I, too, was trying to figure out just how you close the gun with the lever tripped back to center
That should be rather obvious to anyone, You Don't. What one would think would be equally obvious is it is a simple matter to move the top lever back to the right. On three guns I own, an early side pivot Lefever, a Birmingham J P Clabrough & a German VL&D/J P Sauer all three of which have automatic safeties but the lever is not latched over but comes back to center when the bbls are open. On these I "CAN" simply pull the triggers, let the bbls drop just enough for the hammers to clear the sears, then release them & continue closing the gun. As the gun closes the hammers come down the lever goes back right & the safety is set. when the gun closes the lever snaps back center engaging the locking bolts. On all my Lefevers with three position safeties I merely have to pull the triggers, then release them as I close the bbls. Hammers go down, safety is set & when the rib extension contacts the trip the bolt goes home & lever comes back to center. On my guns with auto safeties & top levers that latch then as stated it is necessary to trip the lever & allow it to return to center so the safety can be released allowing the triggers to be pulled. This is the case for instance with my little 16ga Baker Black Beauty. I don't normally bother but "I CAN". Its kinda hard to convince someone who has done something a thousand times or so that it Can't be done. You do have to be as smart as the gun though.
