I was watching an episode of the late TV show, "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World" (I have all three seasons on DVD) and saw that the Dr. Summerlee character was reloading a Webley MK IV .38 while he had the hammer cocked!

That doesn't surprise me, as I knew the actor when we were both members of the show's official fan board, and he is anti-gun. I doubt that he is overly familiar with firearms , and this proved it.

But I haven't owned a Webley in some years, and can't recall if it is normally possible to open and load the gun with the hammer cocked. Never owned that model, anyway, just a couple of MK VI militaries.

Is that normally possible, or was this some fluke of a gun modified for TV shows? It seems rather unsafe to have the hammer cocked while reloading, especially in the heat of battle.
(He was shooting aggressive ape men. And looked surprised, proud, and smug when he shot one.)

This character was killed off at the end of the First Season. Frankly, I didn't miss him. Too much of an arrogant priss who appointed himself as the moralist and scold for the others. But some saw him as a nice old grandfatherly type...fans differ.

The show was fantasy, but that cocked hammer issue is real. I'm curious.

My Mark VI will open with the hammer cocked.

The Mk IV Webley 38 revolver can indeed be opened and closed with the hammer cocked.

Two things 'could' damage the revolver in closing it with the hammer back though.

One is that the hand is fully extended (because the hammer is back).
It could possibly catch on a cartridge head if not fully seated. The result can damage the tip of the hand.

The second is the primary locking bolt is fully extended when the hammer is cocked.
If on closing while cocked, the hand catches the ratchet correctly and rotates the cylinder as the barrel is swung shut, the cylinder will be pushed into the indexed position.
If something hangs up in that split second motion and the hand is pushed backwards into the frame by the ratchet instead of engaging it, the cylinder will most probably be pushed down upon the extended locking bolt (which is an extention of the trigger).

Yes it can be done. It works most all the time .
But there are a couple of situations where damage can result.

I have a MkIV 38 that came to me 'in a plastic bag'. Sold as-is/for parts.
It appears to have suffered that problem, along with some other mis-use.
The tip of the hand is damaged on this one, a WW2 marked specimen with 'War Finish" stamped on the frame.

I had a feeling I knew what the problem was when I walked away with it. The 'gunsmith' I bought it from said it would hang when closing on new ammo,,but with older heavily chamfered rim cases it worked pretty well. Must have been loading and closing it with the hammer cocked for all I can gather.
For $20 it was worth the parts.
It's back together and working but still needs some adjustment to the hand and a couple of secondary bolt springs to put it back in service.

2152hq-

Thanks! Both of you guys are most welcome for the help, and the second explanation was more than I had hoped for!

I know that many movie and TV prop guns are abused by ignorant actors, who are, after all, hired for their looks or fitting the role and chemistry with other players, not for gun knowledge. It's a pity, but few of them seem to be privately involved with firearms. And liking guns could hurt their careers in the heavily liberal social climate in which they work.

That show has a couple of blooper clips on YouTube and on one of the DVD's. In one scene, Will Snow, playing Lord Roxton, caught the muzzle of his rifle several times in electrical cords on the floor,as he attempted to spin it off of his shoulder and bring it to bear on an intruder.

He apologized, saying that the real rifle was so much heavier than the plastic prop molded copy of it that it was going to take some getting used to.

I was also amused in the bloopers clip where Finn was aiming her crossbow when the string snapped. She looked astonished and amused and said, "Hey!" in a clearly Aussie accent that belied her role, for which she faked a US accent. Kinda cute. Like her, played by Lara Cox.

But that scene with Dr. Summerlee and the cocked, opened Webley, was probably the most grevious gun error that I saw on that program. Usually, they did pretty well, although sometimes one actor pointed a gun at another walking past if they got careless.

I think that when they cock the hammer first, it's so they don't have to fight both the latch spring and the mainspring. The last motion back of the stirrup pushes the hammer back a little. On a Mk VI, .455, both the latch spring and hammer spring have plenty of muscle, and it's a lot easier to open if you only have to fight one of them. Haven't had a Webley Mk IV in a while so I don't know how it is with them.

