Frank there seems to be some controversy as to what the right finish should be. I've heard that only ejector guns the forends were case hardened, but a friend has a minty 1936 .410 Field Grade that has a case hardened forend. Yet I've seen forends on both where there were small chips taken out of the curved piece that fits into the receiver, and if they weren't case hardened that wouldn't have happened. Also that same piece is so thin that if it wasn't case hardened it would distort easily. So I believe that they are all case hardened. The next time I have one apart I will try the file test on one in an inconspicuous place and post my findings.