I always wanted one but the prices dissuaded me from purchasing one. Well, I found a very nice seller who was willing to give me a long layaway and after selling 7 other guns (no S&Ws) and saving some cash it was mine. It has been used but well cared for so I think I should be able to shoot it once in a while. The other cool part is that through Richard Milner in the UK I have found out it was sold to a Grenadier Guard in 1914 just in time for the Great War. So I have the name of the original owner and in all probability a WF that was used in WWI!! I have already started the research.
Can't do much better than that.
Best,
John

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It's good to be the king.

Very sweet find. Thanks for sharing.

If it's not prying, would you share the owners info you found?

Congratulations! An interesting piece to be sure. IIRC they were popular at one time for competition shooting.

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BCCI Life Member #2068

These are fascinating guns. I’ve never had a chance to handle, let alone shoot one.

The Webley-Fosbery was first used as a target gun at Bisley, I believe. Even though Fosbery was an officer and saw it as a potential service gun, it was never adopted for military service. But since British officers purchased their own sidearms until sometime during WW I (when the concept of the Webley Mk. VI as standardized sidearm was introduced), these were privately acquired and saw service.

It appears so was this one. Nice find!

PS: For anyone not as lucky as the OP, the guy from Forgotten Weapons has a nice video about shooting a Webley-Fosbery:

The gun used to kill Miles Archer in The Maltese Falcon.

I appreciate all the kind words. This is only the second one I have ever handled. The first was at a gun show a few years ago. I got to hold one for about 30 seconds until the seller realized I wasn't a serious buyer then he took it away from me pretty quick. Of interest is that these things can be carried c*cked and locked and can be reloaded as quickly as a semi-auto with a fast loader of the day - the two I know about are one made by Prideaux and one made by Watson. Put one of the former on layaway too. Might have it by Xmas.

Bigwheelzip - As far as sharing the name of the Grenadier Guard, I will once I get all his information together. I am curious why you asked?

The three times I know of that a Fosbery was used in a movie were
1) The Maltese Falcon - Miles Archer was killed with an "8 shot 45 cal" - no such thing - the 38 acp version was 8 shot and was what was written in the novel. They are rare, rare, rare so the .455 was used in the movie but the dialog wasn't adjusted to reflect that it only had 6 shots.
2) Zardoz - with Sean Connery in a loin cloth as Zed using one throughout. Weird movie and I found it disconcerting to see James Bond in a loin cloth but the guns were interesting.
3) The Lost City of Z - with Robert Pattinson character playing the side kick to Charlie Hunnan character and using one to shoot off the ear of an unruly expedition member. Ok movie but book was fantastic. What these explorers of the Amazon in the 1920s went through was mind boggling and many times deadly.

Here's two weird photos how it would look if they were used in the western US. Got to get out all my British stuff to do a proper WWI photo.





Anyway, thanks to all who replied and liked the topic.

John

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It's good to be the king.

Nothing nefarious, I just like trying to extract long forgotten bits of history from the web. Exploration for it's own sake.

Last summer I went to several WWI and WWII battlefields and cemeteries in Europe, and your guy might connect somehow.

Congratulations

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Jorge

Bigwheelzip - Yeah, i love the research aspect of gun owners in the past. From what I have discovered so far, he survived the war. No mean feat as it looks like he was in some battles.

Jorge - thanks!

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Color me jealous, what a good gun. I know exactly how pleased you are, because I know exactly how pleased I would be to own it.

I am sure there are a lot of people who can't really know what it was like to finally get this gun, but I know whenever I finally get one it's going to feel sort of like new Registered Magnum day. These are very much in that class of white whale.

Boy, I can't congratulate you enough.

Nice! I was just thinking about those revolvers today. Would love to have one.

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otis

Keep checking RIA, there are some available soon

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Jorge

These do tend to be pricey when they appear.

In order not to risk violating any forum rules on advertising internet sites, I won’t link or give specifics.

But a well-respected purveyor of collector firearms currently has a 1901 Webley-Fosbery on offer for a cool $13,000.

Glad you finally got one OP- they’re unique indeed.

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Some Might Say.

At a OGCA show in the early 80's I saw a similar gun in 22 LR. The group of older men around it didn't allow a wet behind the ears 25 year old close enough to get more than a glimpse!

From what I have gathered since then, it is a fully functional miniature that were hand made.

