Well, I guess here in the heart of upland and waterfowl heaven, we don't have many "hardcore guys" then.
I've only seen two doubles in the field in the past decade. Oh yeah, both were broken and unusable by the end of one day's hunting.
Oops, I also remember the really serious guy from Alabama that was up here using a Win Mod 21--that one broke also but it took 3 days.
I guess you don't...... When we were in SD this year, not only were all of the guys shooting doubles, most of the doubles were 100+ years old. I'm betting those guns have worked perfectly for each of those 100 years as well. If you ever get a chance to hunt wild quail on one of the really nice plantations in the South, don't bring your single barrel gun unless it's a break action, since they don't allow guns that aren't break action.
I don't consider 3-5 shots during a mid-morning hour of walking behind pointing dogs on a private pheasant farm only to return to the cleaning comforts of a lodge in the middle of October to be much of a test of any shotgun. Though it is an enjoyable time.
Try August 15-January 4, stored on the floor of a pickup, shooting light dove lead through magnum goose steel, dragged through dry dust wheat field stubble onward to mud pit blinds and finally into snow, ice, and below-zero cold in a trapping sled, with no cleaning until season is over, THEN get ready for the abuse of spring snow goose season. The shotgun gets cleaned to bare steel once per year in the summer. Your 100-year old double wouldn't cut it. Neither will most current shotguns.
Each of us has our own hunting experiences and expectations, and ours are certainly different.
As an aside, your quote
"I'm betting those guns have worked perfectly for each of those 100 years as well" is almost certainly false, by a long shot. Rather, those doubles have been maintained well for 100 years and repaired as needed to keep them running, which is enjoyable to many.
