Fitting Barrels
 

The barrels of my PH had been cut to 28”. I found a set of 30” PH barrels on eBay. They snap on like they were made for mu frame however, they won’t open all the way to cock the hammers. The only glaring difference I see is the cocking hook recess goes a little more forward on the original barrels on the top. I welcome all thoughts and recommendations.

A side view of the two cocking hooks for comparison would help.
It's likely you'll need to remove the cocking hook from the barrel and modify it to the same shape of the original, or replace it if need be.

You might try swapping hooks to confirm your thoughts.

I did swap hooks as that had worked on other projects such as this, but it was a no go. The hooks are very close in dimensions.

The term "close" is relative. A mere 3 thousandths of an inch in just the right spot can make a world of difference.
With the 30" barrels, upon opening the action do you feel the hammers being drawn back, but just not far enough to catch the sears? It's possible the hook is not engaging the cocking bar at all if you are not feeling the hammers being partially drawn back.
When you swapped the hooks out, did either barrel cock the hammers?

Both hooks caught the cocking leaver, but not enough to catch the sears. Im going to file the space forward of the hook to see if giving it more travel will work. The barrels original to the gun has more travel space and I will try to match it.

The issue is probably not the cocking hook, but the length of the extractor rod.
You can confirm that by seeing if the extractor on the original barrels will still lift up further when the gun is fully opened. It likely will, a small amount. Now, try to see if the extractor of the 'new' set will move up, when you think it's fully opened. It probably won't, meaning that the extractor is being limited by it's retaining screw. Two ways to remedy this are either dressing the end of the rod until the gun cocks, or elongating the recess on the extractor rod, on it's forward edge.

Thanks, Edgar! I’ll give that a try.

Just take the extractor stop screw out and try cocking the gun.

Edgar,

While waiting for Kroil to do it's thing on the extractor screw I swapped forends. Though the forend latch didn't fully close, the gun cocked. Does it boil down to the unhooking pin not being compressed? The forend that came with the barrels appears to be tight.

Harry

Harry, if I'm following you correctly, you're saying that the fore end that came with the new set of barrels goes on, and the latch is partially engaged, but not flush? Then I'm assuming the unhooking pin is fully pushed back in.
Even if the unhooking pin were only partially compressed, the cocking hook should stay engaged.
I think I'd still like to see the extractor stop screw removed to see if it cocks, but you could just remove metal from the underside of the barrel lug to let the tumbler fully engage the lug. This wouldn't be my first choice, since removing metal is hard to undo.

Edgar, could you please explain that procedure to me like I was a 5 year old?

I seriously don't understand what you're saying.

I don't know how to add text to photos, but my little sketch should work.
The little arrow is pointing at the tip of the underside of the Fore end lug. If the tumbler, in the FE latch is engaging the lug, but not fully closing, using a diamond file, start at the tip, and keep the angle (dash line) as close as possible. I have a 3M product emery paper with an adhesive back which i put on the edge of a ground flat stock bar. Don't use a bastard file, or you will quickly have a loose fore end.

I will say, this is how I have gotten a fore end to fit, when I've fitted a set of barrels not done at the factory. It isn't intended to 'adjust' an existing, matching fore end. The process of fitting another barrel to a gun is complicated, and the fore end fitting can be as tedious as the barrel fitting. Ive screwed this up more than once, and it can be a major sweaty palm process. I've got 60+ years experience and have had some go on before dinner, and others only after weeks of cursing. The reward is almost never gotten without risks. Also, I only get involved with these projects on stuff I own, and won't touch anyone else's gun.

Edgar,

The forend that came with the barrels I'm trying to fit snaps on, but the gun won't cock.

The original forend to the gun will allow me to cock the gun with the new barrels.

I was hoping the forend to the new barrels would allow the gun to cock, but that is a no go at this point.

My next step is to remove the wood from the iron to see if their is anything glaringly obvious.

I do appreciate the help.
Thanks,
Harry

I think I would quit there, and call it a day.