Webley Revolver
The
Webley Revolver (also known/referred to as the
Webley Break-Top Revolver or
Webley Self-Extracting Revolver) was, in various marks, the standard issue
service pistol for the armed forces of the
United Kingdom, the
British Empire, and the
Commonwealth from 1887 until 1963.
The Webley service revolver was most notably used in
World War I (as the
Webley Mk VI), although it had actually been adopted in 1887 (as the
Webley Mk I) and risen to prominence during the
Boer War of 1899-1902 (as the
Webley Mk IV), and were of the "top-break" variety (breaking open much like a double-barrel shotgun to be reloaded), with the advantage of also being self-extractingâ€"the act of breaking the revolver open also operated the extractor, removing the spent cartridges from the cylinder.
Firing the hard-hitting
.455 Webley cartridge, the Webley service revolvers are the most powerful of the top-break revolvers ever produced, and were prized for their effectiveness at stopping charging opponents dead in their tracks, be they native warriors or German soldiers. Although the .455 calibre Webley is no longer in military service, the
.38/200 Webley Mk IV variant is still in use as a police sidearm in a number of former British colonies, and today both the .455 and .38/200 Webley service revolvers are well sought-after by Military Service Pistol shooters for their quality, reliabilty, accuracy, and connection with the days of yesteryear, when "The Sun never set on the British Empire" .
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Webley Mark VI .455 service revolver |
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Close up of the cylinder- including thumb catch- on a Webley Mk VI service revolver |
The British company
Webley and Scott (formerly P. Webley & Son) produced a range of
revolvers from the late 19th to late 20th centuries. The most well known are the range of military revolvers in service use across two World Wars and numerous colonial conflicts, but Webley & Scott also produced a number of short-barrel solid-frame revolvers, including the
Webley RIC (Royal Irish Constabulary) model and the
British Bulldog, designed to be carried in a coat pocket for self-defence. In 1887, the British Army was searching for a revolver to replace the largely unsatisfactory
Enfield Mk I & Mk II Revolvers, and Webley & Scotttendered the .455 calibre Webley Self-Extracting Revolver for trials.
The military was suitably impressed with the revolver (seen as a vast improvement over the Enfield revolvers then in service, which lacked a practical self-extraction/ejection system as found on the Webley), and it was adopted on November 8th, 1887 as the "Pistol, Webley, Mk I".
[§ 6075, "List of Changes in British War Material" (hereafter referred to as "LoC"), H.M. Stationer's Office, periodical]The initial contract called for 10,000 Webley Revolvers, at a price of £3/1/1- each, with at least 2,000 revolvers to be supplied within eight months.
[Skennerton, Ian: "Small Arms Identification Series No. 9: .455 Pistol, Revolver No 1 Mk VI", page 6. Arms & Militaria Press, 1997]The Webley revolver went through a number of changes, culminating in the Mk VI, which was in production between 1915 and 1923, finally being retired in 1947--although the Webley Mk IV .38/200 remained in service until 1963 alongside the Enfield No 2 Mk I revolver.Commercial versions of all Webley service revolvers were also sold on the civilian market, along with a number of similar desins (such as the
Webley-Government and
Webley-Wilkinson) that were not officially adopted for service, but were nonetheless purchased privately by military officers for service use.
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.455in SAA Ball ammunition |
Boer War
The Webley Mk IV, chambered in .455 Webley, was introduced in 1899 and soon became known as the "
Boer War Model"
[ Maze, Robert J: "Howdah to High Power", page 44. Excalibur Publications, 2002], on account of its purchase by large numbers of officers and NCOs on their way to take part in the conflict. The Webley Mk IV served alongside a large number of other handguns, including the
Mauser C96 "Broomhandle" (which was a favourite weapon of
Sir Winston Churchill), earlier
Beaumont-Adams cartridge revolvers, and other break-top revolvers manufactured by gunmakers such as
William Tranter, and
Kynoch.