Ivan

While not the same kind of design, here is a modern semi-automatic revolver, a Mateba in .357 magnum. The upper section of the frame carrying the barrel and cylinder reciprocate when firing, and index the cylinder and cock the hammer. They also made them in .44 Magnum. Note that it fires from the bottom chamber of the cylinder.

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Again, thank you for all the terrific comments.

Mine was the cheapest that I have seen. And by cheapest, I mean the cost only made me give up the finer things in life (bourbon, cigars, car restoration, all other gun-related expenses) for awhile as opposed to abject poverty.

The Mateba is interesting looking. I would like to shoot one some day.

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Webley Fosberry.........Fantastic design-Fantastic weapon.....Wish I had one. Do any of the replica makers make one?

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S&W Accumulator

Is that a panel in the Menin Gate? It's a very, very sobering place.
IIRC, USA had about 2,700 MIA in ten years of fighting in Vietnam. 2,700 MIA is a terrible thing, but Brits, Aussies Kiwis and Indians had about 54,000 MIA during WWI just in the Ypres Salient, never mind the rest of the Western Front and other locales.
What a horror, what a waste, over a bunch of inbred cousins having hissy fits..

Good eye. Yes, it is.
We stayed in Ypres while exploring the Flanders battlefields and cemeteries. Very impressed by the still large numbers of people that turn out at Menin Gate to pay homage at the nightly "Last Post" ceremony, more than a century after the carnage.
The 54,000 inscribed names of MIA covering the inside and outside of the Menin Gate didn't fit all those missing in Flanders. Another wall of 35,000 MIA names spans the length of nearby Tyne Cot, the worlds largest cemetery of Commonwealth war graves.

The MIA at Tyne Cot:


Sent from my SM-T510 using Tapatalk

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Slava Ukraini!

Seeing the walls above and as I read about this Grenadier Guard's history I am struck again by the massive number of casualties. For officers this is especially true for second lieutenants, which this guy was for awhile. I am also shocked by how much these guys were shelled when they were on the line. In addition, not having helmets until 1916 was a huge oversight. Depressing to say the least.

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Looks like there may be an Airsoft version available some day.

Up until the 1980s or so, there was a Pistol Match held in the UK during the Nationals at Bisley called "Classic Service Pistol".

It followed the International Centerfire course of fire, using the 50 meter Free Pistol target set at 25 meters. This, of course, was fired one-hand bullseye style. It was a demanding match, requiring both precision and the ability to deliver sustained fire within the time limits.
Here's the rub: the pistol had to be a legitimate unmodified service pistol designed and manufactured before Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 1918.
There were the usual suspects: DWM Lugers, S&W 455s and 1917s, Colt 1911s (but the 1911a1 was not allowed!), plus many oddballs such as the Steyr 1910.
Some of these were good choices because they were available, relatively inexpensive and capable of shooting a winning score.
But, two of the favorites (at least for those who could find and afford them) were the Artillery Luger and the Webley Fosbery.

I hope you get to shoot yours!
Nice catch!

I lost out on a Webley Fosbury years ago. I was meeting a guy to trade him a Howe’s 44mag. Was in a bar that I hit every evening for a cold one. A Insurance man I knew came in and we got talking 44mags. This was back when Dirty Harry movie was cranking 44mg sales. Anyway guy ask me if I would be interested in trading for a 45 automatic Army revolver. I ask him if he ment a revolver that fired 45acp. He said no, I said then it’s a Colt 1911 Govt. He got mad and said he knew what he was talking about. Took off and returned with Webley Fosbury. I never saw one before. He was cranked at me for my know it all attitude. He wouldn’t trade then. I went home and looked it up and felt like a fool.

Hi is this the gun Brad Pitt uses in the movie picture " Allies" ?
Regards, Ray

6string - that match sounds like alot of fun.
Ray - Apparently that was a Mk IV.
Drm50 - That would have been a hellava trade!
John

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There was also once an American-made version of the W-F automatic revolver from the early 20th century called the "Union", It was chambered in .32 S&W caliber. It differed somewhat in appearance but used the identical zig-zag operating principle. I saw one at a gun show many years ago.

My club in Maryland has a variation of this called the "Great Wars Match." It extends to cover military handguns from World War I through the end of World War II. This will be helpful in the event one of these shows up.

Thank you DWalt! That is why I love this forum. You learn new stuff every day! I had to look this up. Ungainly looking dang thing but super interesting.

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