Webley & Scott Firearms of BirminghamThe famous Webley Mk VI, standard sidearm of the British Army 1915–1932
Webley & Scott is an arms manufacturer founded in Birmingham, England. Webley produced handguns and long guns from 1834 to 1979, when the company ceased to manufacture firearms and instead turned its attention to producing air pistols and air rifles. In 2010 Webley & Scott restarted the production of shotguns for commercial sale.
The Webley company was founded in the late 18th century by William Davies, who made bullet moulds. It was taken over in 1834 by his son-in-law, Philip Webley, who began producing percussion sporting guns. The manufacture of revolvers, for which the firm became famous, began twenty years later. Their first percussion revolver, Webley Longspur, entered production in 1853. However, heavy competition from Colt's and Adams revolvers at the time led to modest sales of the early Webley revolvers. At that time the company was named P. Webley & Son. In 1897, Webley amalgamated with W & C Scott and Sons to become The Webley & Scott Revolver and Arms Company Ltd of Birmingham.
Webley's revolvers became the official British sidearm in 1887, remaining in British service until 1964. After 1921, however, Webley service revolvers were manufactured by the government-owned Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield.
In 1932 the Enfield No.2 .38inch calibre revolver, became the standard British service revolver. However, wartime shortages ensured that all marks of the Webley, including models in .455 and .38/200, remained in use through World War Two. The .455 Mk.VI was declared obsolete in 1945 but the .38 Mk.IV remained in service as a substitute standard weapon into the early 1960s.
In 1920, the passing of the Firearms Act in the UK, which limited the availability of handguns to civilians, caused their sales to plummet. The company adapted by producing pneumatic guns, their first being the Mark I air pistol.
Demand for air guns increased rapidly in the 1920s and Webley's business began to grow again, with an inevitable peak related to weapons supply for British military use during the Second World War. Declining sales led to the decision to give up firearms manufacture completely in 1979, however air gun production at the Birmingham factory continued until 22 December 2005, when the company closed down. Webley's dependent company - Venom Custom Shop - ceased trading as well. It was then bought by Wolverhampton-based company Airgunsport. At this time Airgunsport relocated the manufacture of all Webley guns to Turkey.
Webley & Scott Ltd is owned by both the Fuller Group and John Bright. John Bright is also co-owner of Highland Outdoors Limited who are the UK distributors for Webley, Webley & Scott and AGS.[1]
Production
Until 1979 Webley & 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.
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.[3] 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.[4] 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 "The British Bull Dog" Revolver cal 450 CF - 1870s
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.[5]
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.[6]
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 [Jim Farmer has seen .45 Colt chambered WG models, but is unsure if they were converted .455s- further research is needed for WG chamberings- he has seen Belgian WG copies made in .44-40]. The WG frame & cylinder were then shortened for the .455 & the variant was adopted in the 1880s as the Webley Mk 1.
Webley "WG" Army Model (a.k.a. Webley Government) Revolver cal 455/476 (.476 Enfield)
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.[7]
Webley and Scott Model 1911 .32 Automatic Pistol
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,[8] as well as a .32 caliber revolver (also known as IOF Mk1) with 2-inch (51mm) barrel that is clearly based on the Webley Mk IV .38 service pistol.[9]
In 1924 Webley produced its first air pistol, the Mark I.[10]
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.[11][12]
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.[11]
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.[11]
Webley Hurricane .22 air pistol
Webley continues to manufacture air pistols in .22 (5.5mm) and .177 (4.5mm) calibre, and air rifles in .22, .177 and .25 (6.35mm) calibre. A variety of actions were/are available in several different models, including the Hurricane, 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 & 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.[13]
In January 2011 Webley (international) Limited held a creditors meeting Under Section 98 Insolvency Act 1986. On 3 February 2011 liquidators were appointed to wind up the affairs of the company.[14]
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.
Webley & Scott Xocet rifle carbon fibre .22lr caliber with scope
Webley & Scott was acquired by the Fuller Group in 2012.
In 2016, Webley & Scott launch the 1000 Series and 950 Series shotguns. The Xocet Rimfire Rifle is also launched.
Webley & Scott automatic pistols
Webley & Scott 1909Webley & Scott self-loading .455 inch pistol
Webley's first autoloading pistol was an experimental pistol in .45 calibre produced in 1903; mass production began in 1906 with the .32 ACP (7.65mm) model. This pistol had a 3.5" barrel and an 8-round magazine. A .25 (6.35mm) version had a 3-inch barrel and a 6-round magazine. Ultimately pistols were produced in a range of bores from .22inch to .455inch, and included 9mm models. Webley self-loaders were simple, single-actionblowback pistols, designed by William Whiting. Production ceased in 1940.
