Turd in the punch bowl time.

Darne guns were produced by several different regimes over most of 150 years. If you have ever had the chance to dismantle a very old gun, say pre-WWI, and compare it to anything built post WWII, you will see differences in engineering and parts. My own experience says the older the gun, the less critical the position of the lever out of battery is. My own R10, post WWII gun, the lever needs to be fairly high out of battery.
The opening lever up trick works on the very great majority of them, and all Charlins, by design. Some will require the lever to be quite a ways out of battery. It is critical to test your gun, and have a clear idea where the lever is when the gun cant be fired. There is a position where the ejectors will come into play, without the gun firing, but, it is spooky close to where the gun will actually fire, recoil finishing the closing of the action. I DO NOT use the triggers to activate the ejectors on live ammunition, and you shouldnt, either.

Know thy gun.

Best,
Ted