I am referencing Nigel Brown's British Gunmakers book. It looks like W & C Scott and P Webley joined forces in 1897, becoming Webley & Scott.There was some duplication of Serial Number, i.e. Webley & Scott guns started at 52000 in 1897 but W & C Scott guns had 52000 serial # in 1894. That is not a good explanation I know, hopefully someone will come along and explain it a bit better.