World War I
The standard-issue Webley revolvers at the outbreak of World War I was the Webley Mk V (adopted in 1913), but there were considerably more Mk IV revolvers in service in 1914 than there were Mk V revolvers.In 1915, the Webley Mk VI was adopted as the standard sidearm for
British and Commonwealth troops and remained so for the duration of
World War I, being issued to officers, airmen, naval crews and boarding parties,
trench raiders, machine-gun teams, and tank crews. The Mk VI proved a very reliable and hardy weapon, well suited to the mud and adverse conditions of trench warfare, and several accessories were developed for the Mk VI--including a bayonet (made from a converted French Pritchard bayonet), a speedloader device ("Prideaux Device") and a stock allowing for the revolver to be converted into a carbine.
[Maze, Robert J: "Howdah to High Power", page 49. Excalibur Publications, 2002]World War II
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A box of World War II dated .380" Revolver Mk IIz cartridges (and cartridges) |
The "official" service pistol for the British military during World War II was the Enfield No 2 Mk I .38/200 revolver
[ Smith, W.H.B: "1943 Basic Manual of Military Small Arms" (Facsimile), page 11. Stackpole Books, 1979.] but owning to a critical shortage of handguns, a number of other weapons were also adopted (first practically, then "officially") to alleviate the shortage. Both the Webley Mk IV in .38/200 and the .455 calibre Webley Mk VI were issued to personnel during the war
[ Stamps, Mark & Skennerton, Ian: ".380 Enfield Revolver No. 2", page 87. Greenhill Books, 1993.], with the .455 calibre Webley Mk VI being especially popular with New Zealand troops fighting in Africa and the Pacific because of the effectiveness and proven stopping power of the round.
Post-War
The Webley Mk VI (.455) and Mk IV (.38/200) revolver were still issued to British and Commonwealth Forces after World War II, as there were now extensive stockpiles of the revolvers in military stores, although, as an armourer stationed in West Germany recalled (admittedly tongue-in-cheek) that by the time they were officially retired in 1963, the ammunition allowance was "two cartridges per man, per year", and that the lack of ammunition was what kept the Enfield and Webley revolvers in use so long-- they were not wearing out, since they weren't being used.
[Stamps, Mark & Skennerton, Ian: ".380 Enfield Revolver No. 2", page 117. Greenhill Books, 1993]The Webley Mk IV .38 revolver was not completely phased out in favour of the
Browning Hi-Power until 1963, and saw combat in the Korean war, the
Suez Crisis,
Malayan Emergency, and the
Rhodesian Bush War. Many Enfield No 2 Mk I revolvers were still floating about in British Military service as late as 1970
[Stamps, Mark & Skennerton, Ian: ".380 Enfield Revolver No. 2", page 119. Greenhill Books, 1993].
Police use
The Royal
Hong Kong Police and Royal
Singaporean Police were issued Webley Mk III & Mk IV .38/200 revolvers from the 1930s (rather unusually, Singaporean police Webleys featured safety catches), and which were gradually retired in the 1970s as they came in for repair and replaced with
Smith & Wesson Model 10 .38 revolvers. The
London Metropolitan Police were also known to use Webley revolvers, as were most colonial police units until just after World War II, and there may still be some police units with Webley Mk IV revolvers that, whilst not issued, are still present in the armoury.
The Ordnance Factory Board of India still manufactures .380 Revolver Mk IIz cartridges
, as well as a .32 calibre revolver with 2" barrel that is clearly based on the Webley Mk IV .38 service pistol.
Military service .455 Webley revolver marks and models
There were six different marks of .455 calibre Webley service revolver approved for British military service at various times between 1887 and the end of World War I:
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Mk I The first Webley self-extracting revolver adopted for service, officially adopted November 8th, 1887, with a 4" barrel and "bird's beak" style grips.
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Mk II Similar to the Mk I, with modifications to the hammer and grip shape, as well as a hardened steel shield for the blast-shield. Officially adopted May 21st, 1895, with a 4" barrel.
[§ 7816, LoC]*
Mk III Identical to Mk II, but with modifications to the cylinder cam and related parts. Officially adopted October 5th, 1897, but never issued.
