I can speak to the continued existence of a couple of the Italian makers mentioned above as possibly out of business. At my gun club today, a friend shared his new 12 bore P&V with me, fresh from Italy. It was set up for sporting clays, 32" barrels, sporter configuration. Engraving by one of the masters (actually not to my taste). He was pounding the tar out of it. He liked it so much he more has a 28 bore and a 410 on order from them, delivery 1.5 years out.
At the FAMARS tent at the southern, I learned that the US division of FAMARS purchased the assets of the Italian factory from bankruptcy and they would be happy to build you a gun to your taste.
Seems like the high end Italian guns are doing just fine with long waiting lists.
Owen was your friend's P&V an O/U?
http://peruginivisiniusa.com/index.asp 
