Virginia Dragoon Help

[METerry]

I have a friend who has an unfired Virginia Dragoon in 45 Colt. He asked me to look at it because the mechanism which holds the loading gate open or closed appears to be broken. This particular model has fixed sights and appears to be close in design to the Colt SAA.

The only parts diagram I have found was for an adjustable sight model. There is an indication of a gate screw, catch and spring which fits into the bottom of the frame and this exists on the gun in hand but it does not appear to function as the names suggest. In fact the hole into which these parts fit seems to be closed.

Interestingly, the top right frame screw does seem to be drilled through to the back of loading gate such that a spring inserted into the frame screw hole would be pressed against the loading gate and might provide tension to keep it closed or open. This is not indicated on the parts diagram and may well be different on this model.

Does anyone have advice about diagrams or other help to get this resolved?

This is a good looking gun and is undoubtedly worth repair. It's "found" condition outwardly was reasonably good but there is/was a fair amount of rust as it came apart. The owner claims it is unfired and has been in storage for 15-20 years. There is the appearance that the frame screws had threadlocker (or corrosion / rust) on the threads.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Mark