First post here, longtime chukar hunter. I’ve had an MX8 20 for a long time. Love it!

Yup. I like your thinking. And British Sporting Arms carries them, which is a huge plus.

The most expensive Caesar Guerni Field Forum is almost $13,000.

https://gueriniusa.com/shotguns/forum/

I’d buy myself a 20 gauge Tempio for $4,500 and use the rest of the money to hunt birds.

https://gueriniusa.com/shotguns/forum/

I cannot easily count all my shotguns.

If I had to just have one, it would be my 28” 12 gauge Tempio, my wife probably paid about $2,000 for in 2007, for my 49th birthday.

It would do it all, very well.

If I could pick two, the other would be my CG 34” Summit Limited 12 gauge sporter.

All CG guns come with a lifetime warranty and three free pit stops.

I’ve never used the first pit stop on either of mine.

I would buy a Fabarm Autumn https://fabarmusa.com/autumn/ and use the rest of the money for travel, lodges, licenses, ammo, etc.

I've been fortunate enough to have been in your situation a few times, looking for a nice O&U or SxS gun mostly for hunting and occasional clays. I like a little extra embellishment on my guns and prefer a long tang, metal grip cap if possible, and amazing wood. A few of the guns that have fit this bill are the Guerini Revenant, Rizzini Grand Regal Extra, Beretta Jubilee, and Browning B15 Beauchamp. For SxS guns, while I would love a Piotti or Bertuzzi I've mostly gone with Garbi as they are handled by one importer only (William Larkin Moore) and in my opinion are finished to a higher degree than the other Spanish guns.

I'll buy a Perazzi some day but am holding out for just the right one. Same goes for K20s, the Parcours are nice.

BSA is a great source. Charles will have something to fit your needs.

Let us know what you pick.

^^^ This has my vote ^^^

I snagged my Zoli Z Extra Game in 20, for just under $4k. IMHO if I was you, I would look for four nice used guns.

I own two Garbi which I bought at the factory (more like a craftsman’s shop) back in 1984. Beautiful guns. I chose the engravings with the engraver putting on paper my ideas. Awesome experience.

My choice is a Perazzi MX20 SC2. All measurements, etc. according to my specs. I’m buying it from British Sporting Arms in upstate NY, a top notch shop. Charles, the owner, is a most gracious, honest, knowledgeable, trustworthy gentleman.

Fly to Italy and purchase a Mx8 20 ga made to your specs and custom stock.

DL

Go to Guns Unlimited in Omaha and buy their Browning Sporting Clays exclusive editions in ,410, 28, 20, and 12ga @ $2500 each.
Good luck finding ammo to shoot all four gauges.

Zoli Pernice or Blaser F3. I have both in matched pairs and both are wonderful. For that budget either get a matched pair or go up in wood/engraving or both.

Really heavy gun for mostly hunting.

Have you considered a Greener?

For mainly hunting I'd have an AYA 16 ga #2 round body, twin triggers, English grip, IC and Mod, 28" barrels for my "big" upland gun. For the small gun, the same specs in a 28 ga.

What does that weigh?

If I had $16,000 I wouldn't be buying a shotgun. But people have different values, and to a lot of people $16,000 is like $16 is to me. So, buy what makes you happy.

7 on the nose, but mine has a straight grip, thinner stick and forend profile, 29” fixed.

I'd have a hard time spending $16k on an O/U for hunting but have considered that many times for a SxS. The Merkel 280/360 SL SxS is a fantastic gun. Light and reliable. But you stated O/U and for that I'd say a 28 gauge Perazzi or Krieghoff K20. Call Paxton and talk with him.

I have a Zoli 20 gauge O/U 29 1/2" that serves my purpose but it was less than $5k and I'd put it up against any K or P gun in terms of performance. Probably only a Browning Citori would outlast it.

As far as money, I was in a similar situation recently. I wanted a super accurate rifle and money was no option because I just sold a house. I figured that I would spend about $5,000 to get what I wanted but I ended up spending less than half that. Not because I cared about saving money but because the less expensive rifle fitted my needs perfectly. If money is not an option then don't worry about how much you can spend. Buy what suits you best even if you can afford to pay a lot more. BTW, even if I had spent twice as much it would not mean I would have bought a rifle that was twice as good. Sure it might have been slightly better but I am not a good enough shooter to ever know the difference.

Superposed! Then the remaining balance in gold bullion..

Back in 2016 I had about $20K available for a gun and looked seriously at older Holland & Hollands and Purdeys. Yes, I prefer SxS's.

Instead I decided that I was happy with my 12 and 20 gauge Beretta 687s, 12 and 20 gauge AyA No 2s and a couple of other SxSs. I used the money for 5 days of driven shooting in the UK including airfare and all expenses for a week in London with my wife before the shoot. The experience was worth far more to me than any gun. I also had enough money left over to pay for a trip to shoot pigeons in Bolivia, which was scheduled for last year but postponed until this year due to COVID. We're hopeful that we will get to Bolivia this year.