Buckstix,
Thank you for letting us in to the real reason that underlay what seemed at first sight to be an extraordinary decision.
I hope that your original posts did not carry off too many forum readers with apoplexy.
I have seen a best quality Lang SLE double rifle with very similar damage, a massive split well down the barrel (and therefore the pressure curve) but no sign that I could see of the start of a ring bulge that you would expect from an in bore obstruction.
I suspect that both might have been caused by using over hard homogeneous bullets, without the give afforded by a lead core.
I believe that SKB is right in thinking that it once had a rubber cheek piece.
Looking at the photos it seems that the insert is cut from the original stock - suggesting that Holland and Holland were not over enthusiastic about the idea and preserved the insert in the case for later replacement.
