Both my Rossis are about 3/16" away at rest, however, they do have play so that when I squeeze the lever prior to firing, the levers snug up really close to the tang. I think that it's a function of the type of action and why a number of models (1873, modern 1894, and Mossberg 464 that I know of) each have a lever safety that requires that you squeeze the lever closed to disengage it to allow it to fire.