Difficulty opening an older H&R

[J-Train]

I have an H&R combo (.30-30 and 12 gauge) that I bought used about 20 years ago.  It's really hard to open the breech--I have to press really hard on the release button, then snap the receiver up sharply to open it.  Both barrels are hard to open.  

Any ideas of what the problem is, and how difficult it would be for a mechanical klutz to repair? I'm sure GunParts would have the parts I would need.

Would H&R repair this for me?  The gun has been modified--the shotgun barrel has been shortened, the stock refinished and the receiver and shotgun barrel have been parkerized.

Any help would be appreciated. :?

[jbtazgrabber]

when i got my frame and barrel teflon coated it added just enough teflon to make it tuff to open and close.....i had to sand a little bit of the front of the barrel lug to make it work perfect.....i dont know if parkerrising adds to it on not///
?/////   just  my 2 cents..jb

[J-Train]

Thanks for your tips, guys.  I took it apart to be sure it was thoroughly clean, which it is.  The Parkerizing didn't affect the internal parts in question.  After examining the exploded view of a Topper 158 on the GunParts web site, I think the problem might be a weak or broken spring in the release mechanism.  I don't know that I'm ready to start punching out pins to repair it myself--maybe a trip to the gunsmith later.  Anyway, thanks again for your suggestions!