Just read a post on another forum, where someone was wanting to go back from big loop to regular loop, because he was having trouble reloading fast. On my 1895XLR I never wanted the big loop, because my hands are more medium sized and I don't normally were gloves. Anyway finally saw someone that also didn't need the large loop. Dave
Takes practice to learn to keep the gun mounted and cycle the action. Many guys try to cycle with a partial dismount and they lose leverage. Cycling that lever should be a fairly violent action.
Marlin's lever opening is a bit tight for folks with large hands. But the real problem with hard-recoilers can't be solved by making the loop larger - it is the shape of the trigger guard since that is what is going to whack your middle finger. If you buy stainless you can reshape that chunk of metal to make it less sadistic and still look good.