Webley Longspur revolver | |
---|---|
Type | revolver |
Place of origin | United Kingdom |
Service history | |
In service | 1853–1867 |
Used by | British Empire & Colonies , Bushrangers, Blackbirders |
Wars | Crimean War Indian Rebellion of 1857 American Civil War Fenian Raid |
Production history | |
Designer | Webley & Son |
Designed | 1853 |
Manufacturer | Webley & Son |
Produced | 1853–1865 |
No. built | approx. 2,000 |
Specifications | |
Mass | 4.2 lb (1.9 kg), unloaded |
Calibre | .455 (11.6 mm) |
Action | Single or double action |
Rate of fire | 5 rounds/minute |
Effective firing range | 50 yd (46 m) |
Feed system | 5-round cylinder |
Sights | Fixed front blade and rear notch |
Webley Longspur is an early British percussion revolver, patented in 1853. The first revolver of the later famous British factory Webley&Son, it was an open frame, 5-shot, single action revolver. It was a solid and popular weapon at the time, although it faced heavy competition from already established, popular Colt's and Adams revolvers. [1] [2] [3]
The first commercially available percussion revolver was developed by Samuel Colt in 1834; serial production began in 1836 at his first factory in Paterson, New Jersey. Colt obtained patents for any firearm with a revolving cylinder in the US, UK and France in 1836. Colt thus had a monopoly on revolver production until 1857 in the US, and until 1851 in Europe. Although his first company went bankrupt in 1843, Colt's percussion revolvers gained popularity during Mexican-American War (1847–1848) and California gold rush (1849), which led to great demand for both large holster revolvers for cavalry and small pocket revolvers for self-defense. [4]
Colt presented his revolvers at the 1851 Great Exhibition in London, and established his revolvers in the British market, opening his own factory in London in 1853; however, also in 1851 when Colt's British patent expired, British inventor Robert Adams patented his own, improved revolver design, self-cocking Adams revolver with double action trigger and solid frame, giving a faster rate of fire and greater durability than Colt's single action, open frame revolvers. The popularity of Adams' revolvers in the UK caused Colt to close his London factory in 1857. [5]
At the time several other British gunsmiths had started production of their own percussion revolvers, competing with Colt and Adams on the British market. Among them were brothers James and Philip Webley, whose workshop in Birmingham was producing percussion rifles and pistols since 1835. Their first Webley Longspur cap-lock revolver was patented in 1853. [6] [7]
Unlike the Adams revolvers, which had dominated the British market since 1851, James Webley's revolvers mostly did not have a solid, one-piece frame and barrel, but instead had a two-piece body with an open frame, similar to the Colt 1851 Navy Revolver. In early Webley revolvers, the front part of the frame and the barrel formed a separate part, attached to the rear part of the frame via the cylinder arbor, which was an integral part of the breech. In the earliest models, the cylinder arbor was attached to the revolver barrel by a transverse flat vedge which passed through a hole in the front part under the barrel and on the arbor, in a way similar to Colt's revolvers. [8] [9] [10] In later models, the front part was screwed on the cylinder arbor; the thread on the arbor screwed into a corresponding longitudinal hole drilled in the front part of the frame, under the barrel. In addition, the lower part of the front frame was connected to the rear frame under the cylinder by a longitudinal thumbscrew which could be screwed in or unscrewed manually without any tools. [11] [12] [13] Some later Webleys had a closed frame strapped together at the top, giving them greater strength and durability than the Colts of the time. [14]
Webley revolvers were made in both single-action and double-action form, although the early models were mainly single-action. [15] [16]
The earliest models of Webley revolver had a ramrod that was screwed perpendicularly into the handle of the gun. This was not a very practical option, so later models had an attached ramrod, with the two main types:
Although sturdy and reliable revolvers for their time, Webley Longspur faced heavy competition on the British market from the already established, popular brands of Colt Navy and Adams revolvers. In all, only about 2,000 of this early Webley revolvers were produced.
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