Broken forend latch
 

Hello all,

I have an old French hammer double gun where the forend release lever is broken (presumably the internal spring failed or something similar). What's the best way to get the forend off with as little damage as possible to the gun?

Many thanks,
Paul

Pictures please so we can see

Attached some pictures. The gun is a rotary underlever from around 1870. I can't see anything keeping the forend "captive", but it refuses to budge when I pull on the lever, which is why I assumed it was broken. Any help would be appreciated.

Might be loaded with years of crud etc so maybe a little KROL penetrating oil or the likes of.

It looks like the forend release lever pushes the pin visible under the lever up toward the barrel and releases an internal latch. Try penetrating oil in that area and then put upward pressure on the pin itself with a small punch or hook shaped tool.

Did you try pushing "down" on the release lever?