Nakanokalronin
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As the title says, I'm looking for a source that sells .455 Eley/Webley MK1/Colt black powder ammo.
Anywhere I can find .455 eley/webley/Colt black powder ammo?
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Jack Flash
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You might have to take up handloading to get that. It's just slightly possible Buffalo Bore might have it, but I'm too tired to look. (Do a Google Search on Buffalo Bore Ammunition).
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Nakanokalronin
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I have a Lee single stage press, but nothing else in order to load the .455. Buying everything (die set, crimp die, bullets, cases,primers and powder) just to make a box or two of ammo doesn't seem cost efficient. The firearm I bought is an antique more for display than shooting. I just want to able to say I shot it and know how it shoots.
I checked BB and I didn't see anything listed on their site.
You can try this supplier. Gad Custom Cartridges. I have not dealt with him and do not vouch for him. There is some strong negative feedback on him on the 'Net from about 5 years ago. Caveat Emptor!
Then, there is Reed's Ammo. They load their cartridges with smokeless powder, though. Again, I have not done business with them and don't vouch for them.
Lastly, Buffalo Arms sells Fiocchi .455 MKII ammo, both LRN and RNHB. It's smokeless but pressures are ok for a BP gun.
Then, there is Reed's Ammo. They load their cartridges with smokeless powder, though. Again, I have not done business with them and don't vouch for them.
Lastly, Buffalo Arms sells Fiocchi .455 MKII ammo, both LRN and RNHB. It's smokeless but pressures are ok for a BP gun.
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Can I ask you why you want to use BP in a 455? It is a real chore to properly clean any revolver inside and out after a day at the range. That corrosive residue gets everywhere and even enters through the cylinder stop and the hand slot into the mechanism.
Fiocchi makes a very mild load today and it is available at some online ammo dealers. Runs about $30 a box, plus shipping.
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Nakanokalronin
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Because I'm using it in a Webley WG and anything with smokeless powder has too much pressure for the metal used in the cylinders at that time. Mine isn't Nitro Proofed so I'd be leery about using smokeless even though some people on forums have done so with no ill effects.
My WG.
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That is your decision of course and you need to stick with what you are comfortable with. In reality, the British military certainly used smokeless in them when they switched over to Cordite and and 455 MK II was designed to be used in all of the Govt. models, including the MK I.
My data shows the maximum design pressures for 455 is 13,000 psi and I have a note that Fiocchi 455 runs 11,000 psi. That is the range of BP ammo. I do think that you will have to reload if you want to use BP and be sure of what you are shooting, since I know of no company commercially making that caliber black powder cartridge today.
My data shows the maximum design pressures for 455 is 13,000 psi and I have a note that Fiocchi 455 runs 11,000 psi. That is the range of BP ammo. I do think that you will have to reload if you want to use BP and be sure of what you are shooting, since I know of no company commercially making that caliber black powder cartridge today.
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Nakanokalronin
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I called that Gad Custom which is what they tell you to do on the website and the guy was extremely irritated the entire time. From start to finish it was as if I was bothering him and he didn't want to make the ammo for me. He told me 3 to 4 months if he was going to make it, but he wasn't sure. I then said "sorry to bother you." and he hung up the phone. Unfortunately I would rather never shoot this gun than buy ammo from him.
The MK2 ammo is a no-go in these revolvers. Smokeless powder is not safe even though some people claim shooting countless rounds of Fiocchi ammo through MK1 Webleys with no ill effects.
I'll give Reed's a call on Monday to see if they'll do any BP loads.
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DWalt
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"Smokeless powder is not safe even though some people claim shooting countless rounds of Fiocchi ammo through MK1 Webleys with no ill effects."
Light smokeless loads will not produce chamber pressures any greater than BP loads. But it is your gun and if shooting anything smokeless concerns you that greatly, then you should definitely not do it. You could buy smokeless loads, pull the bullets, and replace the smokeless powder with BP.
Light smokeless loads will not produce chamber pressures any greater than BP loads. But it is your gun and if shooting anything smokeless concerns you that greatly, then you should definitely not do it. You could buy smokeless loads, pull the bullets, and replace the smokeless powder with BP.