[§ 9039, LoC]*
Mk IV The "Boer War" Model. Manufactured using much higher quality steel and case hardened parts, with the cylinder axis being a fixed part of the barrel and modifications to various other parts, including a re-designed blast-shield. Officially adopted July 21st, 1899, with a 4" barrel.
[§ 9787, LoC]*
Mk V Similar to the Mk IV, but with chambers 0.12" wider to allow for the use of nitrocellulose propellant-based cartridges. Officially adopted December 9th, 1913, with a 4" barrel, although some models produced in 1915 had 5" and 6" barrels.
[§ 16783, LoC]*
Mk VI Similar to the Mk V, but with a squared-off "target" style grip (as opposed to the "bird's-beak" style found on earlier marks and models) and 6" barrel. Officially adopted May 24th, 1915
[§ 17319, LoC], and also manufactured by RSAF Enfield under the designation
Pistol, Revolver, Webley, No 1 Mk VI from 1921-1926.
[Skennerton, Ian: "Small Arms Identification Series No. 9: .455 Pistol, Revolver No 1 Mk VI", page 10. Arms & Militaria Press, 1997]After the end of the World War I, the British military decided that the .455 calibre (11.6 mm) was too large a calibre for "modern" military use, and decidedthat a pistol in .38 calibre (9.65 mm), firing a 200 grain (13 g) bullet, would be just as effective as the .455 at stopping an enemy.
[Stamps, Mark & Skennerton, Ian: ".380 Enfield Revolver No. 2", page 9. Greenhill Books, 1993; Smith, W.H.B: "1943 Basic Manual of Military Small Arms" (Facsimile), page 11. Stackpole Books, 1979.] Whether this is actually true is open to debate, however--the .455 round has a well-deserved reputation for packing quite a punch, whilst the .38/200 round is very similar in both ballistics and performance to the .38 Special round commonly encountered today.
Webley & Scott immediately tendered the .38/200 calibre Webley Mk IV revolver, which was both nearly identical in appearance to the .455 calibre Mk VI revolver (albeit scaled down for the smaller cartridge) and based on their .38 calibre Webley Mk III pistol, designed for the police and civilian markets.
[Maze, Robert J: "Howdah to High Power", page 103. Excalibur Publications, 2002] Much to their surprise, the British Government took the design to the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock, which used the design, and came up with a revolver that was externally very similar looking to the .38/200 calibre Webley Mk IV , but was internally different enough that no parts from the Webley could be used in the Enfield and vice-versa. The Enfield-designed pistol was quickly accepted under the designation
Revolver, No 2 Mk I, and was adopted in 1932
[§ A6862, LoC], to followed later in 1938 by the Mk I* (spurless hammer, double action only)
[§ B2289, LoC], and finally the Mk I** (simplified for wartime production) in 1942
[§ B6712, LoC].
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An Enfield No 2 Mk I revolver- clearly based on the Webley revolver, if not an outright copy |
Webley & Scott sued the British Government over the incident, claiming £2250 as "costs involved in the research and design" of the revolver. This was contested by RSAF Enfield, which quite firmly stated that the Enfield No 2 Mk I was designed by Captain Boys (the Assistant Superintendent of Design, later of
Boys Anti-Tank Rifle fame) with assistance from Webley & Scott, and not the other way around--accordingly, their claim was denied. By way of compensation, however, the Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors eventually awarded Webley & Scott £1250 for their work.
[Stamps Mark & Skennerton, Ian: ".380 Enfield Revolver No. 2", page 12. Greenhill Books, 1993.]Whilst the break-top, self-extracting revolvers used by the British and Commonwealth militaries are the best known examples of Webley Revolvers, the company produced a number of other highly popular revolvers largely intended for the police and civilian markets.
Webley RIC
The Webley RIC (Royal Irish Constabulary) model was Webley's first double-action revolver, and adopted by the
Royal Irish Constabulary in 1868
[Maze, Robert J: "Howdah to High Power", page 30. Excalibur Publications, 2002], hence the name. It was a solid-frame, gate-loaded revolver, chambered in .442 Webley, and General
George Armstrong Custer was known to have owned a pair, which he used at the
Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876.
