I think you nailed it. I'll bet the paint is thicker than phosphate finish, and even the parked guns need to break-in to get the gritty feeling out of the action. At least all my Mossbergs did when new. They slick up in short order though.Right on, maybe they did put the marine coating on a little to thick somewhere.... you should be able to see the wear points.
On a different note, if you like the shiny nickel plated shotgun look, the EGE Arms PA37's have been pretty cheap lately.....
The Ithaca 37 action is about as smooth as a pump gets!
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What's confusing me is the OP says it (the lock up) comes and goes, without rhyme or reason? If it were tight tolerances due to cerakote, I would think it would be consistently tight?