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If you decide to go this direction, you would only need a shell holder and a .45 taper crimp die. I have used different dies from my sets of .45 ACP, .45 Colt & .45-70 to cobble together odd cartridges.
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Nakanokalronin
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I've read people using it and then people warn to never use it. I'd hate to blow the cylinder out of this WG, but I'm at the headache level trying to find BP ammo for this revolver and Fiocchi is a much simpler solution. I'll be shooting no more than 3 cylinders full since this will be more about a display piece that I've shot and can explain to people how it shoots than a range gun.
Thanks everyone for the replies.
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Texas Star
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Naka-
That's a nice WG! Most here have seen only the Webley Govt. series of guns with Mark numbers and dull finishes.
British officers bought their own revolvers back then, and the finely made WG and Wilkinson-Webleys were often preferred to the plainer official guns.
You can heft that old gun and imagine how it'd feel if it was with you if you lived in 1896 and had just heard about Maj. Alan Wilson's patrol being ambushed by the Matabele or how it'd feel in your hand along the NW Frontier of India, with a tribal rising maybe requiring that you shoot some fanatic coming at you with a sword or long Khyber knife.
I saw a really nice cased WG at an antique gun shop years ago. It was superbly finished, with a hand-honed action.
I think the best Webleys were the Model 1905 and 1911 Wilkinson-Webleys. I think they differed only in the direction of the rifling twist.
Many of these nice commercial Webleys had good walnut stocks in lieu of the black Baklite, and some had gold medallions for the owner's initials on the stocks.
That's a nice WG! Most here have seen only the Webley Govt. series of guns with Mark numbers and dull finishes.
British officers bought their own revolvers back then, and the finely made WG and Wilkinson-Webleys were often preferred to the plainer official guns.
You can heft that old gun and imagine how it'd feel if it was with you if you lived in 1896 and had just heard about Maj. Alan Wilson's patrol being ambushed by the Matabele or how it'd feel in your hand along the NW Frontier of India, with a tribal rising maybe requiring that you shoot some fanatic coming at you with a sword or long Khyber knife.
I saw a really nice cased WG at an antique gun shop years ago. It was superbly finished, with a hand-honed action.
I think the best Webleys were the Model 1905 and 1911 Wilkinson-Webleys. I think they differed only in the direction of the rifling twist.
Many of these nice commercial Webleys had good walnut stocks in lieu of the black Baklite, and some had gold medallions for the owner's initials on the stocks.
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DWalt
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"I've read people using it (smokeless ammunition) and then people warn to never use it."
Many people think the exact same thing about shooting present-day factory-loaded smokeless .38 S&W and .32 S&W ammunition in the old 19th Century top break revolvers. But I have never heard of any blowups of old top-break revolvers as the result of shooting smokeless ammunition in those calibers. Their peak chamber pressures and muzzle velocities are less than those of the original BP loads simply because of the light charges of smokeless powder used. UMC was loading many handgun cartridge calibers of the day with smokeless (in addition to black) powder by 1894. So they must have believed that it was safe to fire them in the BP revolvers of that time. BTW, one of those cartridges having smokeless powder loadings shown in the 1896 UMC catalog is the ".450 English." I am not exactly sure what that one is, probably the older and shorter version of the .455 called the .450 Adams.
Many people think the exact same thing about shooting present-day factory-loaded smokeless .38 S&W and .32 S&W ammunition in the old 19th Century top break revolvers. But I have never heard of any blowups of old top-break revolvers as the result of shooting smokeless ammunition in those calibers. Their peak chamber pressures and muzzle velocities are less than those of the original BP loads simply because of the light charges of smokeless powder used. UMC was loading many handgun cartridge calibers of the day with smokeless (in addition to black) powder by 1894. So they must have believed that it was safe to fire them in the BP revolvers of that time. BTW, one of those cartridges having smokeless powder loadings shown in the 1896 UMC catalog is the ".450 English." I am not exactly sure what that one is, probably the older and shorter version of the .455 called the .450 Adams.
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