You can make some pretty good buys these days on XXV's, especially in 12ga. Stubby 12's didn't stay in fashion, in spite of Mr. Churchill's efforts. But that period of time--between the wars--was one of intense competition in the British gun trade. They lost a lot of clients in the war, and some of those clients' guns ended up on the secondary market. Prior to WWI, anything with barrels shorter than 28" (and 30's were also very common) were quite unusual. So offering short-barreled guns was one way to tap into a new niche in the market. The 2" 12ga also came out of that same period. So did (although not from the UK) the first really popular OU: Browning's Superposed.
