diagnosing clutch issues

OK, I seem to have some issues getting into 1st gear on a 1996 manual
4WD sport. Also you have to delay some to move to other gears. Pedal
seems 'springy', or close to normal - hard to say.

When I switch the engine off, it slides into 1st effortlessly.

The clutch fluid level is correct.

I had a new clutch put in, including the slave cylinder 24K miles ago.
Clutches in my vehicle normally last 70K-100K.

Could this be a failed master cylinder? The clutch level in the
resorviour being correct makes me think that perhaps there is no fluid
loss, or air is in the system. Would a slave cylinder failure make the
level go down?

Puzzled...

Paul

Well, still looking and searching. I noticed today that shifting is
significantly easier if I clutch into neutral, and clutch into the new
gear (think this is called double-declutching).

My current theory is that the master cylinder is weak, or leaking, or
possibly not bled correctly, as that would explain the lack of fluid
loss (ie. it's not coming out of the slave), ie. it's just not pumping
well. Also, the master cylinder is original (240K miles on it). When I
double-declutch, pumping it twice in quick sucession may be enough to
get it to work well for a brief moment. Well, it's just a hypothesis.
I shall investigate further this weekend.

Paul