Ted,

I have an 1899 5E 12g. that originally weighed 7 lbs. 3 oz. and it still has no cracks behind the lockplates. I have several that have no cracks in lower grades but I certainly do not disagree that they are very prone to that problem and many other problems. Most are old and not very well taken care of as typical of the way Americans took care of their guns.


So many guns, so little time!