Just wasted half an hour trying to find some 10 yr old digitals of a 696 with a split forcing cone. The gun was at a Shop to be sent in to Smith for repair/replacement. The Gunsmith told me the owner was a handloader and had gotten a little overboard with his loads..no other info available.

So cracking the forcing cone does appear to be a valid concern.

I have a pair of 696-1's that are fed 6.5 grains of Unique, and a 245 gr SWC as a practice load, and one of them is carried occasionally with 7.5 of Unique and a Keith style #429421 slug if I'm in bear country.

I'm a big believer in Brian Pearce. If he feels the 696 can take 25K pressure so be it.

FN in MT