A few more photos to show a 7-pack of Royal Navy issue .455 Eley semi-rimmed self-loading Mark I ammo dated January 30, 1919 and loose rounds with 1917 and 1918 head stamps. This 224 grain cupro-nickel jacketed bullet was produced from 1913 thru the early 1940s and was used with these pistols and the WWI British Contract .455 Colt Government Model pistols. Notice the "Not for Revolvers" warning to prevent this ammo from being used with the .455 Webley & Scott WWI-issue revolvers which used the rimmed 220 grain flat nose .455 cartridge 455 Webley Mk IV introduced in 1912 and the .455 Webley Mk V introduced in 1914. Also shown is the open recoil operated action of this pistol. The Webley-Scott instead used a simple v-shape leaf spring and operating arm. The arm was pushed rearward by the short recoiling slide (pushed back by the backwards forces of expending propellent) and acted against a v-shaped spring nestled in the right panel of the pistol grip. A risky venture, a thin recoil spring packed into the grip alongside the seven round pistol magazine.
As to the magazine, where most modern and successful auto-loading handguns have a follower hold open (a part of hte magazine which rounds are seated on and push upwards until empty) the W&S did not. That means when the pistol fired the last round, the slide simply cycled and returned to battery. No hold open to lock the slide back, alerting the firer to a dry guy.
Last edited by 1780inn; 02-16-2014 at 01:07 PM.
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