Quote Originally Posted by TonyL View Post
The barrel would be hinged, secured by a precision fit manual barrel latch, but only open a few degrees to allow loading.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOO!!!!! Heresy! A direct-loader with a floppy barrel urghhhhhhhhhhh.

Weren't only the early Whizzers designed along the lines of the Webley Service Mk 2 lash-up nightmare as you describe? Later ones had a proper fixed barrel.