Webley & Scott - Production

Production

Until 1979 Webley and Scott manufactured shotguns and revolvers for private use, as well as producing sidearms for military and police use. This came to include both revolvers and self-loading (semi-automatic) pistols.

Webley's production originally consisted of hand-crafted firearms, although mass-production was later introduced to supply police and military buyers.

The first Webley production revolver appeared in 1853. Known as the Longspur it was a muzzle-loaded percussion cap and ball pistol. Some consider it to be the finest revolver of its day as it could shoot as fast as the contemporary Colt revolvers and was faster to load. However the hand-made Longspur could not compete in price with mass-produced revolvers such as the Colt, and production never equalled that of Webley's competitors Adams (Deane, Adams & Deane) or Tranter.

Webley's first popular success came with its first double-action revolver, adopted by the Royal Irish Constabulary in 1867.

There is a well-known story that a pair of Webley RIC Model revolvers were presented to Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer by Lord Berkeley in 1869, and it is believed that General Custer was using them at the time of his death in the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

There is some question whether the gun or guns presented to George Armstrong Custer were Webley RIC’s. Other sources indicate that Lord Berkeley Paget presented Custer with a Galand & Sommerville 44 calibre revolver (manufactured in England by the firm of Braendlin & Sommerville) and gave another to Tom Custer. Of course, it is possible that Lord Berkeley Paget may have given Custer two revolvers, both a Galand & Sommerville and a Webley RIC or even given the Custer brothers, in some combination, a pair of Webley RICs and a pair of Galand & Sommervilles. A cased Galand & Sommerville revolver certainly formed part of Tom Custer’s estate. Galand & Sommerville 44 revolvers were made to use the same ammunition as the first Webley RIC’s, i.e. Webley's .442 centre-fire cartridge.

Almost all of Webley's subsequent revolvers were of a top-break design. A pivoting lever on the side of the gun's upper receiver was pressed to release the barrel and cylinder assembly, which then tilts up and forward on a bottom-front pivot. After loading, the assembly is tilted back into firing position and locked closed.

Webley went on to produce more revolvers for the civilian market. Webley's popular pocket revolver, The British Bull Dog, was developed in 1872, available in .44 Short Rimfire, .442 and .450 calibers, and widely exported and copied. Smaller scale versions in .320 and .380 calibers were added later.

Although often attributed to Webley, Webley only produced some of the revolvers now commonly referred to as Webley .577 Boxer Revolvers, which used the most powerful handgun cartridge of the day, the .577 Boxer. It was produced by Webley under licence from the firm of William Tranter of Birmingham, whose design it actually was. Webley was just one of several firms licensed to use Tranter's double-action lock and particularly Tranter's patented revolving recoil shield, which was a key feature of the early .577 calibre revolvers.

In 1879 Webley developed & sold commercially a rugged and powerful revolver intended for the British military, the WG or Webley Government in .455/.476, the WG's cylinder was long enough for .44 Russian & .45 Colt length rounds . The WG frame & cylinder were then shortened for the .455 & the variant was adopted in the 1880s as the Webley Mk 1.

Nicknamed "the British Peacemaker" in the United States, the Mk 1 was manufactured in .450, .455 Webley, and .476 calibre and founded a family of revolvers that were the standard handguns of the British Army, Royal Navy, and British police constabularies from 1887 to 1918. The Mark VI (known as the Webley Revolver No. 1 Mark VI after 1927) was the last standard service pistol made by Webley; the most widely-produced of their revolvers, 300,000 were made for service during World War I.

Webley began experimenting with semi-automatic action in 1900 and in 1909 they began producing a series of semi-automatic pistols for civilian and police use. Their .32 Automatic Pistol was adopted by London's Metropolitan Police in 1911. The same weapon in .38 calibre was used by the Royal Navy as a substitute standard weapon during World War II. The Ordnance Factory Board of India still manufactures .380 Revolver Mk IIz cartridges, as well as a .32 caliber revolver (also known as IOF Mk1) with 2-inch (51 mm) barrel that is clearly based on the Webley Mk IV .38 service pistol.

In 1924 Webley produced its first air pistol, the Mark I.

In 1929 Webley introduced its Mark II air rifle. During World War II Webley air rifles were used for rifle training as well as civilian target shooting and hunting.

The Mark II, known as the service air rifle because of its use by the UK military, used break-action with a superimposed barrel locked by bolt action. The detachable barrel was easily interchangeable with others of the three calibres available.

The Mark II was discontinued in 1946 and replaced by the Mark III, in production until 1975. The Mark III was a top-loaded air rifle with a fixed barrel and used underlever cocking. It was only made in .177 and .22 calibres.

Webley continues to manufacture air pistols in .22 (5.5 mm) and .177 (4.5 mm) calibre, and air rifles in .22, .177 and .25 (6.35 mm) calibre. A variety of actions are available in several different models, including the Nemesis, Stinger, and Tempest air pistols and Raider, Venom, and Vulcan air rifles. In early 2007 Webley broke away from its traditional 'barrel overlever' design to launch the revised Typhoon model, a 'break-barrel' design with a recoil-reduction system.

Webley and Scott has also returned to shotgun production with alliances with European manufacturers, and now markets a number of sporting and competition shotguns.

In 2008, Webley sold to Webley (International) Limited but still produces products under the Webley name

In January 2011 Webley (international) Limited held a creditors meeting Under Section 98 Insolvency Act 1986. On the 3 February 2011 Liquidators were appointed to Wiind Up the affairs of the company.

According to the Statement of Affairs produced by the Liquidators, Webley (international) owed their unsecured creditors a sum of £164,595.76. They also owed money to one Secured Creditor, Webley Limited (in Liquidation) a sum of £140,000.