If the hammer feels difficult to cock manually in the last 1/4 or perhaps 1/3 of it's motion:
Check to make sure the main spring is locked down all the way with it's attaching screw. You have to remove the butt stock to get at it. Sometimes they are loosened to try & ease the hammer spring tension.
An off-set screw driver is best for getting at the screw, though most look like they've been shade-treed with the handiest Craftsman on the bench. Chewed up slots are very common.
You may even find a non-factory replacement mainspring in there. Or one that someone has put a 'helper leaf' in in an attempt to up the power. Both can cause difficulty in operating the lever.
Remove the butt stock (model 1893) by taking out the tang screw from the top rear of the tang & pull the butt stock off w/o cranking it side to side or up and down. ..Straight back & off..
If that's not it,, check the lug (nub) on the bolt & it's contact with the face of the hammer as it's being cocked.
The lug should should be at a slight angle to and slide up the face of the hammer to cock it as the bolt moves back.
Only that small lug slides up the face of the hammer during bolt retraction. On the return trip the lug should barely engage and skip over the top edge of the hammer. It pushes the hammer out of sear engagement on the return trip, but the trigger return spring re-engages the two parts.
The bottom of the bolt itself should NOT contact the hammer at all. If it does,,then there's a good possibility that the trigger sear tip has been altered/cut back/broken and is allowing the hammer to come forward farther than it is supposed to.
Someone trying to lighten the trigger pull or a broken sear tip can cause the problem.
Also take a close look at the hammer itself and see if it looks as if any of the original angle(s) of the top surfaces have been altered. If they have, difficulty in cocking the hammer by operating the lever can result,,,too steep an angle between the lug and the hammer face.
Same goes for that lug,,check it to see if it's been filed/ground or otherwise worked over and altered.
