Webley Calibre Question

The .455 is quite a bit bigger (and heavier!) than the .38's. It was in service well before the .38 versions.

yep, quite a bit bigger... comes under the catagory of " hand cannons" . fired one at the gun club a good few years ago... very impressive.

Thanks. That's unfortunate - I have drawings for the .455 versions, but not the .38s.

Also, Wikipedia (the only source I can find for comparison) lists the weight of the .38 MK IV as the same as the .455 MK VI, but 1 inch shorter.

They made a larger holster for 'large frame' hand guns like the .455 Webley.
It was that much larger it needed this extra room.
Not a common pistol in WW2. .38 revolvers and .45 and 9mm autos were the main issue.

Does anyone in or around South Essex have a .38 Mk IV I could get a look at to compare measurements with the .455 drawings?

How similar would this .38 "Mk IV 'Commercial' Revolver" be to the WW2 service version:
http://www.worldwidearms.com/popup.cfm? ... &p_i=97150

Any other options for obtaining a replica?

A chap on the WWii re-enacting forum, KarlUK, makes resin copies. VCRA applies.

My only VCRA defence is UKARA. I've PMed him.

Paradoxically, I can legally buy a de-ac easily, but would need to jump through hoops to get a resin replica.

It is a dilemma for the seller thats for sure.
He would be selling a rif to a person with the UKARA Airsoft skirmishers defence, a rif that could not under normal circumstance be of practical use in a skirmish.
The defence exists to permit the continued purchase of skirmish guns, does it extend to non airsoft replicas?
An interesting point to debate?

The law doesn't distinguish between airsoft guns, inert models or, as far as I'm aware, blank firers, they are all classified as RIFs, I think this is one of those grey areas that will only be clarified if it's taken to court.

With regard to the 45 Webley, I'm not sure how common or not it was but it certainly wasn't rare, there was a shortage of hand guns so a lot of 45 Webleys were converted to take the .45 ACP ammunition used by Thompsons and 1911s.

According to 'Weapons of the WWII Tommy' by David Gordon they mainly issued the mark VIs but some mark Vs were also issued which suggests that they ran out of mark VIs and therefore quite a lot were issued.

Personally I wouldn't have a problem wearing a 45 Webley as part of a WW2 impression.

With regard to the 45 Webley, I'm not sure how common or not it was but it certainly wasn't rare, there was a shortage of hand guns so a lot of 45 Webleys were converted to take the .45 ACP ammunition used by Thompsons and 1911s.

I thought the .45 ACP conversion was a post-war "American" thing because it's easier to get .45ACP in the US than British .455 rounds.

With regard to the 45 Webley, I'm not sure how common or not it was but it certainly wasn't rare, there was a shortage of hand guns so a lot of 45 Webleys were converted to take the .45 ACP ammunition used by Thompsons and 1911s.

I thought the .45 ACP conversion was a post-war "American" thing because it's easier to get .45ACP in the US than British .455 rounds.

Lots of ACP ammo was being provided by the US as part of the lend-lease program so it was more readily available than the original ammo, most british production, post ww1, was the 38 ammo which was the armys standard so not much of the original webley ammo was available when ww2 kicked off.

i believe the webley fosbery was even bigger, due to it being an automatric revolver and the whole top of it needing to slide back to cycle the cylinder and action. these were issued in limited numbers and i think(?) they fitted in the 37 patt revolver with the re-positioned press-stud.

With regard to the 45 Webley, I'm not sure how common or not it was but it certainly wasn't rare, there was a shortage of hand guns so a lot of 45 Webleys were converted to take the .45 ACP ammunition used by Thompsons and 1911s.

I thought the .45 ACP conversion was a post-war "American" thing because it's easier to get .45ACP in the US than British .455 rounds.

Lots of ACP ammo was being provided by the US as part of the lend-lease program so it was more readily available than the original ammo, most british production, post ww1, was the 38 ammo which was the armys standard so not much of the original webley ammo was available when ww2 kicked off.

I refer you to this thread:
http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread. ... ey-Lanyard

Part of which indicates that standard .45 ACP is too hot for the Webleys (one place I read said it was at, or above, the PROOF LOAD of the Webley), meaning "Lots of ACP ammo was being provided by the US" would be useless.

Sanctioned government rework would have resulted in reproofing, etc. and then there's the messing about with the clips necessary to hold the rounds.

Quote from 'Weapons of the WWII Tommy' by David Gordon;

'Origanally these were chambered for the Webley .455 cartridges but most had the back of their cylinders ground down during the early years of WWII so they could accept .45 ACP ammunition loaded in half-moon or full-moon clips'

This tallies with other sources I have read.

But no mention of the fact that .45 ACP was too powerful?

Gordon has been known to be wrong.
More than once.
I dont know that he is in this case but to use him as a primary source with care.

Having looked deeper into this, it looks like some of the parts are common to both the .38 and the .455.
Parts like the frame, barrel, cylinder, and cylinder cam are different, but the rest look the same - they just fit differently. e.g. It looks like the barrel stirrup latch is the same part, but its hinge is relatively lower on the smaller .38.

BTW, does anyone know why the cylinder axle tube has a thread on the outside?
I can't see what screws onto it.