Lever Sometimes Drops Down After Firing?

[Mr. Neutron]

Out at the range, the last 2 times I've been there, the lever on my .30-30 H009G will sometimes drop down around 1/4" inch after firing a round. Not every time, and mostly when shooting off the bench. Factory loads, or my reloads, it don't matter which. None of my reloads have yet approached a max book limit, so I don't think it's an excessive pressure sign with the reloads. Again, Winchester Power Point 150s can cause the lever to drop when firing off the bench. Maybe because my grip is different wnen I shoot offhand, it doesn't happen doing that, but I can feel the lever trying to drop after firing. Anyone else ever notice this happening?

I've heard that "There are no stupid questions, just stupid people", so I'm going to open up here and expose my own stupidity, I guess. What is it in these rifles that actually locks the bolt in place? Is it the lever? If so, is there kinda like a spring loaded latch of sorts that helps keep the lever up?

I guess I need to pull the back stock off and have a look at stuff to see if I can figure that out......

[GunnyGene]

There is a small spring loaded plunger in the forward part of the lever that engages just in front of the trigger - Items 24,25, & 26 in the User Manual exploded view. You might have a slightly weak spring or possibly some contamination inside the hole the plunger resides in. Plunger is held in place with a small pin that you can tap out with a punch, so you might want to take the plunger and spring out and inspect/clean. It's not intended to be a strong lockup of the lever, just enough to keep the lever from being pulled down by gravity. If that's not it, you could probably get a slightly stronger spring replacement.

[Mr. Neutron]

Gene,

Thank You SO MUCH for that! I appreciate that A TON!!!

I'll pull the gun apart later to check thing out.

Yeah, when the clear "Cling Wrap" used for sealing up the part of a pack of bacon I didn't cook kicks my butt, I knew I'd better ask questions of those wiser than myself for something important like this......

[GunnyGene]

Gene,

Thank You SO MUCH for that! I appreciate that A TON!!!

I'll pull the gun apart later to check thing out.

Yeah, when the clear "Cling Wrap" used for sealing up the part of a pack of bacon I didn't cook kicks my butt, I knew I'd better ask questions of those wiser than myself for something important like this......

You're welcome. I don't know how the same image showed up twice. You shouldn't have to take anything apart, just open the lever to access the plunger.

[Mags]

Another cause could be pressure on the lever from the ammo in the mag tube. You might recall from an older post elsewhere that when closing the mag tube the leading edge can get hung up on a case rim and if you push on the mag tube too hard the lever may pop open a little bit. I think the same could happen under recoil with ammo in the mag tube. Try shooting single shot with an empty mag tube and see it still happens.

And my .30-30 does it to. Though I never cared enough to figure out why.

[Mr. Neutron]

Another cause could be pressure on the lever from the ammo in the mag tube. You might recall from an older post elsewhere that when closing the mag tube the leading edge can get hung up on a case rim and if you push on the mag tube too hard the lever may pop open a little bit. I think the same could happen under recoil with ammo in the mag tube. Try shooting single shot with an empty mag tube and see it still happens.

And my .30-30 does it to. Though I never cared enough to figure out why.

Hmm. Interesting. Thinking back to the range trips, about half the time I would load through the gate, and the rest of the time through the tube. Just kinda randomly loaded some rounds. Never noticed if it happened when loading through the tube or side gate. I have had difficulty loading through the tube, until you mentioned to spin/twist the brass tube as you're pushing down so that tube doesn't get hung up on the case rims as it slips in. That tip helped a lot for that issue. And again, I never noticed if the lever dropped down a tad or not when doing this. I'll have to try this with my snap cap rounds I have as I need to spin the brass tube to load those from the tube. Hopefully I'll remember to try loading single rounds to see what happens with the lever drop down next time I can get out to shoot.

[jstanfield103]

I use to have a Henry Classic, don't remember the caliber. But when loading the magazine tube, and snapping the tube back in it would cause the lever to pop open. I believe Henry is aware of this. I don't know what they do to fix it but believe they will if that is the problem. I know not much help, but popped up in my memory.

[Mr. Neutron]

Well, "Thanks!" for that, Mags and jstanfield103!

Not quite sure that's the issue, tho. I repeatedly took the brass tube/orange follower out and reinserted it a few times with my 5 dummy/Snap Cap rounds in, and it never pushed the lever down. Those "blue" Snap Cap rounds mic out to be the same size as a real live round, and definitely have the same issue of hanging up the brass tube as you try to insert it as real ammo does if you don't twist the brass tube.

Actually, that lever seems to lock up pretty well just workin' the lever as you normally would. I pushed the plunger in (see GunnyGene's post w/pic above) the lever a ways and squirted a few drops of oil in that little "tunnel" (blind hole) in the lever. Won't know if that helped or hurt until the next range trip.

And my .30-30 does it to. Though I never cared enough to figure out why.

I may possibly adopt this attitude to as well, if it hurts nothing......