Having shot driven birds with a couple guys who were using McKay Brown OU's, I'm not too worried about outclassing anyone with anything I own. Sometimes I borrowed a gun from the estate where we were shooting. When I took my own, the fanciest one I ever took was probably a Francotte sidelock. Nice gun, but a far cry from a Purdey or a Boss.
My Parker Reproduction with a set of 16ga barrels has become my usual pheasant gun. Mostly these days, although I have "rain guns", I solve that problem by not hunting in the rain. Seldom very productive for upland birds anyhow.
What I've found is that your gun can pick up various dings even if you aren't hunting with it. Not unusual for either me or my gun to get hit with a stray piece of clay target while shooting skeet. Or sometimes 5 stand or sporting clays. So I usually don't worry too much about risking them hunting upland birds. And I've also reached the age where I'm more likely to trip and end up on the ground than I used to. But I recall slipping on a wet rock, falling, and breaking a rib while grouse hunting when I wasn't yet 50. But I did a nice job of saving the gun . . . which was a Manufrance Robust 16ga. In retrospect, I should have had more concern for my ribs.
