I had Nick Makinson's video for many years, and while it is a well made introduction to the LC Smith, disassembling and reassembling it, Makinson's opinion is not without flaw. He and I once talked on the phone, as I encouraged him to make this same type video on other makes of guns. During the course of the conversation I asked his opinion as to why Smiths crack behind the tail of the lockplate with more regularity than other sidelocks. He said that they don't and that such cracks are caused by allowing the hand pin to loosen.
Well, as much as I respect Nick's abilities, he is wrong about that. There is an inherent flaw in the design, that leaves too little wood in the head of the stock for recoil absorption. That, coupled with close, tight inletting of the tail of the lockplate results in it acting as a wedge, pushing the upper and lower parts of the grip area apart and causing the splits, which always begin in the lock inlet and panel at the rear of the lockplate.
Sure, there are Smiths around that have been shot a good bit that aren't cracked. Some pieces of walnut are denser than others and are less prone to crushing of the wood in the small recoil bearing area of the stock head. I have a fine specimen of the L C Smith gun, that I enjoy shooting at doves and crows. The wood is not oil soaked at all, and the hand pin never was loose, but it cracked with me on both sides after shooting several hundred rounds through it, some 1 oz., some 1 1/8 oz. loads. It's been repaired by Jim Kelly, but the tiny cracks are still visible.
I DO know something about the engineering and proper upkeep of Smith guns, and I say that anybody who says that the LC Smith is the best gun ever made is full of ...................beans.
SRH
Last edited by Stan; 08/05/18 02:27 PM.
