Hey guys, I'm going to do some experimenting with various Penn washers to see whether they can be fitted to the 7000 size Abu. I found that the washers from a 704 spinning reel will fit the 6500BG I have, and they make the drag much more reliable--although, they haven't been tested on a fish yet. Hey, after all, I just swapped them yesterday and went and did about 50 test casts just to make sure everything was working right. I picked up the washers from the 113 and 114 Penn Senator, I figure, one of them might fit the 7000. Haven't had the time yet to take them apart. I'm talking about just the fiber washers here, and the best part is, the ones for the 704 only cost about 50 cents apiece. Keep the bottom washer in the stack as one of the original Abus, and then put the Penn washers towards the top. You'll notice a big difference as you pull line out.
The BG series reels do feel a lot more "solid" than the others. My Mag Elite doesn't feel as tight now as when it was new, but the BG 6500 is still solid. Like Bill, I never noticed a big difference in casting the red 7000 and the C3--if anything, my red 7000 casts better. The extra ball bearing in the C3 is really just a throw-away part. They have it in the drive train, and it does nothing to make the reel perform better.
Back to the original thread, unless you're going to use line heavier than 20# mono, the 400 Calcutta is all the reel you'll ever need. It also is durable, I'm in my third season with it, and Bill has been trying to kill his even longer<img src="/Images/Happy_Face.gif"><!--e1--> The 700 size Calcutta is too wide. What Shimano needs is a reel between these two, but Penn beat them to it with the 975. If you think the Calcutta 400 is too small, take a look at the 975 before you decide, it might be just what you're looking for.