Are you sure about that gap behind the locks as the right way, Stan? Looks like a place where water could get in to me.
I will retract that statement. But, I will say that, IMO, LC Smiths should have a bit of relief in the rear of the lock inlets, because of the lack of area where the head of the stock contacts the action. There is precious little area for recoil absorption on a Smith stock, and it needs some "help". I know some will say that they have a Smith that has no sign of a crack and that there is no gap, but they may own a gun with a less compressible stock head, or it hasn't been shot a lot, etc.
In a conversation once, Nick Makinson told me that, when shot enough with heavy enough loads, all makes of sidelocks will eventually begin to crack behind the lockplate. He may have been wrong........... I have two other sidelock guns of other makes, that are not cracked behind the lockplates, and do not have large gaps in the inletting at the tail of the lockplate, but they may not have been shot nearly as much as my LC Smith.
I really don't know what the big deal is about a little water getting in around the locks. If you care for your guns properly you are going to pull the locks after using the gun in the rain anyway. Regardless, a little paste wax rubbed on and buffed off will keep small amounts of water out.
SRH
