My wife said that about men once. Of course she has horses, and they too have their 'little glitches.' Whomever invented the phrase 'healthy as a horse' must have been an idiot. They all seem to have 'leg problems' and they have four legs and vets are harder to find than a good doctor, and cost more.

A good double can normally be damn near rebuilt by a good smith such as JJ or Ken Owen. The only thing that usually takes a DR beyond the point of bringing it back to life are the barrels. Like Curl and I suspect many others on this site, I have often come across a 'ridden hard and put away wet' DR at a show or (in my trade) listed as part of an estate that must be liquidated to pay out to the heirs. A good appraiser who knows DRs and shotguns will focus on the condition of the barrels. I will buy an inherently good DR with no bluing or color case left, one that needs rejointing or even a complete rebuild if the gun is otherwise original. The colors can be restored, the mechanicals attended to, etc but short of replacement barrels (and that, to me, is no longer the same gun) there is nothing that can be done and I walk away.

Some may differ, but like a horse with a good disposition, great breeding, but bad legs, if the barrels are bad, take a walk. Dave