Quote:
Originally Posted by Dean Romig
Some forends are simply stubborn.
Whatever you do, don’t force it off or on without knowing exactly where to apply pressure… you could end up breaking it in half.
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Dean is right in saying this and it isn't uncommon to see a gun with a repaired fore end, that has been broken around the front of the fore end iron.
It's logical to assume Parker wouldn't have shipped a gun with a fore end so difficult to install, so, why now? I'll state it here, that this 99% the case on an EJECTOR gun. In the case of the subject gun, it's related to the fitting of a non-original set of barrels. When the gun was built, the gap between the end of the ejector rods and the ejector hammers is barely anything. The ejector rods are ground to get this gap. When a different set of barrels are fitted, this gap may be greater or lessor, and, in the case of the subject gun, the rods are actually pushing on the ejector hammers when you're trying to install the fore end, This is lifting the ejector hammers off of their sears. To prove this to yourself, remove the barrels and install the fore end on them. See if the faces of the ejectors are slightly raised from the breech end of the barrels.
The safest way to fit the fore end on a gun like this is to start the fore end in position, and slightly open the gun. This allows the ejectors to move outward and relieve the pressure of the ejector rods against the ejector hammers. This shouldn't be considered a final fix, and a gunsmith should grind the rods to re-establish the proper gap.