New .455's from Webley?

[garyhan]

Has anyone heard that Webley is considering new production of the MK VI in .455 if sufficient interest is shown? Go to www.webley.co.uk and click on "click here for gunmakers". The MK VI is a great classic revolver and .455 ammo is produced by Hornady. Price is rumored to be about $1000, expensive but not too far from a good S&W. If quality is good I would love to have one.

gary

 

[Ohen Cepel]

I may be interested but want to know the real price before I commit $100.
Also, didn't see it on their US site so I wonder if they will be exported to the US.

Really, $1k for one I don't think is bad, but can see them being a lot more given the amount of work which they will take or they will be made in a 3rd country and not up to standard.

 

[garyhan]

I think they almost certainly would be made outside the UK, considering both their ban on handgun ownership and the fact that most Webley guns are now outsourced. I think they certainly will be exported to the US if made, as the largest world market for civilian handguns.

gary

 

[Deaf Smith]

If they use modern metals and stress it so it can shoot a '+p' .455 safely, and say with a 4 inch barrel and birds head grip, black baklite grips, I'D LOVE TO OWN ONE!

Go great with my Webley Pocket Model .38!

If fact if they made a strengthened one for .45 ACP and tried to bring in the IPSC crowd, It might make a real winner in that and IDPA revolver class.

Deaf

 

[.455_Hunter]

As you can guess from my user name, I would definitely have an interest if they are true replicas. If they are a quality product, like a high-end Uberti, then the project might be good to do. The issue that they will face is that a good shooting grade original .455 Mk VI's are right around $1K on GB, so the new production unit would have to offer something special.

 

[Jim K]

I am still holding my breath waiting for one of those DA Colts that they started making in 2005, or was it 2006, or 2007, or 2008, or.....

Jim (face turning blue)

 

[Nom de Forum]

I am still holding my breath waiting for one of those DA Colts that they started making in 2005, or was it 2006, or 2007, or 2008, or.....

Jim (face turning blue)

You must be confused Jim. Webley & Scott are never going to make a reproduction DA Colt. You can start breathing.

Webley & Scott could make a new Webley MkVI that would sell to thousands of guys just like me.

 

[Swing]

At a grand, I'd buy one for sure. I've always been a fan, so a newly produced one would be the cat's pajamas. If it cost significantly more, though, no thanks.

 

[StrawHat]

I am still holding my breath waiting for one of those DA Colts that they started making in 2005, or was it 2006, or 2007, or 2008, or.....

Jim (face turning blue)

I thought you were waiting for the Merwin & Hulbert revolver?

Kevin

 

[bannockburn]

Would love to have a new Webley Mk. VI, even at $1000 per gun. Don't know if it will ever make it to production but in the mean time I wouldn't mind having one of the air pistol versions instead.

 

[Nom de Forum]

I signed up (not a deposit) with Webley a couple of weeks ago but I never received a confirmation email or other notification. Anyone else sign up?

 

[Panzerschwein]

Oh man... I WANT ONE!!!! DO WANT!!! DO WANT!!!!!!

As for .455 caliber... well looks like I'll have to start reloading for it!!

 

[BobWright]

As far as I'm concerned, why?

A big, heavy, top-break revolver chambered for a lackluster .455 caliber cartridge?

A newly-made Webley has no historical value nor connection. Chambered for a rather puny .45 that never showed much in the way of performance? And certainly not a "platform" for customizing to a more potent or flatter shooting round?

Sorry, but I don't see much in the Webley other than a War souvenir or for re-enactments. There are no more Colonial Police Departments to arm.


Bob Wright

 

[garyhan]

A new Webley would have no more historical connection than any of the dozens of other popular reproductions of historical firearms.

The British army found the .455's performance quite satisfactory for decades.

Customizing, of course, would negate the whole purpose of this recreation.

Weight is about the same (a bit less) than a 1911.

Big? Yes! I am not among those who consider only concealed carry and self defense as reasons for a handgun.

gary

 

[4v50 Gary]

I want the Webley Fosbery semi-automatic revolver.

If the price of a new Webley was $1,000, I'd go in for it. The action is very much like that of the Python. They can't get blind high school drop out on drugs to assemble and time them. They'll need skilled tradesmen. I'm certain the English still have them.

To make the Python though would take a lot of training for the workforce. S&W type actions are much easier to train workers on.

 

[Nom de Forum]

As far as I'm concerned, why?

A big, heavy, top-break revolver chambered for a lackluster .455 caliber cartridge?

A newly-made Webley has no historical value nor connection. Chambered for a rather puny .45 that never showed much in the way of performance? And certainly not a "platform" for customizing to a more potent or flatter shooting round?

