Webley Revolver - History

History

The British company Webley and Scott (P. Webley & Son before merger with W & C Scott in 1897) produced a range of revolvers from the mid 19th to late 20th centuries. Early models such as the Webley-Government (often incorrectly referred to as the Webley-Green) Army model 1879 (never adopted by the Army) and the Webley-Pryse model were first made during the 1870s. The Webley-Government aka Webley-Green is the best known and most popular of the commercial top break revolvers and many were the private purchase choice of English military officers and target shooters in the period, coming in a .476/.455 caliber. A similar design to the Webley-Green was the Webley-Kaufman revolver was even tested by the US government. The best-known are the range of military revolvers, which were in service use across two World Wars and numerous colonial conflicts, but Webley also produced a number of short-barrel solid-frame revolvers, including the Webley RIC (Royal Irish Constabulary) model and the British Bulldog revolver, designed to be carried in a coat pocket for self-defence.

In 1887, the British Army was searching for a revolver to replace the largely unsatisfactory .476 Enfield Mk I & Mk II Revolvers, the Enfield having only replaced the solid frame Adams .450 revolver which was a late 1860s conversion of the cap and ball Beaumont-Adams revolver in 1880. Webley & Scott, who were already very well known makers of quality guns and had sold many pistols on a commercial basis to military officers and civilians alike, tendered the .455 calibre Webley Self-Extracting Revolver for trials. The military was suitably impressed with the revolver (it was seen as a vast improvement over the Enfield revolvers then in service, which American Designed Owen extraction system did not prove particularly satisfactory in service), and it was adopted on 8 November 1887 as the "Pistol, Webley, Mk I". The initial contract called for 10,000 Webley revolvers, at a price of £3/1/1 each, with at least 2,000 revolvers to be supplied within eight months.

The Webley revolver went through a number of changes, culminating in the Mk VI, which was in production between 1915 and 1923. The large .455 Webley revolvers were retired in 1947, although the Webley Mk IV .38/200 remained in service until 1963 alongside the Enfield No. 2 Mk I revolver. Commercial versions of all Webley service revolvers were also sold on the civilian market, along with a number of similar designs (such as the Webley-Government and Webley-Wilkinson) that were not officially adopted for service, but were nonetheless purchased privately by military officers.

• A Webley Mark I Revolver, circa 1887, from Canada, cal .455 (Mk I) Webley

• Webley Mark VI .455 service revolver

• Close up of the cylinder (including thumb catch) on a Webley Mk VI service revolver

• Webley WG (a.k.a. Webley Government) Revolver cal .455/476 (.476 Enfield)

• A Webley Revolver, opened

• IOF .32 Revolver

• Copy of Webley Pocket Pistol in .38 S&W, at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan

• .455 in SAA Ball ammunition.

• A box of Second World War dated .380" Revolver Mk IIz cartridges