"British Bulldog"
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A non-firing replica of a Webley "British Bulldog" revolver |
The "British Bulldog" series of revolvers were an enormously successful solid frame design featuring a 2.5" barrel and chambered in a variety of heavy-duty calibres, including .442 Webley and .450 Adams. They were designed to be carried in a coat pocket or kept in a night-stand, and great numbers have survived to the present day in surprisingly good condition, as they saw little actual use.
Numerous copies of this design were made in
France and
Belgium (primarily the latter) during the late 19th and early 20th centuries,
and they remained reasonably popular until World War II. They are now generally sought after as collector's pieces, especially as ammunition for them is (for the most part) no longer commercially available.
Webley-Fosbery Automatic Revolver
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A Webley-Fosbery Automatic Revolver |
A highly unusual example of an "Automatic Revolver", the Webley-Fosbery Automatic Revolver was produced between 1900 and 1915, and available in both a six-shot .455 Webley version, and an eight-shot .380 ACP version.Unusual for a revolver, the Webley-Fosbery had a safety catch, and the light trigger pull, solid design, and reputation for accuracy ensured that the Webley-Fosbery remained popular with target shooters long after production had finished.
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Lt. Gonville Bromhead (Michael Caine) takes aim with a Webley Mk VI in the 1964 film Zulu. |
The Webley Mk VI Revolver is famous as both the handgun used by
Indiana Jones in the film
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and as
Lawrence of Arabia's handgun in David Lean's 1962 epic film
Lawrence of Arabia. Webley revolvers have also featured or made notable appearances in a number of other films, including
The Maltese Falcon,
Kung Fu Hustle,
Biggles, and
Zulu.
Webley Revolvers often serve as a stereotypical "British Revolver" in film and television- their appearance in
Zulu, for example, is an anachronism, as the film is set in 1879 and the Webley Mk VI revolvers shown in use by the British Officers were not introduced until 1915, but the Mk VI is based on designs from around the period in which the film is set, and can thus be seen as a "stand-in" for the historically correct (but more difficult to obtain)
Beaumont-Adams Revolver.
The Webley has also made appearances in TV shows--usually period pieces set between the late 19th Century and World WarII. The most well-known use of the Webley Mk VI on TV is in the
BBC comedy series
Blackadder Goes Forth, notably instances in which Captain Blackadder's suspicions of "The Big Push" are aroused by the arrival of a new Webley Mk VI
service revolver (which he had not ordered), and again as the pistol used to shoot General Melchett's beloved
carrier pigeon "Speckled Jim", resulting in Captain Blackadder being labelled
"The Flanders Pigeon Murderer" by an outraged General Melchett.
The Webley Mk VI features as a
prop in the PC game
The Movies, although the only game that a Webley revolver has appeared in thus far is
Call of Duty 2. Interestingly, the
Enfield No 2 Mk I- a close relative and arguable copy of the Webley- has appeared in games such as
Medal Of Honor: Allied Assault,
Day of Defeat,
Hidden & Dangerous 2, and
World War II Online.
*Stamps, Mark & Skennerton, Ian:
".380 Enfield Revolver No. 2". Greenhill Books, London (UK), 1993. ISBN 1-85367-139-8
*Maze, Robert J:
"Howdah to High Power". Excalibur Publications, Tuscon AZ (USA), 2002. ISBN 1-880677-17-2
*Skennerton, Ian:
"Small Arms Identification Series No. 9: .455 Pistol, Revolver No 1 Mk VI" Arms & Militaria Press, Gold Coast QLD (Australia), 1997. ISBN 0-949749-30-3
*H.M. Stationer's Office:
"List of Changes in British War Material", H.M.S.O, London (UK), Periodical
*Smith, W.H.B:
"1943 Basic Manual of Military Small Arms" (Facsimile). Stackpole Books, Harrisburg PA (USA), 1979. ISBN 0-8817-1699-6
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Webley top-break handguns
