I have a chance to buy a CVC O/U 12 but have never heard of this brand. It is listed in the Blue Book, and the description seems to place it on mid to high end of the scale as far as price. about teice the price of a Citori or Red Label. Is anyone familiar with this shotgun?

I believe the CVC is the new version of the old Winchester 101. CVC bought the rights to the design from Olin-Kodenshu in Japan. I don,t know if they are made in Japan or US. The major difference from the Win 101 is that the CVC seems to have nicer wood and more engraving. Also the CVC can be had with interchangable choke tubes.
If you have the 22nd edition of the Blue Book of Gun Values, there is a big article in there about the evolution of the 101 and the problems Winchester had dealing with Kodenshu (sp?).
Also you might go to Google and do a search for Connecticut Valley Arms and see if they still exist and support their products.