You can’t beat a stiffy
I have just bought a new gun, and I find it is quite stiff to open and close.
Also, the top lever does not fully centralise when the gun is closed. Does this indicate a fault?
This is quite a common situation, and it is nothing to worry about. The stiffness should slowly disappear over the first few hundred shots as the jointing and ejector mechanism get
“run in”. It may take a little
Mike says:
longer for the bolt and top lever mechanism to bed in, but eventually the top lever will centralise. I have heard of some people advocating the use of more powerful ammunition than normal to speed up this running-in process, but there’s no point in torturing yourself with heavy recoil while getting used to the handling characteristics of a new gun. Just use the cartridges with which you are most comfortable, and don’t try to combat the situation by over-oiling the mechanism.