Chime In: My Custom Webley .45

[HMMurdock]

I had a buddy of mine research a little gem of mine: my custom snub-nosed British Webley Mk VI .45 ACP.

He determined, according to the markings, it was made in 1917 in Birmingham, England. It saw service in WWI and on a police department. At some point it was sent to the London armoury and was professionally made into a short barrel with front sight and was rechambered into .45 ACP via moon clip. He said the timing was slightly off, but nothing that would be noticable -- and it wasn't! I put 6 rounds of lead .45 ACP through her at about 7 yards and they all landed in the 9- and 10-rings. Otherwise, she's in pristine condition.

Anyone know anything else about this? Any comments? Any idea as to the value of such an item?

 

[orange]

Value.. I have no real idea. But damn that is a nice revolver. I would love one exactly like it - though an unmodified long-barreled version is top on my shopping list.

Just in case you don't know already, be very damn careful with ammo selection. Modern .45ACP is a good deal more potent than .455 and I've seen too many of those with exploded cylinders and bent frames. Honestly, if it were mine I'd probably just handload low-power shells for the thing.

 

[gunman41mag]

Is that a 2 inch barrel

 

[M67]

I love Webley revolvers. For some reason I always liked top break actions too, add it being a .45acp and that's damn near perfect. I was looking at a longer barrel version 3 1500s ago. I don't know if it had the type of history yours does, but the one I was looking was about $550.

 

[ghitch75]

nice!!!!....i like 45acp wheel guns too...

 

[MrSmitty]

Ok that is a really neat gun!!!! Great history!!!

 

[indy1919a4]

2nds on not shooting 45 acp in it

1st beautiful pistol, Webley is one of the Great iconic pistol designs...

Every time one is held, you want to yell "Volley fire at 100 yards"


But the 45 acp is way hotter then what the gun was made for.. And if you do a google on Webley 45 acp or something like that there are some good boards with lots of help how and why to reload those.. Also some nasty photos of Webleys in 45 acp that bit the big one.. Now to be honest, I put more then 50 rounds in mine with no issues.. before I found out..

I am now getting into reloading just because I own a webley..

Another nice things about webleys is all the stampings.. God the brits loved stamping their webleys

 

[HMMurdock]

My buddy reloads for me. He made a batch of rimmed lead .45s for her.

 

[indy1919a4]

My buddy reloads for me. He made a batch of rimmed lead .45s for her.

Real neat, Hey let us know how the rimmed rounds work.. That would be visually nice because you would be loading her like she was intended.. One bullet at a time... Also the ejecting the empty shells will look nice..

Was going to ask does the cylinder number match the frame number.. From what I read, when they did the ACP cutting conversion process on the Cylinders, Many cylinders and frames where miss matched????.. But only have seen 2 upclose and both were matched..

 

[geronimojoe85]

He said the timing was slightly off, but nothing that would be noticable

If it was me, I'd have this checked out by a gunsmith, just to make sure.

Otherwise it looks like a nice find.

 

[jimbo-indy]

Be careful on what yu feed it. My reading of several national gun boards indicates the standard 45 ACP loads are like proof loads to a Webley. I have a 4" similar to yours. Shot it some with normal ACP and no problems. After my research, I loaded up some light 200 gr. LSWC with Titegroup just for the Webley.

 

[jimbo-indy]

Try this British link. You decide if you want to heed the warning.
CAUTION RE .455 REVOLVERS ALTERED TO SHOOT .45 ACP and .45 Auto Rim in British Military Handguns Forum

 

[indy1919a4]

OK From what I have read, the 45 acp is to hot for the Webley and the round does not fit perfectly down the barrel.

Who came up with this idea of converting these guns and When..?????

I know the 455 ammo was getting scarce..

 

[Fenway]

Wow! Interesting blaster. Enjoy it and thanks for the pics!

 

[Blind Squirrel]

What an amazing piece of history!!!!! I got reinterested in guns for their historic value and even though I love shooting modern weapons, get a huge woody whenever I see something that has such an amazing story to tell.


Congrats on that beauty.

 

[jimbo-indy]

The idea wwas to sell surplus guns. Not much thought about safety. Probably started before WW2 as revolvers were replaced by autos. 45 ACP ammo was chesp in USA.
Mine is accurate even with the bore mismatch.

 

[HMMurdock]

I've only put soft lead re-loads through her for safety, but she handles like a champ. Any idea as to the value of this beauty?

 

[indy1919a4]

The idea wwas to sell surplus guns. Not much thought about safety. Probably started before WW2 as revolvers were replaced by autos. 45 ACP ammo was chesp in USA.
Mine is accurate even with the bore mismatch.

So this was done as a commercial venture?? Wow I was assuming that it was done as a war time measure during WW II.. But that makes more sense because the British were using the 455 round in WW II, and I had read that the rounds were pretty tightly rationed for training..