I just had to drop in and say hi!! HI!!!!
I'm one of those who never met a barrel too short. My '97s are all cut to 18 1/4 inches, had choke tubes installed, big 'ol thick recoil pad added, cracked stocks fixed and they perform wondrously for CAS
I respect the "don't cut em" folks. There are traditionalists in every endeavor. But lets be honest, in it's production run, there were over a million and a half '97s manufactured. Half of those are still in the back corner of someones closet waiting to be discovered. A few thousand have gotten into CAS. There is NO collector value. Nobody collects them (that I know of) and the only reason they price out around $375 to $475 (some more) is because of CAS. When I started, a pristine primo '97 went for 75 to 100 bucks, tops. SO: Don't let traditionalism or collectability be your prime consideration. Let your use drive your decision. If you want a fast handling had hitting CAS gun, cut it down and install choke tubes. While it's apart, have the chamber re-cut for modern 2 3/4 munitions and the forcing cone lengthened. Re-cutting the chamber to modern 2 3/4 will reduce excess chamber pressure as will extending and easing the forcing cone.
Baseline?? Your gun.
Coffinmaker