Did I screw this up on my 1886????

[coyote nose]

Still rebuilding an 1886 Winny in 33 WCF. Chambered and fitted the barrel, filed and polished the barrel flats, am working on the forearm right now. Looked at the lever and noticed it had a blind hole on the upper surface (the part that rests against the lower tang) where a screw, I assumed, had "gouged" into the lever. Before doing any polishing of this part I took it in to work and had the hole filled with soft weld via laser welding, then dressed it down to the correct profile. Lo and behold I go to a gunshow and see an 1886 with a hole here. Then looking carefully at the online auctions I see another 1886 that had a hole here. Is this an OOPS on my part? Is the hole supposed to be here? Is the screw supposed to hang down and fit into the hole in the lever to either lock it in or perhaps stop the lever from banging in to the tang? It is no big deal to set it up in the mill and with a small ball nose end mill put the hole back in there, but I am wondering if it is supposed to be there. Any help would be appreciated.

[Hobie]

I'd like to know, too!

[perry owens]

My 1887 vintage 1886 has that hole and it is shown in the exploded view drawing that I have - it appears to be there to provide clearance for the mainspring strain screw. If the screw is backed out, as it is on mine, the lever will not close completely.
Perry Owens

[Mike D.]

Affirmative, the little round "divot" is supposed to be there. It protects the lever from contacting the mainspring tension screw. No harm, no foul, you are not building a collector's item, but a working gun.