"Colt may have won The West .. But Webley Won All The Rest."
I bought this historic* Olde Fnglish Webley the other day .. it's in near new condition for a Brit Top-Break designed back in 1932 . - It is a .38/200 Mk. IV Safety Model revolver with character. and it is stamped SPF 4796 at the cross-bolt safety retaining screw - a Singapore Police Force Armory I.D. - Said to have fired only fifty rounds it seems pretty well "as new" excepting some small handling dings.
* The Mk I Webley 'top-break' was adopted by British Military back in 1887.
Here's some shooting video:
This 2nd clip is of a Singapore Police 'Safety' Model:
Royal Enfield Motorcycles now built in India - (where they also still build Webley type revolvers) use the motto "BUILT LIKE A GUN" .. whereas I read that "Webleys are built like a tank" .. Many of the old break-action revolvers such as H&R or Ivor Johnson are lightly built & badly worn now and one should think carefully before firing them. This Webley is as tight as when it left the old Birmingham factory.
- Just to be a little 'P.C.' "Other Break-Action Brands are available" from around these times .. including S&W and the Spanish made Ona .. one that even the British Army bought to ease their WWI supply shortages.
The .38 Mk. IV Webley Is Similar Size To My Ruger SP101 .22"
- However the .38 S&W cartridge goes way-back earlier to 1877 and also has a "colorful" history of being made in different flavors by manufacturers through the years .. with plenty of service issue use.
.38 S&W, 38" S&W Short, .38 S&W Super Police, 38-200, .380-200, .38" Webley, 38 Rim, .38 Colt New Police, 9x20mmR, 9.65 mm Normal
That's TEN different names for this one Cartridge .. Plus the 'Anemic & Obsolete' that are often dismissively added ..
While this round is no MAGNUM - it was chosen by British Military to replace their 'Man Stopper .455" after WWI - so it must be reasonably effective .. as long as you reckon that English Generals are not all complete Hooray Henry idiots.
Lipsticks For Men? .. Nah - I Am Using 9x19mm Dies to Load 38 S&W
With 160 grain Coated Cast Bullets in a light 'Development Load'
- Be aware that the .38 S&W is no way related to - nor is it any way interchangeable with the 38 SPECIAL. This old round is similar sized to 9x19 mm NATO but has much lower internal pressure and velocity ..
.38 S&W 9x19 mm Luger
.38" S&W is Slightly Bigger But Has Lower Internal Pressure
& Slower Velocity Than 9x19mm.
It's interesting that many older cartridges such as this are labeled as inadequate and anemic having been replaced in popular usage by more modern rounds like the 9 mm Luger - which was itself developed back in 1901 .. one hundred and twenty years ago.
The British 'Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield produced the VERY similar 'Enfield No. 2' revolver that is widely accepted as being copied from the Webley design but with altered internal lock-work .. not the proudest achievement of this Government owned facility.
I write this stuff as a learning exercise for myself plus hopefully as a positive input re the use of firearms .. a sort of thinking-out-loud. - right now I'm thinking that break-open revolvers are a useful-functional design and I feel a modern version might readily be strengthened in it's pins & latch features to eliminate any possible weak-points .. Certainly the Russians have built modern .357" 'REX' top-break revolvers.
Marty K.
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