Years ago I had the cocking lever bend on a double rifle that I had just glass-bedded the head of the stock on. The hammer was now not able to complete its' complete arc on cocking. This put tremendous extra strain on the cocking lever, causing it to bend. The solution was to remove enough of the Acra-Glas behind the hammer to allow a complete range of motion. This may not be your problem but it's easy to check.