In 1905, Webley had presented an auto-loading pistol for testing by the Small Arms Committee (SAC), a British military group charged with organizing trials and making recommendations of arms to the War Office. The SAC, which had begun testing automatics in 1900, was unimpressed by Webley's offering, preferring foreign automatics including the Colt. However no automatic was recommended over contemporary service revolvers, which were all Webleys at the time, and trials would continue until 1913.
In 1910 Webley offered a new automatic for testing, and in 1911 the Webley self-loading .455-inch Mark I was recommended by both the SAC and the Chief Inspector of Small Arms (CISA.) This pistol was adopted by the Royal Navy in early 1912 as the first automatic pistol officially in British service. Later the pistol was also adopted by the Royal Horse Artillery and was issued to members of the Royal Flying Corps.
The Webley & Scott self-loading .455 inch pistol had a 7-round magazine. It was not a small pistol, rugged and accurate at short range, but also heavy with an awkward grip angle. It was prone to jamming throughout most of its service career, owing largely to its cordite ammunition, which left residue that fouled the close tolerances of its diagonally locking breech. The problem was officially resolved in 1941 with the introduction of the Mark Iz (nitrocellulose) cartridge.
The first examples of the pistol had the safety on left side of the hammer, but later models moved the safety to the left side of the frame, where it could also lock the slide. A grip safety was provided on the military models. The pistol had dual ejectors. The slide stop was activated by the absence of a cartridge in the feedway, not by the magazine follower as in most automatics. A drift-adjustable rear sight had range-hashmarks in micrometers.
Although never officially adopted by the British Army, Webley self-loaders were widely used as a substitute-standard or personal weapons by British and Commonwealth forces in both World Wars. Versions were also marketed to colonial military and police forces and were widely adopted.
No.1 Mk 1 flare pistol on display at the National Firearms Museum1918 MkIII flare pistol
Webley & Scott produced a number of single-shot, break open signal flare gun devices used by Commonwealth Military Forces during the First and Second World Wars. The most prolific of these was the No.1 MkIII, produced in 1918 at the company's Birmingham facility. A variant, differing only in its use of black plastic grip panels instead of the earlier wood, was produced by Colonial Sugar Refinery in Sydney, Australia in 1942. Perhaps the most famous example of a No.1 Mk 1 flare pistol is in the collection at the Conception Bay Museum, Harbour Grace, NL. The gun was lent by Edward Langdon Oke, IV, a veteran of WW1 and the then editor of the Harbor Grace Standard newspaper, to the first Canadian to make a transatlantic flight, Capt. J. Errol Boyd (1891–1960). Boyd took off 9 Oct 1930 from the Harbour Grace airstrip in the plane Maple Leaf (aka, Columbia), navigated by Lieut. Harry Connor, and landed 10 Oct in Tresco, Scilly Isles, England. The gun was engraved to mark the historic flight and is also tatted with the owner's initials. The company logo is that of a bird wing with the tips angling left and W+S underneath and the gun is stamped 7648.
As part of the Make in India initiative launched in 2014, Webley & Scott began to manufacture its revolvers in India in collaboration with an Indian firm at their Sandila factory, Hardoi district, Uttar Pradesh. The company has also decided to open two shooting ranges in Gorakhpur and Kanpur.[15] In 2020, they began production of weapons for the Indian civilian market, including the Webley Mk IV, and the WP20, a newly built .32 Autosemi-automatic pistol.[16]
A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries.
In firearm designs, the term single-shot refers to guns that can hold only a single round of ammunition inside and thus must be reloaded manually after every shot. Compared to multi-shot repeating firearms ("repeaters"), single-shot designs have no moving parts other than the trigger, hammer/firing pin or frizzen, and therefore do not need a sizable receiver behind the barrel to accommodate a moving action, making them far less complex and more robust than revolvers or magazine/belt-fed firearms, but also with much slower rates of fire.
In firearms terminology, an action is the functional mechanism of a breech-loading firearm that handles the ammunition cartridges, or the method by which that mechanism works. Actions are technically not present on muzzleloaders, as all those are single-shot firearms with a closed off breech with the powder and projectile manually loaded from the muzzle. Instead, the muzzleloader ignition mechanism is referred to as the lock.
The Webley Revolver was, in various designations, a standard issue service revolver for the armed forces of the United Kingdom, and countries of the British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations, from 1887 to 1970.
.455 Webley is a British handgun cartridge, most commonly used in the Webley top break revolvers Marks I through VI. It is also known as ".455 Eley" and ".455 Colt".
