In the beginning-----------------------See Post # 14 (which I took to say there's no spring tension on the latch). I'm thinking I paid too much attention to spring---and tension----and such like---which is to say my brain was in neutral---or just stuck in the mud.

I am quick to tell folks about Problem Solving School when they seem to be off on a wild goose chase----lesson number one being to make sure you know what the real problem is---so as to not be spending resources solving symptoms. Here I/we have leaped to a stuck cam/broken (missing?) spring as the problem. It would certainly appear the cam is at least impeded, but SOMETHING is moving. If the latch is in contact with the cam in the closed position, SOMETHING has to be able to move in order to raise the latch. And if the latch is NOT in contact with the cam in the closed position, then maybe we're on the right track. The only other SOMETHINGS in the equation are the screw/screw hole----make that holeS---and the frame horns---and the latch itself (the holes that fit over the frame horns). There's a screw hole in the frame----there's a screw hole in the latch. The hole in the frame is likely to be just fine. The hole in the latch looks to be round. Is it? Are there any cracks around the circumference of the hole in the latch? So, how's the screw? Is it the same dimension throughout its length? Are there any grooves in the shank? Was the screw tight when you went to take it out?

Another possibility is the frame horns----that which the latch grabs onto (not to mention the latch itself). Is the barrel/frame assembly tight---as one, when the gun is closed? And if it isn't, why isn't it?

The foregoing presented as food for thought----SOMETHING must be moving. What is it?

Ralph Tremaine