The Un-Ugly Webleys

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I'm a fan of many of the turn of the century military revolvers,,,
I own an 1892 8mm Lebel that I think is a lovely gun.

The Webleys, Nagants, Lebels were all made during the steam engine era,,,
Their lines and manufacturing styles always make me think of steam locomotives.

But then again,,,
I think Mastiff dogs are beautiful. ;)

Aarond

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The French 1892 guns are beautifully made. People tend to think of automatics when they think of sophisticated mechanical design, but there are a lot of ingenious revolvers out there, some of them from Europe. The Rast & Gasser 8mm is another one, although not as elegant or advanced as the French 1892. Heck, even the Russian Nagant revolver is very unusual, even though I would never call it elegant.
 
Another fan of the Model 1892 Lebel revolver. Very well made and it's design is quite pleasing to the eye.
 
I've toyed with the idea of getting a Nagant and a Webley to go with my Lebel,,,
I think they would look great displayed in a fine wooden case.

What American military revolver would go with those three?

Aarond

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aarondhgraham said:
I've toyed with the idea of getting a Nagant and a Webley to go with my Lebel,,,
I think they would look great displayed in a fine wooden case.

What American military revolver would go with those three?

Aarond

.
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IMO, an early Colt DA in 38 Long. There are many variations, and I don't remember them well. Maybe a Schofield replica - those are pricey, but much easier to find, and perhaps more shootable.
 
doubleh said:
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This beholder finds Webleys and Mosin-Nagants less than beautiful. Quite a bit less in fact. They do the job they were designed for of course and being attractive really plays no part in that job.
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That should by ugly is in the hand that holds it. Webleys are hideous. But I will admit that I have one and like it very much. I am so ashamed.:oops:
2DE7CFC4-A75F-4C37-B294-DAC366A9FFAA.jpeg
 
aarondhgraham

I've toyed with the idea of getting a Nagant and a Webley to go with my Lebel,,,
I think they would look great displayed in a fine wooden case. What American military revolver would go with those three?​
Click to expand...


A Colt M1892 as Monac suggested would be a good choice as would a Colt M1909 or M1917 as revolvers in use at around the turn of the century. There's also the S&W M1899 as well as their version of the M1917 revolver. If you want to jump ahead a little in time there's always the S&W Victory Model and the Colt Commando.​
 
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Thanks gentlemen,,,
I googled the Colt 1892 and got a picture of it.

For that display I think it's the most appropriate as it starts with 18XX.

It doesn't really have that same aesthetic as the Nagant, Lebel, and Webley,,,
It has more of the lines I expect from an American made revolver.

So maybe you guys have saved me some money,,,
If I do it I'll have just the three handguns,,,
A set from "across the pond".

Aarond

.
 
Hey Don't forget the Japanese 8mm service revolver of that time! It was ugly and fired a poor cartridge as well. Nagant enthusiast forget that the Imperial Russian loading was pretty whimpy compared to later Soviet rounds

Most of the 8mm and 7.5mm revolver rounds contributed to the popularity of the .32ACP when it later came out.

-kBob
 
aarondhgraham

Don't forget there's also the Swiss Schmidt M1882, the French M1873, the German M1879/1883 Reichsrevolver, the Austro-Hungarian M1898 Rast-Gasser, the Italian Bodeo M1889, and the Dutch M1873 service revolver.
 
Jumping on late here but... just so you can burn me at the stake...

Webleys (or Weblies? Whatever...) are not pretty (at least the military models). Neither are Mosins. And a host of other rifles and handguns of that era.
Is it irrelevant? Absolutely! These firearms fall into a category I will label "cool"! I do not use that word often or lightly, but my definition of that word when applied to arms does not necessarily include aesthetic suavity. I've got a thing for top breaks anyway. Maybe I should just go build one... If you ever see my name on a modern top break, you'll know I figured it out and was able to sell my blueprints!
 
bannockburn.

You my friend,,,
Are what they call an Enabler!

