Princess Karen,
As stated earlier, fore end lugs often loosen but do not fall off in catastrophic failures. It would appear that in this instance the lug partially separated from the barrel, which changes the angles of the engagement surfaces between the lever and the lug and likely impinged upon the movement of the lever, not allowing full travel.

Seemed to me the OP was in good hands with Bushveld's advice.

If you worked on guns more and pontificated less you would be better informed.

All my best,
Steve

www.bertramandco.com Hey now!
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