UPDATE on my 1866 carrier issues... Turns out it's not much of an issue at all.
I went to Marauder's website to learn about my rifle, followed a post I found "The poor man's '66 '73 action job" as well as melding a lot of info from youtube videos on slicking up the internals. Speaking of the internals, that thing was filthy inside! Lots of metal shavings both steel and brass and just generally sloppy inside. After I got it all cleaned up, polished up, loading gate reinforced and with some washers under the springs it levers so much lighter and smooth now it's not the same rifle! My rifle functions/feeds/ejects just fine now - slow levering or cowboy action fast. I'm really liking it a lot.
I don't think I'll be doing anything else to this awesome 1866 now. I'm ready to get it out the CAS range for some monthly shoots and Land Run this year.
Thank you for the advice everyone, I do appreciate it. Take care pards.
SFB