hoppdoc:
Can't fault your sentiments, but they apply to DRs as well. A border-engraved Birmingham boxlock extractor with dark bores is still a fine working double, but will cost you a fraction of the price of an engraved London sidelock in top condition. In the hunting field, your imagination will convert the 'lesser' gun into the 'best'!

Others may not agree, but IMHO even a really, really crappy double is still more fun to hunt with than the best bolt-rifle ever built.

My advice to the guy who has convinced himself he will never afford a DR is to go grab a Baikal SxS .30-06, put decent open sights on it (express or ghost-ring), and still-hunt a whitetail season in the thick stuff.

Am I one-eyed? Maybe, just a bit...!