Whooa! You got that backwards my friend.
I have seen a Webley MkI with the barrel extention welded & recracked from shooting smokeless.
Webley MkI, IIs and early IIIs all predate 1898, while the Smiths debuted in 1908 & 1914/15 respectively. While that doesn't sound like much time there were huge metalurgy advances in that short time period.
If anything the Webleys impress the Heck out of me by withstanding pressures which they were never designed to handle. (Many have been converted to .45acp for the American market, and not experienced any noticable damage). Light smokeless loads seem to be acceptable with the top-break Webleys. Earlier guns are a different story of course.
S&W Triple locks & second model hand ejectors are much stronger than a Webley MkI or II. Having said that Smith did NOT start heat treating their cylinders until about 1915-16 ( partway through the run of the second model hand ejector).
D