it don't have to be turtle wax.....
can't remember the other (non car wax) products that were suggested, but heck probably anything that's non-corrosive to blued metal, and makes a protective layer would work (i keep thinking clear lacquer might do, but not so sure about that)
buttrap's..."Only the junky new ones do that" comment, he's obviously never participated in a match requiring a high volume of shots
i shot ONE match without a pad, wrap or glove...... never again!! for those who have not seen a CAS match, the average rifle portion of a stage is 9 or 10 rounds (most are 9 to keep teh match from being biased against, usually new, shooters who have rifles like the Winchester trapper series that ONLY hold 9 rounds), you engange multiple targets, as fast as possible. THEN transition to either pistol or shotgun.
my first match was 6 stages (that's 54 rounds/ lever movements plus cycling the action at six unload tables to show clear), afterwards the last three fingers of my right hand didn't work to well..... between then and my last match before having to sell my gear for bill money, i always wore a pair of leather gloves when shooting.
it's not the stiffness of the lever (though on new guns that CAN cause some hurt, esp if your knckles aren't calloused), it's the impact of your fingers flicking down as fast as they can into the bottom of the lever loop. the less gap and/or more padding between fingers and bottom bar of the lever, the better.
hunters will almost never NEED to operate a lever both that fast and that many times in one day. so the movement is much gentler, and many times done in a different manner (even now if I'm shooting fairly slow alot of times i'll move my hand and use my thumb to open the lever, then close it with my hand on the outside of the loop).
different uses, different needs, methods, AND perceptions