In my 1949, I shoot reloads, but wouldn't hesitate to shoot any commercial lead shell I could fit into the chamber. Glassbedding is not so hard, I recommend you give it a go. As to cracking stocks, ignore the naysayers. That Smith is built like a vault door. Treat the wood nice and it will last a very long time. There are plenty of Parkers, Ithacas, Foxes, and Lefevers with rotted oil-soaked heads full of cracks.
You aought to be writing nostalgia stuff for the L C member newspaper. There are 2 types of L C guns, those that have cracked and those that will crack sooner or later. L C is one of the poorest designs ever sold to american shooters. it always amazes me the number of chaps with blinders on when it comes to L C. You have a steel and wood gun and then are told to glasbed to be able to shoot it a lot and then limit to light loads ezily handled by other period guns. ya right. Its always an adventure shooting a L C. You shoot two shots and look for cracks behing the tang or lock plates. Load and shoot two more, look again. repeat as long as you dare.
