I agree, not wanting to offend Mauser416 with these comments which are general comments. Anyone can be burned by a gunsmith, but somethings can reduce the chance.

Another guy on these forums and elsewhere sold a lot of double rifles which were never delivered.

Did any of these customers actually sight one?

I visited the guy personally and didn't see any work I would spend my dollars on. The building DRs idea only came after my visit however and evidently was a con (IMO).

If you buy a bespoke rifle, a double rifle build try to see some of their work. Even if it is something different from what you are looking at.

I wanted to get a shotgun converted and saw a reasonable example before contacting the guy. Unfortunately that gunmaker/gunsmith no longer wanted to do shotgun conversions himself.

AND the old lesson still stands - if it is cheap there is a reason. A cheap shotgun conversion is a lot riskier than one more expensive from an established guy. And ANY shotgun conversion will be riskier than buying a real double rifle in the first place.

Just like a sabatti buyer takes a much higher risk of defects than a Heym buyer.