I just got my 1881 45/70 back from the gunsmith. He did a complete restoration on it - it was a mess. He did a fabulous job - it really looks brand new now. I shot it for the 1st time this afternoon. It shoots straight as an arrow. But............it doesn't fully eject the spent cartridge every time. About half the time, the spent cartridge is flipped up on its end or flipped sideways a little, but is not ejected from the gun.
For what it's worth, I was only loading one shell at a time - there was no new shell being loaded as the spent shell was being ejected, and, I might have been babying the action a little since it was my first time out with it. Can the ejection be adjusted? Does ejection relate to how hard or fast you're working the lever?