There is a very beautiful graded Ithaca Crass on Gunbroker at this time. Has the added attraction of being valuable enuf not to present the shooting temptation. However, back to your question, "smokeless" is just that but "light" can mean several things. 7/8oz zipping up the pipe ahead of gas pressurized at 9000psi wouldn't be "light" enuf. There was a commercial loading with peak pressure listed at 5000psi mentioned on this board last week and reloaders have access to published loads with pressure below 5k. Just as there is an argument that damascus should be shot solely with bp because customarily used in the heyday of these guns, there is also a contemporary argument that only pressure matters and that the nature of the propellant/explosive which generates it is irrelevent. I have shot damascus guns with smokeless loads but not with bp which I suppose suggests that some of us weren't present at the creation of a hidebound tradition. Whatever the pros and cons of smokeless vs. black, the barrels are a more or less closed and pressurized vessel until the charge leaves the muzzle. As with any pressurized vessel, condition (wall thickness, local or general oxidation, and mods such as misguided chamber lengthening) is everything so you'd want to know the condition of barrels before buying with the intent to use. Black powder does not have the talismanic power to prevent guns from blowing up.
jack
