Barrels under spring tension

[limapapa]

I have a 20 ga Philly Sterlingworth (extractor)that retains spring tension on the barrels after opening. To slide a new shell in I have to manually hold the barrels down against the spring tension until they reach a hard stop, about 1/4" vertical movement at the breech face . I checked my late model Philly A grade 12 ga, and it too retains spring tension on the open barrels, but only about half as far, 1/8," and not enough to keep a new shell from seating in the chamber without holding them down against the tension. I am not enough of a gunsmith or mechanic to visualize what is happening. I dont see this as a major problem, although it is a bit of a nuisance when reloading the 20. Any thoughts would be gratefully appreciated.
Mike

[Researcher]

My father had a Parker Bros. you could open far enough to extract empties and put in new shells without quite cocking it, so when you closed it, you let the hammers down and the next time a bird flushed it was dirty looks from the dog!! My father was careful about it, but I had Keith remedy it back in the days he was still in Longview. Rather have your situation than the way that Parker was.

[Silvers]

Actually that's due to spring compression, not tension.

To answer your question: the firing hammer(s) are cocking too early in the opening arc. That can happen for several reasons and it would take many paragraphs to explain why and also how to correct for those who might be capable. If your Fox doesn't misfire but it bothers you to push the barrels down while loading, I suggest you get it to a good Foxsmith for evaluation and fix. frank