My first double was a Savage 420, slightly plainer cousin to the 430. Not a lot of those guns out there. They came out about the same time as the Marlin 90. However, after WWII, Marlin continued to produce the 90. The 420/430 did not survive the war, and were only produced for a few years in the late 30's-early 40's. Don't remember any issues with the forend on mine. Sounds like something's not right there. Should just pull off.