Mark IV light strike

[Triumph6]

I recently acquired a markIV. The bore looks pristine and shoots as tight a group as I'm capable of. The issue I'm having is that I get light strikes in double action. I've read that some people consider the double action trigger pull to be hard on these guns but, the only other revolver I own is a Nagant so this feels smooth and easy to me. Could the spring be weak causeing my light strikes? Single action pounds the primers pretty good.

[Triumph6]

So, I took this pistol to the range today. I tried different ammo and the pistol would not fire at all in double action. I removed the grip and found the main spring to be much shorter than any pictures I could find, it does not even reach the notch it should fit into. Are these springs available any where? Could this be a custom spring to lighten the trigger pull, it feels very light to me.

[RWS]

Is this your first Webley? I ask because there are two completely different Webley Mk IV revolvers. Webley made large frame .455 revolvers that they designated "No. 1", and they also made medium frame .38/200 revolvers that were designated "No. 2". Point is, both No. 1 Mk IV and No. 2 Mk IV revolvers exist. I am assuming that your revolver is the later .38 (No. 2 Mk IV) version, as it is more commonly encountered than the .455 Mk IV , but it's best to verify what you have before going much further into detail. If your current mainspring doesn't look like what's on a parts diagram and doesn't even fit correctly then it is likely someone swapped it out with a mainspring from another gun (Colt Official Police or New Service mainsprings are close but not an exact match).

Having said that, one sometimes encounters No. 1 or No. 2 Webley revolvers with original mainsprings that have weakened with age. I have one No. 2 revolver with just such a weak mainspring that initially had very erratic ignition. In my instance using ammunition with Federal primers provides reliable ignition in my revolvers. Primer cups are manufactured by various manufacturers with a wide range of cup thicknesses and hardness. At one end of the scale is CCI, which typically have the "hardest" primers and include ammuntion made under the CCI, Speer, Blazer, and Lawman brands. At the other end of the scale is Federal, which typically have the "softest" primers.

I don't see .38 S&W ammo on Federal's web site any more so they may no longer support that caliber. I load my own ammo with Federal primers in conjunction with Starline .38 S&W cases and that has solved my light strike problem. Finding an original Webley mainspring in good condition will be very iffy. Not many Webley parts out there for sale any more so your next step is to either load your own ammo with Federal primers to do a test or get someone who does reload to help you out.

Probably not what you wanted to hear but the road to collecting British revolvers is strewn with disappointment and angst.

- Bob

[72 usmc]

please some photos of this spring?

[luigi]

I bought an Enfield No.2 Mk.1* that 1st round would fire and remainders were light primer strikes. Turns out there was quite a bit of front to back "slop" in the cylinder. I had a gunsmith add a shim and it works great! Any excessive slop in your cylinder?

[Triumph6]

Thanks for the replies guys, this is my first Webley and did not realize that there was a markIV in .455. Mine is a .38. I should be able to make something that will fit into the notch that the spring should fit into to at least position the spring on the correct orientation. If I hold the spring in position I can feel a very noticeable difference in the trigger pull and the hammer falls seemingly harder as well. Not very scientific but, it's all I come up with for now. There doesn't appear to have much play in the cylinder, maybe a couple of thousandths. I will be loading for this gun as ammo is a little hard to find and pretty pricey so, I can experiment with primers if need be. Tried to add picture, hope it worked.