+1 for Brittany Man. The four factor of handling (weight, center of gravity/balance, unmounted swing effort, and mounted swing effort) are all personal preference. Think of them as you would stock measurements - there is no optimal LOP, for example.
AM, if GT said that about balance, then he mis-spoke for sure. And he for sure knew better. He did moment of inertia back in the 1960's, so he knew that balance has nothing to do with lively. Trust me, a 10 lb gun with a 3" balance and umnounted swing effort of 3.0 is not lively; unless you are maybe a professional athlete.
McInntosh probably didn't know any better.
DDA
