Those parts of the country that generally have the most pheasants also have some very cold weather. I do have a 16ga (Husqvarna) with a pretty generous space between front and rear triggers. (Imagine that . . . coming from Sweden, where it also gets pretty cold.) But I just acquired an Ithaca SKB 12ga. I've killed a fair number of cold weather pheasants with SKBs, and have never had an issue with their SSTs. Ted, I do agree with you on the guns that try to incorporate the barrel selector into the safety, when it requires moving in two different directions to do so. The beauty of the Miller is that it's a one way move: Forward for the R barrel, back for the L. But I'd just as soon not have to think about making sure the safety is in the middle when I want the gun on safe in cold weather.
Re differences between the 400 and 700 . . . Well, for starters, the 400 is a screw grip gun with a rib extension, which the 700 lacks. I don't know how similar their single triggers are. But given that fairly significant design difference, I'd say there's a fair chance that they're not identical.
