I've always heard they were smooth & reliable... so are you saying that you're seeing otherwise ???
... that said, I understand they are not optimum for CAS... too heavy, to long a stroke on the lever... perhaps the ones being used are by people short stroking them ???
I'm not defending Henry, I don't own one yet ( will likely buy a 22 just for fun sometimes ) but do own 2 levers I ( we ) use for CAS... my old 38 / 357 custom Rossi has a pretty long stroke, so I know in person what happens when those get short stroked... still I've never had a problem finishing a stage... I usually end up ejecting a live round, & end up with that as a "miss"