As a gunsmith explained to me, and it makes sense, a pistol caliber lever action is a lot like a semiauto pistol in terms of feeding. Angles, bullet shape, crimping, etc., can be critical.
In handloading for my Rossi .38/.357 I found that to be the case, and also the ejector and its spring. Also, with the smith's blessing, when I had it completely apart for tuning I put a slight bevel on the bottom edge of the chamber. I had measured the case head thickness and found it to be about .10", plenty of metal. All of this helped feeding and ejection, but it is still fussy.
I don't claim to be any kind of expert, nor do I fully understand all the mechanics and dynamics involved. Each individual rfile seems to be somewhat unique.
Paul
