Chris, very thoughtful post. If the ledger man did inspect or received notice of the guns on the rack finished each day, the 32" barrels should be instantly recoginzed prompting closer inspection.
Does anyone have a WF 2 3/4" with the re-enforcing wedge? It's odd most don't when there are many shorter barreled guns with the wedges including Field grades.
There probably is a 94 year old former Hunter Arms worker lurking and having good laughs every day.