I know there are loads of Webley fans on this site...so hopefully I'll get an answer. A couple of years back, bought a late Senior pistol. I'll be charitable, it was not really as described. Altho' cosmetically OK, it needed some work, replacing screws etc. Then, after worrying about the cocking effort, found it had a cracked piston, Replaced that, cleaned & tidied the internals, put it away.
Recently decided to have a play with it, comparing it 'back to back' with my Premier.
Hmm - the cocking effort still seemed difficult, compared to the later Premier. Felt like it needed 25-30% more force. The Gordon Bruce 'bible' does mention that the 'link fulcrum' on the Premier was higher to provide less cocking effort, is this the cause? I don't have any problems cocking the Premier, or any of my Hurricanes or Tempest.