This is really good stuff and I very much appreciate everyone's responses.
The Pedersolis are fine guns (I own a Pedersoli double 12) and I would like to get one. Those prices are really tempting. But, I learned something about my specifications when I was looking over the catalog: I'm going to add buying American to the stack unless it proves impossible. That will raise the price bar a bit, but I think it can be done.
Yes, I do have the 'as issued' gun (several that qualify, in fact), and I also have a number of percussion single shots for the second leg of the aggregate. I actually shot one of them at Friendship a few weeks ago, enough to prove yet again
that maintaining proficiency with a 3" S&W .357 mag does not translate to a 9" CVA Mountain .50. :shake:
I did look in the sheepsheds at Friendship but wasn't yet 'in the market'. I saw some fine possibilities in Tip Curtis' shed; wish I'd known about the pistol shack - I will certainly use that resource at the next opportunity.
Zonie's comment about the Pedersoli Kentucky barrel mount has kind of solidified my current thinking: I'm leaning towards building my own. It's been a few years since I put together the CVA pistols, but working with some rifles recently makes me believe I can handle such a mod, and if I'm capable of that I can build my own from a bag of parts.
So, I'm going to at least aim at building one myself. Unless a great deal comes up in the meantime (and I do look in the classifieds on this forum frequently) I'm probably going to be ordering some parts soone. Just need to decide if I want to take on the whole project or start with a partially inletted gun. Decisions, decisions....
Again, thanks for the ideas; they really helped me to decide what I'd prefer. In the mean time, I'd welcome any thoughts anyone might have on the 95% inletted kits, or perhaps a 'bag of parts' kit.