New to me 336 w/lever problem

[lcgrant]

Long story short. I had a really nice 336C a few years ago and sold it. I don't know what the hell I was thinkin'. Fast forward 4 years. I Just bought some rural property in Maine and decided I need a New England Working Man's Deer Rifle again. So...I picked up a 2004 336W that looked like it hadn't been used much. It looked like it had been shot some and put away.
I got it home the other day and field stripped it. The bore was grungy but there were virtually no wear marks on the lever or the bolt. So my suspicions about its condition were correct. I gave it a good scrubbing followed by a good lubing. When I got it back together it looked great and cycled smoothly except...initiating the action requires an unholy amount of force. Locking it back up is not quite as bad, but still it takes an uncomfortable amount of force to get it back home. Yes, it was this way before I took it apart. I just thought a good cleaning and lubing might fix it. The rest of the cycle improved considerably after the cleaning.
I'm pretty sure this is all due to a very stiff lever plunger spring. My question is...Is it reasonable, at this stage, to go ahead and clip a coil from the lever plunger spring or should I slick the action first, per the instructions in the gunsmithing stickies? The rifle, otherwise, is in excellent condition and I really like it. Right now, though, that part of the action is so stiff I don't even want to shoot it yet.
Sorry for the long post. It went on a little longer than I had intended. Your thoughts are appreciated.

[Tatersoup]

I think I'd try to make sure there isn't any debris or grunge in the plunger. See what happens. Cut springs later....

[Golfbuddy45]

Does the binding occur ONLY as you open then close the lever or is it all across the lever motion? If it is all across the ark then chech your loading gate screw and make sure it is not binding against the bolt. If it is just at that LOCKING POINT then you could try just taking out the lever pin and see if it is smooth without it.

GB45

[repairman]

if it happens when you load up the mag tube i would check the carrier to see if there is a bur or on the end of your lever

[lcgrant]

Thanks for the replies. To clarify, this happens only at the locking point. The rest of the cycle is reasonably smooth - not quite there with my slicked up .357 M92 but not bad, either. Secondly, I haven't even tried to load ammo yet, so I don't think it's a carrier issue. While I do see some mild tooling marks on the lever, I see no burs.

[repairman]

check your locking bolt also

[repairman]

trouble is with a marlin all the parts work together, if one thing is otta wack by just a few thousandths the timing will be off and throw the whole gun off

[Eli Chaps]

I would guess the trouble lies in the plunger and spring as it is the most common culprit. I'd start with some polishing of the plunger before cutting the spring.

Just for kicks, pull the ejector and see if it cycles any better.

[Papalote]

Agree with Eli. If it were mine, I would remove the plunger and put some lapping compound in the mortice. Replace the plunger and cycle a bunch. Remove the plunger again. Irrigate the mortice to remove the compound, lightly oil and replace. It should be better.
Papalote

[repairman]

is loading spring straight?