Having handled thousands of shotguns over the years, I have come to a less scientific view, but one that is born out by experience. A well handling gun will have most of the mass of each and every part towards the middle of the assembled gun.
To make it clearer. Find a gun that handles, well, one that does not resist your movements when you shoulder it. Disasemble it and hold each part, ie barrels, action and forend at the places where the hands normally go when the gun is assembled. Held in such a way each part will tip towards the centre of the gun when assembled.
I have tried this with hundreds of guns and it has proven true.
I think we are talking about the same thing though not in the same terms.
And yes, the action type is not a main factor in handling. Though I do understand what Powell is getting at.
The best handling shotguns I have come across are quality British single barrels, mostly hammer, though there have been a couple of one sided sidelocks. I thought the handling might be due to thinness of the barrels, but all had barrel wall thickness over 35 thou and all had barrel length of over 28 inches.
Must be a computer thing.
