If that was battle damage, would not the safety lever etc be munched up and still in there? I dont see how the lever and catch could be removed with that deformation, no signs of burrs and blebs from it being taken out after the damage was done. So that suggests to me that damage with safety stripped out.

The fact that the barrel is cut suggests to me that the rifle was decommissioned. Maybe the grunched safety squished on a brake press was part of that process?