before trying to advance that small gear as suggested... see how much play there is in the lever? If its sloppy for half the throw, the gear is more than likely sheared on its shaft. advancing that gear on the standard will only temp fix your symptoms but does not cure it. the gear's indexed hole will round more n more by use and eventually just slip n not move at all.
To see the front standard cocking gear mentioned, remove the bottom plate to see its linkage? the only way that gear can slip is if someone replaced the bellows or disengaged the standard. you can advance the gear inside the bottom linkage as you will discover, it rides on a pinion gear linked to the lever shaft.
but advancing that gear will only cause problems later when it comes time to do a proper repair. after a proper repair, the cocking will be screwed up again and the repairer will not know you advanced that gear or by how much and try to compensate by making other adjustments to their max limits scratching his head wondering why since those adjustments are to take up wear, not damage. Then when the light bulb comes on he will have to realign everything once again n that just wasted more labor hours driving the repair cost up... not many people understand this concept n balk at the bill.
so if you don't know what was done prior to getting this camera, I strongly suggest you open the side panel first and inspect the gear at the bottom left where the shaft enters that compartment for slippage before advancing anything.
peel the leather off, this reveals the screws. remove the flash bracket, and the strap lug nut. save all screws as you remove them in the same order you take them out. to get to the screw under the focusing knob, remove the leather, remove the center tin plate and you will see a hole to access the screw below.
side panels are two parts.. the bottom half and the upper half. once the side panels is off, there is yet another panel with the light seals to be removed. again careful with the screws.
once inside.. advance the lever to see its operation n inspect that gear carefully on its shaft for any slippage. if its slipping, you will ahve to drill a small hole to take a shear pin. the other linkage will probably need adjsting or straitening if it was forced n bent. inspect the delrin bushings for damage since they get torn up when forced and will contribute to the problem in other ways.
