Success! Rifle is 100% back together. This has been on my mental to-do list for over a year after I got it back from a hack gunsmith with more problems than I gave him. It took me a good 4-5 hours of checking, fitting, filing, checking, filing, etc to get stock and receiver fit correct. The hack gunsmith I used last year to fix the first crack caused way more problems than he fixed. You can see his accraglass patch on the inside left wing of the stock which was WAY out of dimension. Pressing the stock onto the receiver caused a wedge effect due to this repair buildup. Any recoil forces would direct the stress to the closest point where the wedge levers met, which was exactly where it cracked and I had to repair. All cracks properly repaired now and proper internal relief given for the hammers, cocking pin indicators, and stock wings on each side of the receiver so they are not under pressure.

I had to mildly adjust the triggers to get 100% function along with the Greener safety bar and trigger bar interface for 100% reliability. When the hack gunsmith refinished the stock he changed the trigger plate to stock fitment just enough that there was too much interference with the Greener bolt. The shotgun trigger wouldn’t fire even with the Greener bolt on Fire. Pretty easy adjustment.
I did a a touch more spring force on the rifle set trigger to compensate for a slighty stronger trigger bar rebound spring. Set trigger function is 100% and a neat feature on this little combo.

Last item to repair was the front scope clawmount, particularly the left claw. I needed a few thousandths more interference on the hook to remove the slightest of play when installed. I removed the claw mount from the scope, fixtured it up on a steel square bar and hit the claw with some MAP torch heat. After 20 seconds I tapped on it with a hammer and closed the claw about 5-8 thousandths as measured with my calipers. Now the scope mounts up perfectly with ZERO play!

Looking forward to shooting it this weekend. I have at least 7 boxes of Sellier & Belliot 6.5-52R 117grain lead tip ammo along with almost 80 rounds of loads I have made using 25-35 brass and cfe-223 26.5 grains pushing the new Hornady 110 FTX bullet around 2200fps.

I just need to buy a few boxes of light 20 gauge shells for some skeet and sporting clays fun!

Looks like great rig. Being no need for special bullets for a tube mag you might give 100gr Patitions a shot for larger game and 75 gr V-max have been very accurate for me but tend to be hard on coyote pelts unless you can shoot them from front to back. I shoot them both from a 25-204 and the 75's in my 6.5x58R Sauer.

Looks good! I like the over and under cape guns.

Question for the group - what shotgun shells should I use in this for coyote hunting? I should note that I had the gunsmith lengthen the chamber of this 20 gauge from 2-1/2” to 2-3/4”. The chamber looks good and my snap caps or a real 2-3/4” shells drops in nicely with no friction or bottoming out. I know it’s an old gun and I really don’t want to blow myself up pushing it hard. Are there any brand or speciality shells out there that can anchor a yote at 40 yards without magnum pressures?

A 2 3/4" loaded shell will drop right into a 2 1/2" chamber the problem is the crimp will open into the forcing cone, you said that your gunsmith says he lengthened the chamber to 2 3/4". I don't believe that there is any factory shell that will reliably drop a coyote at 40 yards with low pressure. There is some 2 3/4" #3 Buck out there but it is a pretty stout load, I would personally shy away from something like that in a fine old gun like that. Remember you have just had the gunsmith remove metal from the chamber where the pressure is the highest. I would look at handloading a nice low pressure 7/8 oz NP BB or 2's and keep the coyote shooting under 35 yards and use the rifle for anything longer. I load my short chambered 16ga at 1 oz and have no problems killing coyotes close in. Remember to aim for the head and neck with shot loads not the body.

Nice! Great to see the old girl up and running.
I'm with Erich on the shotshells. Ive had good luck with BB and and #2's on foxes out to 50 yards, but coyotes are a lot bigger, so you need more penetration. On the other hand, their vitals are small enough to miss with holes in pattern. You won't have a lot of pellets, so pattern density makes the 20 a close range choice for me. In my 16's, buck shot patterns would limit my coyote shooting to 35 yards or so, with BB's I'd stay with that maximum range.
Bfly

I missed this while in Idaho.

MAN! Rates a definite Two-Cool

Thanks Bruce. You had a hand in getting this one completed with the scope and brass you sourced for me. Cheers.

Erich,
I believe I could drive myself looney thinking about all permutations of 2-3/4” shells in a lengthened chamber that was originally 2-1/2”.
I just dont know when something is too much. I would really enjoy shooting a 1 ounce #8 sporting load at around 1200fps. Does this sound reasonable?

It really depends on how it is loaded. If very fast burning powder is used chamber pressure could be near or at max pressure, a slower powder would have a lower chamber pressure but longer burn time to bring the speed up. Most modern off the shelf ammo is loaded to reliably cycle modern semi autos. I would seriously try and find out the pressures your selected ammo is running at.