Don, I have had had a few lifters apart and suggest that you tear it down to the point you can take out the underbite bolt and or at least pull the action from the stock and soak it in a degreaser or a solvent such as acetone or lacquer thinner. If you have access to an ultrasonic cleaner then use it.
There is one screw on the left side of the lock plate that may be partially under the left hammer. If you can get it out without removing the hammer then great. If not, then you will need to remove the hammer and be very careful that you don't strip the hammer screw. Once you get the screw out you can thread it into the threads on the right side lock plate and use it to work the lock plate off slowly....Once the right side lock plate is off you can use a wooden dowel to tap the right side lock place off from the right side of the action. Once both lock plates are off then you lift up the lifter lever and you can see a small screw head just behind the action and on the left side, on the underbite locking bolt hinge point. Unscrew the little screw and grab it with a pair on needle nose pliers. Not a lot of space in there to work. Let the lifter lever down and it should come out. Then you can remove the top tang screw and the trigger plate screw. You can tap out the trigger plate from the watertable side of the action with a wooden dowel. After that, you should be able to take the stock off. Be careful not to chip the edges of the wood that come into contact with the action and top top tang of the action. Some of the wood is really thin and will chip or dent easily. Also, be careful to use the proper size of screwdrivers and put a lot of downpressure on the screws. The screw head steel is much softer than you would think.
Putting it back together I use a plastic mallet to tap the trigger plate back in to place and make sure you hold the triggers down when you gently tap the lock plates back into place. If you don't, the sears will hit the top of the trigger that engages the sear and the lock plate will not completely seat. Also, If you tap too hard you can bend the top of the the triggers.
If you run into problems you can send me a PM and I will give you my phone number.
If you do this cleaning and you still have problems then it is likely something mechanical and you will have to chase down the problem.
Good Luck
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