My first graded Smith was a 12 bore Pigeon Grade- DT-EJ straight hand buttstock to black leather faced pad-28" choked Imp. cyl right and Imp. mod left- 1909 yom- all 12 bore Smith had std. 2&3/4" chambers--so that's not a concern. But being a long-time Smith collector and shooter (mainly 12 gauge pre-1913 guns) some things are of concern, to me anyway.
I'd want to run a few boxes of target loads through this gun before I wrote a check- the HOT concerns me--if it functions w/o flaw in either Rb or Lb selection mode- you are lucky-- also, you probably know that the safety remains on fire mode once you have moved it, the automatic safety mechanism will not quite fit into the stock head due to the greater amount of wood removed to allow the HOT to function.
I'd give up on the stripping the blued lockplates-- if it fits you, shoots to POA- the trigger and ejectors function properly, and the stock dims are correct for you, I'd make the owner a offer, keep it and shoot it as is- You will never recover the costs you are thinking about putting into this Smith to "make it right"-- IMO..
Also, back in the era this Pigeon grade was made- both barrels choked full was factory std- check muzzle area for concentricity and any hone marks, buying a older gun with opened up chokes or cut down barrels is a risky business. RWTF
