[Sidelatch]

I found an old gun in the items my father left me. Long story short... It is a Mauser 1910 Side Latch. So I have begun to restore it but very quickly ran into a problem. It appears that the side plate was put on wrong the last time it was stripped. Here's the conundrum (or is it a Catch22). Since the side plate is on wrong, the slide assembly won't slide all the way back - just 1/8th of an inch too short. So the barrel can't be removed. If the barrel doesn't come out the slide assembly can't be removed. Without removing the slide, I can't adjust the side plate. If I don't fix the side plate then I can't get the barrel off... And so on. It's kind of a funny problem but in the end, it really is a problem. Hopefully you can see the misalignment in the one photo I was able to upload. Is anyone familiar with the 1910? I know some of you are. I don't want to distort the side plate trying to get it stripped. Suggestions?