Webley Revolver

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 July 2009 14:15 Written by Administrator Thursday, 02 July 2009 12:43

The Webley Revolver was a standard issue revolver used by the British Army from 1887 to 1963. Different versions of the revolver were manufactured and were employed in numerous conflicts most notable of which include the First and Second World War, the Korean War and various British colonial wars. The revolver was also known by other names such as “Break-Top Revolver” and “Self-Extracting Revolver”.

The Webley Revolver is a top-break revolver. When the revolver is opened to reload, the spent cartridges are automatically expelled from the cylinder by the extractor. The Webley revolver fired the .455 Webley cartridge and was very powerful in terms of stopping power.

The Webley revolver was manufactured by Webley & Scott. The company was known for its reliable revolver models and had produced many revolvers for military use. In 1887, the British Army decided to replace its Enfield Mk1 and Mk2 revolvers with a model that was more reliable. Subsequently, the Webley revolver was considered and after trials entered service in 1887. The initial contract was made for 10,000 revolvers with 2,000 units to be shipped in the first eight months.

Several variants of the Webley revolver were designed. These include:

>> Mk I: This was the first version. It was adopted for service in 1887.
>> Mk II: This version was adopted in 1895. It was very similar to Mk I but had a modified hammer and grip shape. It also had a blast-shield made of hardened steel.
>> Mk III: The MK III had an improvised cylinder cam but was similar to Mk III. Though it was adopted in 1897, it was never issued to the army.
>> Mk IV: The MK IV was made using hardened steel and featured several modifications. It also had a redesigned blast-shield. It was adopted in use in 1899. The Mk IV is often known as the “Boer War” Model.
>> Mk V: This version was very much similar to the Mk IV, but had wider cylinders to accommodate nitrocellulose cartridges. It was adopted in 1913. Later models manufactured in 1915 had longer barrels.
>> Mk VI: The Mk VI was very similar to the Mk VI but has a redesigned grip and a longer barrel. It was officially adopted in 1915.

The Webley revolver was used very extensively until the recent years. A number of police departments such as the Royal Hong Kong Police and Royal Singaporean Police used Webley revolvers. However, they have large been replaced by newer models. The version of the Webley Mk IV revolver is still being manufactured in India by the Ordnance Factory Board of India.

In popular culture, the Webley revolver is often seen as a weapon of the British colonial era. Many movies and television shows use the Webley when depicting British colonial forces.

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