Finally got a chance to put it back together and it works perfectly. Thanks to Cole Haugh for the spring. I was afraid all the crap that the previous owner tried to get it to cock reliably might have damaged some other parts. Just to give you an idea of what had been done, there was bondo in the forearm, apparently to try and get the cocking arms to "throw" farther? Now I just need to finish up the blueing and I can get it back together and try it out. I posted pictures on another thread, I tried browning this action since I can't color case harden (yet) and it looked like crap polished bright.
Thanks to all for the help.
CHAZ