Hello Harry,
As a collector of LC Smith shotguns, I can state with a fair amount of certainty that loose bottom ribs are not a problem frequently encountered by LC Smith owners. Given the pitting visible beneath the bold bluing visible on the lower barrel in the pictured example, I'd guess that the barrels were improperly cold, or hot, re-blued blued at some point in their history, and the chemicals slowly ate the lead solder used to join the barrels and affix the ribs. Smart money says that the top rib is not long to follow. I have a set of 3E barrels in my shop right now that originally appeared to have just a small section of bottom rib in need of re-solder. In prepping the area for repair, the entire bottom rib peeled right off, and with just a little coaxing, the top rib followed suit. Almost zero evidence of any lead solder remained on either the barrels or the ribs. Great testimony that slow rust bluing is the way to go on the old gals. I have repaired two LC Smiths where the fore-end lug has come loose and "Train Wrecked" a portion of the adjacent bottom rib, but I've also repaired one 20 ga Parker in need of the same repair, but caught before the trainwreck, and have another Parker 20 ga in the waiting room at the present time with the very same symptoms. In my experience, no vintage shotgun is immune to an improper re-blue, and loose bottom ribs or fore-end lugs are just as prevalent in Elsie as Parkers.
Hope my experiences help to answer your question.
John
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