Chainsaw Repair

Yesterday a customer brought in this 382. He had run just a few tanks and the saw was having a couple of issues.
The grip would tear out of your hand if your pull was not smart enough
Idle was very irregular
Very smokey exhaust with oil dripping from the muffler
The first thing I asked him was about the oil used
Stihl oil at 3% which given the saw was running in at our day temperature of 35C seemed reasonable.
So I tried adjusting the carb Tova leaner setting, which didn't help
I suspected a timing issue but the kickback usually happens with an over advanced ignition, but then one does not get combustion poor enough to leave 2 stroke oil unburned.
But the ignition was all I had left to check.
I reset the gap leaving more gap at the bottom pole.
This is easier done by lining up the counter weight of the flywheel instead of the magnet
Well, that was just a shot in the dark. But it worked!
It cured all the issues
 But I am a bit stumped here. What did I do ? Did that extra gap on the second pole advance or retard the timing?
If it was advanced, wouldn't the kickback have increased
Or, if it was retarded, wouldn't it be emitting more unburned oil at the exhaust?