Here is the email from the gunsmith:
" The parts missing are the complete safety, the complete hold open including the spring and plunger, and the big part is the floorplate. Even if we were able to locate the missing parts there are other issues. The interior of the bores are severely pitted and in our opinion unsafe to shoot any ammunition. We would not be able to backbore the barrels enough to make them safe to shoot. The other issue is the stock. It is in very poor condition and heavily oil soaked in the head. The only solution in our opinion would be to make a new stock. "
Now that I have the gun in hand, it does not look this bad. The barrels are pitted, but I saw a much worse set of barrels that Jim Kelly in Darlington said he could fix. It is a no. 3 frame and I understand the barrels are thicker for this frame size. The stock seems to have some life left in it. I blow dried some of the oil out of it last night. I took "floor plate" to mean the exterior metal underneath the action, but that is still there. One of the screws underneath is badly buggered (I think from the gunsmiths that have been looking at it). What I would like to do is get it up to safe shooting condition. I could probably live without the safety, as my idea of "safe" is broken open anyway.
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