Based on a recommendation from a Board member here, I sent this piece off to Michigan gunsmith Del Whitman with excellent results. The firing pin tip needed to be re-profiled - and that has corrected my "hard to open" situation. Other work included a thorough cleaning of the action, correcting the light trigger pull, and retiming the Deeley ejector.
Interestingly, Del reported that this gun had been set up for an interrupting ("safety") sear, but that none was present.
Gun came back good as new and I'm a happy camper once again