The MkIV is the same system,,unlatching the bbl pushes the hammer back a bit.
It can take some muscle to open them, especially the MkVI if they have the orig spec springs still in them.

To overcome that you can switch to using the left thumb to unlatch while gripping the bbl,,at the same time use the right thumb to draw the hammer back the small amt needed to make the process easier. The right hand remains around the grip of the revolver and the right thumb relaxes the hammer back down as the bbl is opened.
That way it doesn't leave the hammer cocked during reloading & closing the action.
Aside from any damage it can cause, ,,Could be a big surprise as you close the revolver smartly if you have your finger inside the trigger guard.

I thought the actor was just ignorant or maybe being dramatic. But he is over 80 now, I think, and you may have just hit on something, about the strength needed to open the gun if one isn't of average muscle power.

He was also suffering from a bad hip that needed replacement, which he got in Canada after that season in which he appeared on the show. He was pretty happy with the surgery, BTW. I was glad that he posted that. We had some philosophcal issues, but I hate to see anyone suffer. He probably wasn't faking that limp on the show, poor guy.

Now that I think about it, I think I held the thumb piece forward until the barrel assembly was closed, so that the latch didn't have to snap shut. I thought that would place less wear on the gun. I got my first MK VI at age 13, later had another made by Enfield Arsenal after they stopped taking production from Webley. Quality of the two was identical, as far as I recall. The Enfield-made examples date from the 1920's and are marked on the right side of the frame. They lack Webley markings, of course.

Here some random thoughts on the British revolvers.

Like most Americans that have not handled or shot the "Webleys I always assumed they were crude, inaccurate, handled badly, and were basically junk...

However I have had the opertunity to shoot an Enfield MK VI made in 1924, modified to shoot 45 ACP or Auto Rim, quite a bit.

Well, I was suprised at how well the gun handled and how well it shot.

While the exterior finish was not up to S&W standards, "the War, you know Old Chap", the handling and shooting was impressive. It is very accurate.

With 1/2 or full moon clips it is a really good combat revolver, one of the best ever, IMHO...

NE .450No.2-

Keep in mind that you are comparing military revolvers, and that in 1924, your Enfield-made .455 was a peacetime gun. They just retained the flat blue finish that had been standard since the MK I was adopted in 1889 or so.

I've seen their better commercial models, like the WG, and those were beautifully finished. Those and Wilkinson-Webleys had high polish blue and honed actions. Very nice. Some also had checkered walnut grips with gold inlay for a monogram.

Officers bought their own sidearms until the 1920's, and some could afford and wanted the best.

If you need to reload a Webley really fast, you can open it against your leg (to "break" the barrel/cylinder assembly) while reaching for ammo with the other hand. That might at times be an advantage in close, heavy fighting.

Webley's WW I guns were pretty well finished. The War Finish MK IV .38's from WW II were really rough, even worse than most S&W Victory Models. Commercial MK IV .38's have quite nice blue jobs. You just don't see a lot of them in the USA.

NE450No2: It's best to use light 45 ACP loads in those Webley revolvers reworked for 45 ACP. 45 ACP pressures are proof loads for the Webleys originally in .455 Webley. If you don't handload you have a bit of a problem, as even the 185 gr SWC target loads in 45 ACP have to have enough recoil (and thus pressure) to work the Colt Government Model auto pistol.

Texas Star, I have never sen a Commercial finish Webley, would like to as the more I handle the Enfield the more respect I have for its design. The finish on mine is perfect, just not up to Commercial standards.

Cyrano, I agree with you on pressures. I have done a bunch of research on Webleys redone to 45 ACP, and a few of them have let go over the years. However the Enfield of 1924 is the strongest of the bunch, IMHO.
I have never heard of one of these having any problems with factory 45 ACP ammo. Mine shoots it very accurately. However to be on the safe side I have only shot a few rounds of factory in it.
I shoot mild 45 ACP reloads with lead bullets in it.

I consider it a fun gun, so I do not need to shoot full power ammo in it.