A nice gun, but it looks as if the extractors are not sitting flush with the rear face of the barrels when at rest, and thus press against the bottom of the breech face when the bolt is drawn back.
A minor timing issue?
Yes. The extractor legs are compressing the ejector springs when the gun is closed. Also pushing the forend away from the knuckle. I think a careful shortening of the extractor legs will solve the issue.
can you help me understand what you mean by "extractors?" This is an ejector gun.
There is an issue with the fit of the fore-end wood to the metal - but that's there whether the fore-end is on the gun or off.
I'll have to look at some of the other English BLEs I have down there to see if the forends are similar.