I found a C96 Red 9 police rework at a show and after deciding it was authentic, numbers matching and has great blue, failed to notice the frame lock was broken at the base of the ejector. The piece is missing so I'm looking at either replacing the frame, or cutting two frames to weld one together. I don't want to take a loss on this one so I'd like to figure out some way to make it work. Like most other old guns, parts aren't always interchangeable, but what are my best odds of a successful repair?
The SN is in the 7xxx range, with a 1920 barrel date.
At the time of writing this post, I found 3 stripped frames for sale, 815513, 650528, and 691715. Would any of these frames be likely to fit? The 65 and 69 frame visually look the closest.
If a fitting a lock frame is unlikely, how plausible is cutting and welding?