Gerben, Ron,
I was wondering about the fire possibility, when you said the thumb safety was rusted in the "safe" position, and an empty casing was in the chamber. The missing frame parts in the magazine area also had me thinking - any rounds in the mag would have cooked off too.
Your earlier post about " There are traces of crude removal of the magazine as well, causing the obvious damage to the grip and mainspring area." gave me the impression that the magazine had survived - so I gave up on that weak theory.
I was wondering about the position of the cannon assembly you mentioned. If the pistol had the thumb safety on, and the round in the chamber were ignited - Would any binding or malfunction of the toggle occur????
I examined my 1917 and thought about it - but I don't know enough about the mechanics of the toggle/cannon movement. What do you think?
Regards,
Fritz.
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