That's interesting to those of us who understand that without the forend loop being attached to the barrel, it would seem not possible for the forearm to still be firmly attached to them. When forend loop solder joints fail in the field, forends fall off and get lost.
Who knows... maybe the forend iron was made from some super strong ceramic magnet material... or maybe it was a beavertail forend that was so large it had its' own gravitational field???
Sounds more likely that the forearm loop solder joint was pulled loose from the barrels while attempting to remove the forend. After that, it would be pretty easy to diagnose and repair the original problem that was preventing the opening lever from moving to the full unlatch position. Of course, the loop would also have to be resoldered.