The Gun Quarter is a district of the city of Birmingham, England, which was for many years a centre of the world's gun-manufacturing industry, specialising in the production of military firearms and sporting guns. It is an industrial area to the north of the city centre, bounded by Steelhouse Lane, Shadwell Street and Loveday Street.
Harrington & Richardson Arms Company is an American brand of firearms and a subsidiary of JJE Capital Holdings. H&R ceased independent production February 27, 2015.
The howdah pistol was a large-calibre handgun, often with two or four barrels, used in Africa and India from the beginning of the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century during the British Empire era. It was intended for defence against lions, tigers and other dangerous animals that might be encountered in remote areas. Multi-barreled breech-loading designs were later favoured over contemporary revolvers, due to their higher velocity and faster reloading potential.
The Triple Lock, officially the Smith & Wesson .44 Hand Ejector 1st Model New Century, is a double-action revolver. It was and is considered by many, including handgun enthusiast and expert Elmer Keith, to be the finest revolver ever made.
Break action is a type of firearm action in which the barrel(s) are hinged much like a door and rotate perpendicularly to the bore axis to expose the breech and allow loading and unloading of cartridges. A separate operation may be required for the cocking of a hammer to fire the new round. There are many types of break-action firearms; break actions are universal in double-barreled shotguns, double-barreled rifles, combination guns, and are commonly found in single shot pistols, rifles, shotguns, including flare guns, grenade launchers, air guns, and some older revolver designs. They are also known as hinge-action, break-open, break-barrel, break-top, or, on old revolvers, top-break actions.
The Beaumont–Adams revolver is a black powder, double-action, percussion revolver. Originally adopted by the British Army in .442 calibre in 1856, it was replaced in British service in 1880 by the .476 calibre Enfield Mk I revolver.
An antique firearm is a term used to describe a firearm that was designed and manufactured prior to the beginning of the 20th century. Although the exact definition of what constitutes an "antique firearm" varies between countries, the advent of smokeless powder or the start of the Boer War are often used as cut-off dates. Antique firearms are usually collected because of their historical interest and/or their monetary value.
A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a barrel with an integral chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French pistolet, meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the English language c. 1570 when early handguns were produced in Europe. In colloquial usage, the word "pistol" is often used as a generic term to describe any type of handgun, inclusive of revolvers and the pocket-sized derringers.
The following are terms related to firearms and ammunition topics.
The Lancaster pistol was a multi-barrelled handgun produced in England in the mid to late 19th century, chambered in a variety of centrefire pistol calibres—chiefly .38 S&W, .450 Adams, .455 Webley, and .577 inch. The designer, London gunsmith Charles Lancaster, began his career in 1847 as an apprentice to his father, Charles Sr. During the 1850s he invented oval bore rifling and the gas check bullet.
The .476 Enfield, also known as the .476 Eley, .476 Revolver, and occasionally .455/476, is a British centrefire black powder revolver cartridge. The Enfield name derives from the location of the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock, the armoury where British military small arms were produced, while Eley was a British commercial brand. Used in the Enfield Mk II revolver, the Mk III variant was introduced by the British Army in 1881, supplanting the earlier .476 Enfield Mark I and II cartridges, which in turn had replaced the .450 Adams cartridges, all of which also used black powder propellant.
The Tranter revolver was a double-action cap & ball revolver invented around 1856 by English firearms designer William Tranter (1816–1890). Originally operated with a special dual-trigger mechanism later models employed a single-trigger mechanism much the same as that found in the contemporary Beaumont–Adams revolver.
The Webley Self-Loading Pistol was an early magazine-fed pistol. The gun was designed in 1910 by the Webley & Scott company. The Mk. 1 entered police service in 1911 in a .32 ACP model for the London Metropolitan Police. The .455 version was adopted by the Royal Navy in 1912 as the first automatic pistol in British service. The pistol was also adopted by the Royal Horse Artillery and the Royal Flying Corps. Its predecessor was the unsuccessful Mars Automatic Pistol.
The Enfield No. 2 was a British top-break revolver using the .38 S&W round manufactured from 1930 to 1957. It was the standard British/Commonwealth sidearm in the Second World War, alongside the Webley Mk IV and Smith & Wesson Victory Model revolvers chambered in the same calibre. Note that in the context of British service revolvers, the .38 S&W cartridge has often been called ".380".
A repeating firearm or repeater is any firearm that is capable of being fired repeatedly before having to be manually reloaded with new ammunition into the firearm.
References
Dowell, William Chipcase, The Webley Story, (Commonwealth Heritage Foundation, Kirkland, Washington: 1987)
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