I acquired a Webley Mark II and have some questions about it that I was hoping you fine folks could answer. I believe this to be an original, unmodified .455.

- Are ALL Webley Mark II's antiques?
- How much are these worth?

Thanks!

Don't know--someone will help you shortly--but I'd love to have one like that.

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Oh well, what the hell.

Cylinder is not shaved, so it is .455. Very difficult to find ammo. Fiocchi supposedly makes it once a year. Time to google, google.
I did read recently that it was to be available soon.
Good looking pistol.
Webley has an archive site.

Beautiful gun!

Your Webley was designed to fire the black powder .455 Mk I loading, NOT the shorter cased smokeless Mk II loading that Fiocchi duplicates.

Yes- most Mk I to Mk IV Webley's were molested and converted to .45 acp. Did they all blow-up? No. Was it a good idea? Not at all.

The British themselves realized the engineering changes necessary to successfully and durably contain the newer smokeless charges, introducing the improved Mk V and VI. Even those guns has a spotty record with .45 acp, a round that exceeds .455 proof loads.

Best answer is to load .455 Mk I (Bertram?)or Mk II cases with BP and fire away.

That's a doozie of a Crow's Foot property mark. Nice find.

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Release the Kraken

The Mk I, , II, & III are all Antique (pre-1899 production).
Adoption dates are 1890, '95, & '97

The MkIII (which was never issued and a very limited production IIRC.

The MkIV is a 'modern firearm' by the law if I'm thinking right at this point as it was adopted in mid 1899.

The MkV (the first to be proofed for smokeless and the cyl dia is larger in dia for it)adopted in 1913

The MkVI in 1915.

Any of the older Mk's could have been continued in service after a newer Mk had been adopted.

There're some other versions too,,,
A MkI* is simply a MkI upgraded to a MkII
MkI** and MkI** are Naval Service issue conversions w/ 6" bbls I believe.

The large property mark on the top strap is not all that uncommon. A similarly large N for Navy Issue is also seen on some,,and many are very crudely cut/scratched into the metal.

The 'N' stamped on the backstrap may be a Naval issue or property mark.

Very nice find.
Keep the loads to the original BP level,, if you shoot it at all.

Parts for the early Mk Webley 455's are nearly impossible to find. The grips alone are an expensive rarity that just don't show up very often. Plus they are like Colt SAA grips in that they rarely fit from one gun to another. The hard rubber or bakelite type material cracks very easily. Handle them with care.

Most components in the MkI, II and III are soft steel and wear easily.
Not till the MkIV did they start to use a different & better quality of steel and start to case harden the ratchet teeth and the hand point.

It looks to be a very nice example. If the numbers all match and has a nice bore and chambers, they can go for $700 to $1000 depending on the little things like the amt of blue wear, the markings/stampings, any replaced small parts, ect.
A lot of people wouldn't give them a second look or offer more than a couple hundred for it. But to those that realize what they are,,there is a very good market for them.
The net auctions are a good place to sell these if that is what your intentions are.

Thank you for your great response. I was hoping it might be worth more as I can't even find any auctions on gunbroker that have been completed. That's usually how I get an approximate value on these things but I can't find any comparable listing.

The bore does look good, it has a lot of blueing left, the numbers all match and it does look like all parts are original from what I can tell. There's no funky looking screws (all have the same marking) and I can't see anything that looks like it doesn't belong.

I won't be shooting this but I will be selling it which is why I'm trying to find the value of it.

Thanks again for the info!

British Webley and Enfield Revolvers were my first center fire handguns as a teenager in the 1950s. Numerous Mail Order Gun House sold these surplus weapons via mail order and shipped Railway Express.
Winfield Gun Sales sold revolver such as yours but were Mk IV Webleys converted to .45 acp for $9.95 which included a leather holster, 50 rounds of .45 acp ball ammo, six half moon clips,and a bottle of "44/40" gun blue. (yes I purchased a lot of them). The grips would crack/break and I had a friend that would make wood grips for $2.00 a pair.

I've read that the large, scratched Broad Arrow on the top strap means a Royal Navy gun.

A post above says that MK III guns were never issued. ?? Never saw that before. Source?

I had also never seen that until the MK IV, ratchet teeth and the hand were not hardened. Was that also true of contemporary US revolvers?

The best Webleys were not in the military MK line. They were highly finished commercial models that came cased and often had wooden grips. These were sold by such firms as Wilkinson Sword, to officers, who bought their own sidearms then. Most here have never seen a Wilkinson-Webley or a Webley WG model.

They're very nice guns, if not as powerful as the .45 Colt in US brands. But they usually sufficed at average pistol ranges, in real warfare.

I agree that it was unscrupulous for dealers to mill them to take .45 ACP ammo, which is marginally safe, unless handloaded to more like original .455 pressures. Even then, .45 bullets will be undersized. You're firing a .452 bullet down a bore likely to be .457.

1. Source: Ian Skennerton SAIS#9, pg12

2. Which of the many different contemporary (1899) US revolver makers?
Colt did not,,you can file away & hammer stretch their old revolver hands and ratchet teeth to your hearts content. SA revolver ratchets are generally part of the cylinder itself so will not be subject to casehardening. DA or self ejecting systems use a separate part and can be. But not everyone did.
Remington case hardened the hand generally on their SA's large and small
Some of the 'cheap' guns, the hands were case hardened on certain models like the H&R, F&W, ect. (Potassium)Cyanide hardened usually. Fast, easy and cheap. Sometimes not. You take a file to it and find out easily enough. If it zings off of it,,it's hardened. Anneal it if you need to.
If it's soft, you can still work with it as is. When done, best to (re)harden it or the little suicide specials will just go out of wack again.