New to me Savage 219 hard to open

[langenc]

This is a 219, not 219A, etc. Made in Utica, which I understand to mean prewar. It only opens by pushing the lever to the right. The lever moves easily, its just that the gun is hard to get to break. Does this suggest a gunked-up action?

How do I remove the buttstock?

My 219 or should I say the 219 I had, was hard to push the barrel down after moving the lever. I always thought that awas due to the fact thet I was cocking the gun in the process. With a 7+# trigger I suspect it takes more force to cock than a 3# trigger. Probably wrong. Id still own today if it hadnt been for the trigger.

I had some fun with that gun and it had a few notches in the stock.

Coach mentioned about the cocking action when opening the action of the 219 type guns.

I have two double barrel guns. Gramps old Fox Sterlingworth and a Spanish made nice double w/ 2 sets of barrels.