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I'm going to drive a couple hours to take a look at a Besson 994. I read some reviews of the Besson in the forum and I read comment like "stuffy", good tone, heavy, etc. Any other comments?

Have fun giving it a workout.
All of the Besson BBb horns I've tried had the cavalry ball on the bottom and weighed alot (much more than my dad's Schneider Stencil).
Both were things I wasn't willing to deal with at the time, so I kept looking.
I'm also not a huge fan of the left hand 4th valve layout, but I'd probably give it a look.
Now, I realize that they weren't that bad and I could probably enjoy having 1 with some minor modifications.

See if your local tuba tech can give you a price for some work like a full cleaning, or possibly prices for mods like moving the mouthpipe (higher or lower), removing the cavalry ball or aligning the valves before you go. Then you'll have an idea what it will cost to get this horn up to par if you decide to buy.

They can vary a lot!
Some of them is anything but stuffy and has a full, rich and easy to control low register.

NCSUSousa wrote: All of the Besson BBb horns I've tried had the cavalry ball on the bottom and weighed a lot (much more than my dad's Schneider Stencil).

The 994 belongs to the Sovereign range, and never had a ball on the bottom bow.

played on one for over 20 years. great tuba,solid low register.good pitch. while the 3+1 set up is not everyboby's cup of tea, it certainly worked for me.used mine for wind bands. brass ensembles, and british brass bands. the guys and girls from across the pond use the 3+1 setup and this model of tuba extensively.in the hands of a right person it has a massive sound. listen to the bottom end of a championship section british brass band and you will be amazed. as good as they are i ended up trading mine in on the new yamaha bb flat neo which is a spectacular tuba.