Mark;
I enlarged the photo and it may be that someone placed a lead bar down into the opening and hammered it in place with a hollow face punch or a tube
Hmm…so the question is, do I have someone take it out and open the proverbial Pandora’s Box?
Pandora's box has already been opened, unfortunately.
The question now is whether you will close it by having a proper rib repair done, or will you wait until something far worse happens... such as losing the forend and forend loop???
If it was just some cheap clunker, I'd advise you to shoot it as is. In this event, I'd advise fixing it right. At very least, the present state isn't going to do anything to enhance resale value.
