Fantastic carry revolvers. I like an exposed hammer. I suspect if the frame under the barrel lug is not cracked now, it probably won't. I alway adhere to the policy of not shooting them in long strings. Not enough to get the barrel really hot. Aluminum and carbon steel do not expand and contract at the same rate. No one has ever said so to my knowledge, but I wonder if some of the cracking of the frame under the barrel lug is due to that. I shoot 148 grain wadcutters in mine.