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Webley MK VI 455 Revolver
Ricci.Wright
Member Posts: 5,127 ✭✭✭✭
I just found this * revolver in my underwear drawer. I have no idea how it got there but since it is here I would like some info. Is .455 a good bullet?? Will it work in a defense situation?? It says 6 tons on the side but it doesn't seem very heavy. It has all kinds of writing all over it and it say ENGLAND and 1917 so maybe it was there in 1917??
Comments
Some sources suggest a copper colored primer means mercuric priming but some others say copper is simply a superior material for primer cups than brass. Some sources suggest British ammunition used mercuric primers until the 1950s but that may just be because of the color. If it was fired with mercuric primers, there's a small chance it could exude a little mercury because it forms unstable compounds with the steel and with the oxide finish simply due to contact.
Never heard about the Mercury forming oxides with the steel? Owned a number of the limeey handguns over the years, Webbleys, Enfields S & W's etc. Hope it doesn't come back to bite me.
Most of the W W I Webbleys, had their cylinders faced off in a lathe. To take 45 ACP in half moon clips. Because the original .455 ammo, was hard to get and expensive. If your's has a original cylinder and in factory original condition. It would be a pricy collectors item nowadays.
But since it's been in your underwear drawer for years. It's probably has been so contaminated, that your going to get the health department to declare it a hazmat situation. And bury it in some landfill, to keep humanity safe. From whatever has been growing in your underwear drawer.
Have a MK IV and a VI. Interesting rounds, but both are too expensive to shoot even in normal times.
Heavy REAL slow bullet. Depending on the loading, 212-330 ft pounds of energy. Some reading for you-
.455 Webley - Wikipedia
IF you can find it, very modest recoil.
6 tons referred to the pressure at which the gun was proof tested- 12,000 psi.
Or your last girlfriend. 😛
No wonder the gals on the beach follow you home.
Actually I picked it up yesterday from my gunsmith. The old thing is very clean with a perfect bore. And it is New Zealand marked. Mercury ??? I don't see any. I will look under the grips.
Has the cylinder been shaved for 45 ACP? You can tell if the numbers on the back of the cylinder are either missing or gone.
If it is in unmolested condition it will do well.
455 is a cool cartridge. The British even had a round for it called a "Manstopper", it was used to shoot the fuzzy wuzzys who broke the British Square.
Nope, the cylinder has not been shaved. She is still a .455. The bore and cylinder holes, or charge holes, are mirror bright. It should bring good coin especially with the NZ marking. It must have been issued to some officer or REMF who never got in the mud.
Very cool
I always liked the period when the British fought the Mahdi.
General Gordon probably went down with his 455 in hand. There are several good movies about this time period; The 4 Feathers is one and Khartoum is another.
Ken I think it may be a little big to shoot leaves with and the ammo is hard to find. I think Fiocchi and PP make some.
The Mercury they are talking about is the mecuric primers. There are also potassium chlorate primers that are corrosive. When they go off they deposit potassium chloride salts which are hygroscopic(They attract water).
Those guns are really nice, I have always liked them but missed out on getting one when they were cheap. It will go for over a grand easy.
I am man enough to tell I am going to leaf you a disagree🤣
This could get ugly.
I have shot one of those before.. ammo for it..
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