Posted by Tom Martin on July 9, 2015, 7:19 am, in reply to "Re: Interesting "
I had probably owned LC Smiths for 30 years or more before I was told they had to be cocked to replace the fore end. It is certainly easier to replace the fore end with the gun cocked, if done properly, there is no danger of cracking the wood when done uncocked. The correct way to replace the fore end is to apply pressure far enough back that the pressure is over the fore end iron so that the pressure only compresses the wood between the hand and the fore end iron, whether the gun is cocked or not.