Sorry, but I don't see much in the Webley other than a War souvenir or for re-enactments. There are no more Colonial Police Departments to arm.


Bob Wright

Just like the people who ride Harleys say: If I have to explain you will never understand.

Bob, I sure hope you, JimK, Kleenbore, and some other guys who posted to a recent top-break revolver thread don't clutter this one up with critical comments like: why would anyone want one, they will not be durable due to stretching, they can't be made to handle .45ACP, you have to do a line of pressure analysis first, etc. Despite all those comments in the last thread the only thing preventing a durable modern Webley from being made in .455 or .45ACP is money. Also, please don't repeatedly post "Don't fire .45ACP in Webleys because it is higher in pressure than a .455 Proof Load". I think we all understand that. Do you think we could let garyhan and the rest of us Webley fans enjoy discussing the possibility of buying a new production copy of one of our favorite revolvers and possibly discuss an improved top-break revolver design?

What does "no more Colonial Police Departments to arm" have to do with anything? Just like there are no more Horse Calvary Units that need to be armed with Colt .45 SAA revolvers to fight Tribes in the West, that does not mean people do not want to buy Colt SAAs.

 

[Panzerschwein]

^ HA! That's sort of ironic, Mr. Wright sure has some nice SAA's!

I for one would love to see a new Webley, provided the cost is reasonable and design is faithful to the original. I'd also have to reload for .455, I checked ammoseek.com and there is no .455 ammo in stock anywhere on the internet. To say it's an uncommon round in the US is a gross understatement, you'd HAVE to reload for it if you wanted to actuall shoot a new production Webley.

 

[natman]

I may be interested but want to know the real price before I commit $100.

+1

I'm not going to commit a deposit until they commit to a price.

 

[Dframe]

I've always admired the Webleys. In fact I wrote them long ago and suggested they restart production for export to the United States. I received a polite letter telling me that they could no longer "Envisage" production. I would be interested but think they would do FAR better chambering the gun in 45 acp. Not exactly original, but VASTLY more available to shooters and hand loaders in the US

 

[Gordon]

I think the young generation of English is worse off skill wise that ours. After all England was allways 40 years ahead of the US in going down the tubes.

 

[Elm Creek Smith]

I could use a .455 Calibre Webley British Government Model Revolver Mk. V. It would go nicely with a Martini Henry Carbine .577/.450 for reenactments or just plinking. If they provided an option for full moon clips in .45 ACP, they might be popular in competitions' revolver divisions.

Oddly, the Indian Ordnance Factory (IOF) makes a three inch barrel .32 S&W Long six-shot version of the Webley Mk. IV .38 SW based on the Singapore Police revolver with a safety catch (crossbolt) for sale to civilians. It is priced at the equivalent of $1,365.80 since there is no competition in India from civilian makers.

On the other hand a modern Webley-Fosbery Automatic revolver in .38 Super or .357 Magnum with eight-shot moon clips might be just the ticket for competitions!

 

[Nom de Forum]

If they use modern metals and stress it so it can shoot a '+p' .455 safely........ tried to bring in the IPSC crowd, It might make a real winner in that and IDPA revolver class.

That should not be much of a problem for modern engineers using modern steels when you consider the fact Webley & Scott believed their top-break barrel latch designs could handle these cartridges before the .45ACP was even created:



Please notice in the caption that this cartridge is very similar in bullet weight (230 grains) and velocity (800 fps) to the .45ACP loading created a few years later. The pressure stresses of this cartridge and the original .45ACP military loading were probably very comparable. The cartridge used 7.2 grains of smokeless power.

If that does not convince you consider this:



This cartridge is certainly comparable to .45ACP in performance. It used a 222 grain bullet propelled with 10 grains of cordite. Remember the standard Webley .455 used only 6 grains of cordite to propel a 265 grain jacketed bullet to 600 fps.

What is really interesting is that while both of these cartridges were used in the Webley Fosbery Automatic Revolver, the Webley Mk VI Revolver uses an almost identical barrel latch design. Perhaps neither would have had the durability of a solid frame revolver firing similar ammunition but that could certainly be compensated for by increasing the strength of the latch and top-strap with additional/better steel.

I won trophies in IPSC competition using a Webley Mk VI. I progressed to Class A shooting against Colt, S&W, and DW.

 

[Tallball]

I want one!

 

[Dr.Rob]

That would be a heck of a thing to see. I hope they produce it.

 

[gifford]

I'll be in for one at the thousand dollar level; I've owned 'em, collected them and shot them for about 40 years or so. As long as we're speculating, I'd like to see them remake the Webley-Green model. Long cylinder would make reloading for 45 Colt even more interesting.