consider belgian SLE's. While Francottes tend to be priced high the most of the pack is not necesaarily so and many good values can be found.
You have to be wary on all old gun buys regardless of where and from who, but that said there are many good options out there.
I totally agree. The Belgian sidelocks are usually well built and under-priced. Without being as rough as Dig, I am very unimpressed with the quality of the Spanish ones. It seems that their lower cost is funded by a much higher speed of execution (i.e lower attention to details), as well as easier steels to work with (i.e. softer).
A good friend master gunsmith of mine in Belgium complains that the top Belgian firms spend all the effort time and money on the innards, and there is not much left for the outside, while the Italians do the reverse. (Of course, he is biased.)
Francotte and Lebeau are usually great, but there are many other great ones out there such as Lajot, Wilmart and Thonon. There are really too many to name them all. Usually those can be obtained well within your budget.
I would strongly advise that a competent gunsmith be hired to inspect anything you have in mind. The one I used has saved me a lot of frustration.
Best regards,
WC-
