I came across an old (and interesting) article the other day, which mentioned the dangers of cocking a Theoben rammer with the stock off - and the likelihood that you'll break the cocking linkage.

In the article, it mentioned that "earlier BSA Meteors" used the same linkage - looking on the Chambers diagrams, it LOOKS like the Mk5 has the same linkage - hopefully I never have to find out

Dunk