A work of art revolver in a suitable manly caliber. There are certainly more PRETTY revolvers, but the Webly's beauty lies in the form and function of, as you said, a "...robust and uncompromising" weapon. A no-nonsense gun, for no-nonsense men.

And the .455 cartridge is quite stout enough to ensure that an opponent will activly seek an appoinmtment elsewhere..

Still think the old .455 (while a fine cartridge for its day) was not as beefy as the .45 Colt/Long Colt, and the Mark VI would have made a wonderful revolver if so chambered.

Still, the .455 was plenty enough for the multitudes of the ungodly -- and I'd not consider myself too under-equipped with one, even today.

As the proud owner of a MKI and a MkVI, I would agree that having one in hand gives the feeling you are ready for whatever confronts you. Mine have the cylinders "rebated", or shaved, to use .45 ACP on half-moon clips or .45 Auto Rim. Wonderful guns!

That's Rourke's Drift if I'm not mistaken. Great film.

GD Kim - still miss your rants.

A bit of Schotch makes those longer flights much more enjoyable, especially in combination with Maria Callas.

Many years ago a custom pistol smith used the Webley frame, and installed a custom barrel and cylinder for .44 magnum.
After reading that I wondered just how stout those Weblys were. One in .357 mag would be more my speed.

I have one of the Webley and Scott's in .38/200. I like it because it is a rather distinctive looking and functioning pistol. Also, I would never be able to afford a .455!

"Once, twice, and yet again the Major's Webley .380/200 barked in his hand; whereupon the oobra, tho' much bruised, effected nevertheless its escape, retreating swiftly to its burrow, much to the distress of the ladies. Chairs were brought about, brandy and fowling pieces summoned, in determined anticipation of the deadly reptile's imminent re-emergence. The cobra, however, was never seen again.

.. excerpt from the unpublished work
The Webley In Defense of Empire

"Once, twice, and yet again the Major's Webley .380/200 barked in his hand; whereupon the oobra, tho' much bruised, effected nevertheless its escape, retreating swiftly to its burrow, much to the distress of the ladies. Chairs were brought about, brandy and fowling pieces summoned, in determined anticipation of the deadly reptile's imminent re-emergence. The cobra, however, was never seen again.

.. excerpt from the unpublished work
The Webley In Defense of Empire

Great film though it is, there is no way a Webley MkVI would have been at Rourke's Drift, as it was not adopted until 1915. Still, that's a small point.

The MkVI was indeed a fine piece, and it was an act of great stupidity to replace it after WWI with a .38. It's as if the US had decided to replace the .45 auto with a .32. Senseless. The reasoning seems to have been that the .455 had a bit of recoil to it, and a .38 would be easier for soldiers to shoot. The idea that it would be better to train soldiers properly to use the MkVI does not seem to have occurred to them. Still, at least Captain Mainwaring had a MkVI. Whatever happened, Walmington-on-Sea would have gone down fighting.

I really must get one.

I have a MkVI, with the cylinder shaved for .45 Auto Rim, or .45 ACP in clips. Clips for the US Colt & S&W M1917s work perfectly. Accuracy is sufficient for self defense.

I also have a MkIV, .38-200. Fun to shoot, little recoil. Rough finish (though excellent condition), appears to be Parkerized. Webley, not wanting to be thought less of, actually stamped in "War Finish."

My prize is a commercial, a WG, ca 1896, .455, all original. And the smoothest, finest, double action trigger I've ever shot.

And, I have Webley autos in .455 (Webley Auto), 9mm Browning Long, .380 ACP, .32 ACP, and .25 ACP. Odd design, but they work.

OK ... now I'll have to buy one.

I should be able to get one that had been converted already to .45 ACP cheap enough ... not collectible.

Chopping up MkVIs to accept the .45 ACP is a pretty disgusting practice, and I would not recommend it. These fine old beasts deserve to be used with the proper .455.

On the subject of the .38/200, am I alone in preferring the Enfield to the Webley? I always found the Enfield to have a nice smooth trigger, and a decent double action trigger pull. Also, it had a very modern style of square notch back sight, whereas the Webley had an awkward sort of combination of a U and a square notch. I could get a much better sight picture with the Enfield. If I had to choose one it would be the Enfield.

John K: I wasn't advocating conversion of existing good condition pistols ... there are already plenty out there already converted.

A pristine Webley is running about $1500 to $1900 on gunsamerica ... a converted pistol can be had for about $500. I prefer shooters to collectors, so buying one that has been messed with already would make the collecting crowd happier.

Bob K, you bastard... did you HAVE to remind me of your wonderful guns (many of which I've fired, thankee again for the privilege)?

Kim,

Certainly didn't mean to brag or rub it in. I assembled my Webley "collection" at a time when there was no interest in them.

I was drawn to them because of design, quality of manufacture, affordability, fun to shoot, and I always had a hunch they'd be a good investment.

First handgun I ever fired was a MkVI. That's a long story for another time. Let's just say that as a child, it hooked me on shooting.

Kristopher:

I wasn't accusing you of butchering your MkVI! I read a piece about this practice in the American Rifleman, and it struck me as pretty poor form. But I wish you lots of fun with yours. Obviously I'm not allowed to have one, because 56 million Brits can't be trusted, but that's another story.

Just saw one in the flesh so to speak at my local purveyor of boomsticks the other day.

DId not check out the price...

When can a Mk VI be bought these days - an operational one that uses .455 rounds. I live in Kenya and it is possible to import such weapons here.

Try Weller & Dufty perhaps?

**Converted .455 Webleys in the US with "shaved" cylinders.** While this practice of converting Mark VI Webleys to accept .45 ACP in moon clips or .45 Auto-Rim on your side of the pond...and mine too, seems ridiculous today, in the 1950s and 1960s when the majority of these guns were imported to the US .455 ammo was almost non-existant. Couple this with a relative abundance and availability of .45 ACP ammo and you can see why it was done to make the guns marketable. HOWEVER, this from a safety standpoint was an unwise practice as .45 ACP is at the proof level of pressure for the .455 (19,000 CUP vs 10,600 CUP) and can at best loosen the gun up and at worst cause it to fail violently when shooting standard pressure .45 ACP in such a converted gun. The bore and bullet diameter is larger on the Webley .455-.456" vs .451-.452" on a .45 ACP round or gun. What is the solution to enjoy an old British Empire workhorse Webley that has been so converted? It is very simple, buy some .45 Auto Rim brass from Starline which is nothing more than a .45 ACP with a thick rim to allow extraction like the original .455 rimmed round. You need to handload the .45 Auto-Rim with .454-.455" cast or swaged lead bullets in the 250-270 grain range with powder charges that push the bullets out of the bore at 620-710 fps. It allows the gun to be used again like it was designed with no moon clips, keeps pressures at the .455 level for safety and gives you great accuracy with the larger lead bullets that are the proper size. I DO NOT recommend ever firing a Webley with standard pressure .45 ACP ammo, it is IMHO dangerous for the gun and shooter.

soninlaw inherited a Mark 1** remanufactured 1914 is N 2 lots of marks serial no on cly does not match other nos has canvas holster all in 80% shape .455 cal not shaved is there a market with a resonable price.

Just a little note from an owner of both a .455 and a .38 ( the .38 is an Indian made version). While there is serious stopping power in the .455 the .38 can be easily fired accurately and quickly and effortlessly 6 times with one hand. Though If I had to part with one it would be the .38. When I take them to the gun club. The .455 gets mauled like a rock star. Cheers,