Eric,
Thank you for this information! This confirms what I had been thinking from the start of this mess. I will be giving Winchester a call ASAP to have a talk with them about the appropriate follower for this gun, and have them ship me one of *those*. I did receive an aftermarket follower from Brownells, and with a little fitting it did allow the gun to function reliably, if not smoothly. I will probably fiddle with it a little more because I like to tinker with things, but I really want the *correct* Winchester part, as that should be better than my kludge. I will post a follow-up after I talk to Winchester. Thanks again for your help!
-Jon