing gun would have sound barrels, was a big mistake.