Oh, I've worked the lever on a rifle 2-3 times in a row without firing it, but never the other way around. I'll have to learn that one.Guy running a lever rifle fired 2x without working the lever, then worked the lever 2 times without firing, IIRC.
No, I am the local gun nut. Friends call me and ask about a gun they or a friend have, and 2-3 seconds into their description I am describig the rifle in detail and they're just saying "yeah, yeah, yeah, how did you know that?" and I tell them because of something minor they told me that cued me in. Friend called me, his friend has a 8mm rifle from ww2, straight bole handle, kind of potbellied, and I ask "5 or 10 round magazine? Probably 5 since the 10 round ones were mostly destroyed by the Nazis when they occupied France" and there is a deafening silence on the other end of the line. "Oh, Berthier rifle, French, 8mm Lebel". Stuff like that.