Ask if they have seen the sideplate anywhere and leave your name and number with the decendants, should it turn up later. It seems to have been a common practice back in the day to remove the sideplate in order to render the gun "inoperable".
In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. the gun being actually more dangerous, should it be loaded, since removing the sideplate exposes the sear. '
The removed sideplate was often stored somewhere nearby and might just turn up.
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