[RuralTurtle]

Hello. I recently picked up a Webley VI (marked 1915) that is in pretty good shape. It shoots just fine.

I noticed, however, sometimes the extractor does not drop down as it should after breaking open the action. I disassembled the revolver, gave it a thorough cleaning, and still have the problem.

Any ideas? Thanks.

P.S. Not sure if this belongs in the British Gun pub or in the military handgun section.

 

[ward miller]

Your extractor lever is probably too worn, where the ledge abuts the receiver, to slip past when it ought. Carefully stone it or replace it with a better one.

 

[John Sukey]

Ward, that was funny! Please tell me who has supplies of extractor levers LOL

Now thats not really the problem, The extractor lever has a spring loaded auxilery lever in it. What has happened is that the groove in the barrel has worn and will not depress the auxilery lever far enough to allow it to slip into the frame,when the barrel is fully opened, thus releasing the extractor to snap back into the cylinder. Sometimes this can be made to work by SNAPPING the barrel open. Oherwise a thumbnail pressing on the auxilery lever will allow it to clear the frame.
Possibly there is some way to make the barrel groove shallow enough to depress the aux lever. I really don't know. either that or build up the back of the aux lever so it will be depressed a bit further. That may be a better solution but rather tricky as it's such a small part.

 

[RuralTurtle]

Thanks guys for the follow ups. I would gather finding spare parts might be a chore. :^)

I noticed, and I'm not sure if I should do this, if I pull the trigger while the revolver is broken open, it will generally drop the extractor. Any ideas why it would do that?

Also, if anyone has any pictures of the auxilery lever, that would be great. It would be good to visualize what I should be looking for.

At the end of the day, I don't know that it's the end of the world. I can still load it, albeit a little more clumsily, with the extrator up.

Thanks again. Have a great weekend.

 

[ward miller]

John is right in that you won't find a new extractor lever for sale by any of the supply houses; once in a while you may find one in an odd sale, but it is likely to already have some wear itself. It sounds as if the inertia from your forcefully snapping the revolver open is enough to get the extractor to drop, but you will find this practice exacerbates, rather than improves, your situation.
Once you remove the hinge screw and the hinge which hold the receiver to the barrel, you'll find the extractor lever sandwiched in between the barrel lugs which mate with the receiver. Not being clever enough to figure how to provide a photo to this website, I will offer to e-mail you a photo of the item, in a few days, if you'll provide your e-mail address. Parenthetically, pages 32 and 33 of Stamps and Skennerton, .380 Enfield No. 2 Revolver, illustrate how and where one stones that gun's extractor lever to get it to retract, and that gun's extractor is practically identical to the Webley, so its advice should work for the .455 too. If you haven't a copy of the book handy, I could pass the directions along with the photograph.

 

[ChevJames]

Got Mark IV Extractor Lever Working Again

My fellow Webley collector helped me to get my Webley Mk IV in .380 to retract the extractor once again. The problem in getting the hinge pin back into the frame was that this bushing, which has a smaller, spring-set bushing inside it, was "chipped" on one side--it made it difficult for the hinge pin to go through it. It is working now, and I won't disassemble it again for some time. All of my other Webleys are working fine. Thanks for all of the help. By the way, we couldn't find a reason for the extractor not resetting before.

 

[John Sukey]

My fellow Webley collector helped me to get my Webley Mk IV in .380 to retract the extractor once again. The problem in getting the hinge pin back into the frame was that this bushing, which has a smaller, spring-set bushing inside it, was "chipped" on one side--it made it difficult for the hinge pin to go through it. It is working now, and I won't disassemble it again for some time. All of my other Webleys are working fine. Thanks for all of the help. By the way, we couldn't find a reason for the extractor not resetting before.

The old saying applies. If it ain't broke, DON"T FIX IT!