I think I'll stick with the original three,,,
I can buy commercially manufactured ammo for them.

Owning guns that ammo is "unobtanium" makes me sad.

Aarond

.
 
bannockburn said:
The only "ugly" Webley I had was one that had the expedient "WAR FINISH".
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I like the "war finish." It's functional, in the same way that Parkerizing is functional. I have a "war finish" Webley Mark IV that's in perfect condition except that someone filed down the front sight (so that it has a flat top) in order to get it to hit to point of aim with modern .38 S&W ammunition. That's actually a fairly useful modification other than detracting from the collector value.
 
AlexnderA

I don't mind the War Finish as much as I don't care for all the rough sharp edges that came with it.
 
I have had my fathers Webly mkvi for 50 years and always loved the looks of it over other revolvers. When I bought another one out of state, it was sent to my local gun shop, where it sat for 2 months till I got back home. When I went to pick it up I told the two ladies ( late 20s early 30s)behind the counter my name, one said to the other, thats that steampunk gun, go get it. She told me that they have been facinated by it since it came in, had never seen one before, and loved it because in looked so steampunkish with all that stuff going on in front of the cylinder. We talked about it for 10 minutes or so , showed them how it worked, and they both thought it was a beautifull gun. 20180512_095656.jpg
 
Mohler said:
I have had my fathers Webly mkvi for 50 years and always loved the looks of it over other revolvers. When I bought another one out of state, it was sent to my local gun shop, where it sat for 2 months till I got back home. When I went to pick it up I told the two ladies ( late 20s early 30s)behind the counter my name, one said to the other, thats that steampunk gun, go get it. She told me that they have been facinated by it since it came in, had never seen one before, and loved it because in looked so steampunkish with all that stuff going on in front of the cylinder. We talked about it for 10 minutes or so , showed them how it worked, and they both thought it was a beautifull gun.View attachment 807573
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Love Webley Mark VI's but as a hard core fan of most Sci-Fi fiction I have to say Steampunk is my least favorite but a huge margin. I like to think I have a pretty health ability to suspend disbelief for most sci-fi but there is something about Steampunk that is so offensive to the engineer portion of my brain that it will not let me suspend disbelief for Steampunk.
 
Having owned two 45 webleys over the last 50 years, beauty is not something that comes to mind. Brutally deadly does.
 
There is a Spanish Webley at a local pawn shop for right at $350. The bad thing is, the cylinder has been shaved. Maybe if they drop the price to $200 I might give it a home.
 
I'd really like to get one shaved and take it to a local IDPA match just to see the look on the faces. Still need to take my CZ 52 to a pin match.
 
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somethingbenign said:
I'd really like to get one shaved and take it to a local IDPA match just to see the look on the faces. Still need to take my CZ 52 to a pin match.
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I have wanted to do the same. Need to get back into hand loading and develop a nice mild load with the Hornady or Rem 255gr swaged lead bullets.
 
The Ozark Scale of Ugly:

1. Ugly
2. REALY ugly
3. Coyote ugly
4. Ugly as an English revolver
5. Ugly as a thrombosed hemorrhoid
6. So ugly Maxine Waters sued for patent infringement.
 
Vern Humphrey said:
Shaving is a bad idea. Why not simply get a supply of proper brass and handload?
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I sort of agree as I would love to have an un-shaved original Mark VI. I would love to work up a replica of the Mk III manstopper load. That said there a good reason why the shaved ones are nice if you willing to down-load 45 ACP to Mark VI pressures. A shaved mark VI will run S&W 625 full moonclips very nicely. And we all know moonclips rule!

The following video is not me but is of another shooter, shooting a USPSA match with a Webley Mark VI and full moonclips. I would do the same if I ever find a shaved Webley for a fair price.



The real problem is not shaving its finding one un-shaved. Nearly all the mil-surplus Mark VI brought into the country after WWII where shaved for moonclips since 455 Webley ammo was non-existant in the states but 45 ACP and moonclip (mostly half moonclips then) could both be hand fairly easily.
 
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