Concur with Canvasback and Mark. Continental doubles can be had at a substantial discount versus the Brit guns and can be every bit as good.
You must judge each gun as an individual, rather than by brand name.
My entry into best guns came through a $6k Jules Bury made Louis Christophe. I found it locally in Kansas City on gunbroker went over to see it, mounted it once and it ws right. It supplanted my Fox Sterlingworth and started me toward a set of 20, 20, 12, 16, and double rifle JB Christophe guns. All but one below $10k and two were sub $2k project guns. Only after those and more than a decade of shooting and collecting did I get a project Purdey and recently a pair of Alex Martins.
I like my Purdey alot, but I know the reality is the quality in the make is not better than the Jules Bury guns and in fact is less engraving quality wise. The Martins are beatiful Celtic guns, but my Belgian guns are simply better quality guns than the Martins.
I recommend you look at Belgian gun by off name makers from the 1920s to 1940s. They convienently come with date stamps. You must develop the knowledge to properly inspect.
In the meantime shooting a decent boxlock and learning through trial and error what works best for you in terms of gun weight, balance, fit, choke is important too, before you put big money into a gun. I got lucky on my first SLE that is is right for me, but I have been through quite a few SXS guns over the years that were not right both before and after the one that is. The gun buying bug is dangerous and involved alot of unwise lust for me at least.
Lastly inspite of having now seven supposed best guns and two boxlocks, I find I use one or two exclusively and the rest sit to be loved. So you probably need fewer guns than you think unless you shoot a wider variety of birds than I do.
A post script on finding a bargain British best, it can be done, but without real knowledge and a little luck it will be harder to do thana old Belgian best.
