My personal piece of artillery is 16ga with 29 1/2" barrels and weighs an unbearable 5lbs 10 including the cheekpiece and sling swivels.
That's exactly what I want!
The trouble I'm running into is that the guns seem to either command a premium for a well known name (Merkel, Sauer, Simson, etcetera), or they're unsigned entirely. The unsigned ones seem to go very cheaply, so they're attractive from that perspective. But, I also don't want to end up with a piece of junk. Given that I don't run across such guns at my local shop, examining the gun and buying on its apparent merits is a little complicated.
Basically, I'm looking for a primer on how to judge unsigned guns without being able to physically touch them. I know that's always tough, but I'd like to stack the odds in my favor as much as possible. I'd also like to learn about the German gun business at the same time.
