I have not owned a lot of Elsies but haven't had one with a cracked stock. First one i ever had was a pre '13 OO grade (Bottom of the Line) that had been rode hard, but its stock was still intact. Have has a few Ithaca Flusies, one of them had a cracked stock, in fact I bought it real cheap on that account. Of all my Lefevers I have one with a broken stock, not cracked per se, but broken. It was bought as a parts gun with several issues including a "Crack" in the Barrel. Elsies may have a higher percentage than others "Maybe" but they surely don't have a monopoly on cracked stocks.
Of course the original question here was as I recall concerning an English gun.
I have a pre 1900 Birmingham built J P Clabrough I have used considerably. On one hunt one barrel quit firing, so finished the hunt using it as a single. It is a back action sidelock with plates that look like a bar action. Turned out it had broken the stirrup in that lock, just made a new one for it & it still shoots "Both Barrels".
"theoretically" boxlocks are supposed to have stronger stocks than sidelocks, but I have seen about as many boxlocks with cracked stocks as sidelocks.
