Mildly interested in a Webley Mk VI .455 Revolver until I checked the prices on GB.
When did these "Clunkers" become so expensive ?

Yeah, the .455's are Pythonesque in their price inflation these days.

Because original ones are hard to come by. Many have been shaved to take 45 ACP.

__________________
Release the Kraken

There is also more interest in collecting British military arms.

As someone said, true .455s are scarce as most imported to the US were modified to use .45 ACP. IMHO this was a poor choice mechanically speaking, but does make sense business wise. A shame so many guns were altered.

I am happy that mine is not altred.

What's kind of ironic is both of my MK VI's have been altered, but my S&W 1st and 2nd Model .455's haven't been touched. Go figure.........

__________________
Dean
SWCA #680 SWHF #446

No kidding. The price Enfields are going for these days makes me think I need more insurance.

__________________
Release the Kraken

Finding ammo is the other issue. And the PRICES?.....Whew!

__________________
Stay protected my friends.

I have had two old Wobblies- a MK IV and a MK V. The MK IV was still a .455. I was able to load mine with .45 Colt brass and deep seated bullets over reduced powder charges. I later found some CIL .455 ammo for it. The MK V was cleaned with sandpaper (or so it seems) and rechambered to .45 ACP/.45 Auto Rim. I bought it back in the '90s for $75 and ran standard ACP ammo through it. Since then, I have discovered these loads are approaching proof levels, so normal ACP ammo is out. I need to load some mild ammo for it.

Back in the '70s, when I bought the MK IV, a little while I found a MK VI with target sights. I had to sell the MK IV to afford it and by the time I got the cash, the MK VI was gone. I didn't know enough back then to ask if I could put it on lay-a-way.

__________________
John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Yep, They were considered kinda weird old clunkers for so many years. Now the ones uncut for .45ACP have become collectibles, with attendant collector prices. Even the ratty ones rode hard and put up wet, with very little original finish, if uncut bring $$$$.

My Mk VI, cut for .45ACP, is not collectible and was not expensive, but still functions as it should and is fun to shoot once in a while.

Attached Images

Webley (8).jpg (79.3 KB, 50 views)

__________________
NRA Life, COTEP 640

I've owned a few of these, most had been shaved for 45ACP but had a couple that were still 455. Great guns, simple, reliable and fun to shoot. Shot mainly lead bullet handloads in the ACP ones as they seemed more accurate than jacketed rounds (and after I found out about the pressure difference I quit using factory ammo altogether).

The 455 ones cost more to shoot though Fiocchi ammo was at least fairly available (and the later Fiocchi was boxer primed so reloadable). Prices started to really climb a few years ago and eventually I sold off all but one of mine. The last one I have is a MK I, shaved sadly but I load 45 Auto Rim brass to duplicate the 455 load and am quite happy with it.

the 445 webly is the only military pistol I know of that was fitted (attached) with a bayonet ! I have one of those bayonets.

How big a price hit do the converted ones take?

They are neat old revolvers, wouldn’t call them clunkers. I picked up a couple of .455 cylinders years ago and replaced the shaved cylinders of my MkIV and MkVI with them. My first 2, a MkI and the MkIV cost 150.00 each while my next to last, a Webley Wilkinson 1905 cost 10 times as much. My last was a .455 Fosbery. Not going to say what that one cost but it’s a very cool revolver.

Attached Images

EACBD05F-937F-46DB-B27E-ADEFBEECDBC2.jpg (56.3 KB, 18 views)

What does it look like?

__________________
protocalldesign.com

They also used Prideaux speedloaders.

Somehow I got the urge a few years ago to get a .455 Webley, but I was determined that I would only get an uncut one. Places years ago were asking some astronomical prices for unshaved pieces, but with patience and persistence I found a Mark VI at a shop in Ohio at a price I was willing to pay. It's an amazing shooter. I had a lot of fun with it at my club's Great Wars match. There is a judge in the next county who heard me talk about it and I could probably sell it to him tomorrow, but that's not going to happen as long as I'm still walking around.

I think that depends on whether you only deploy them from your gun safe, or whether you have to lug one around on your belt all day while doing heavy physical labor, like the troops in the ammunition columns

The down-sizing to the smaller .38 frame was bemoaned much more loudly by US gun writers post-WW II than by anyone in the British Army.

For the record, I think they’re really neat guns too, I just wouldn’t want to have to carry one.

Just looked on line and the weight of a mty MkVI and a 1911 are 38-40 oz, about 2.5 pounds. You get 2 or 3 more rds worth of weight in the 1911. I’d rather carry the 1911. I also think that if I were in my twenties, through basic and in shape it wouldn’t be that much more to endure. As a 70 year old my edc’s are all lightweights and I also wouldn't want to carry either steel handgun. Wearing a gunbelt, two .45 revolvers or a revolver and a 1911 and a shotgun shell belt for a 4-5 hour cas match is not difficult, at least not yet. Besides, Josie carried 4 revolvers and two were Walker conversions.

Attached Images

AF5031CA-EBC9-45F4-85F3-7437D6AF1D59.jpg (24.0 KB, 3 views)

I forgot about .45 " auto rim " the mod. 1917 S @ W was designed for it and .45auto clips were to "speed load". I still have some of that brass. I liked the idea of cutting .45 colt brass, but will I head space? vin

Cut down 45colt will probably not work unless the shaving was the least amount possible and your revolver has a very long firing pin. Just cut a long colt at any length as long as it chambers, size and prime it and see what happens. Also look on line as there is a guy making flat steel inserts that go between the case rim and cylinder to make up the amount that was shaved off. He can make them thicker for the thin .455 brass or thinner for the thicker .45colt rim [cut down case]. You don’t permanently attach them to the cylinder, they just sit there.

Here is a link to the steel insert maker.
Parts for Antique Guns

__________________
OGCA Member.

Of course we don’t know how quickly Clint shed all those guns the moment the cameras stopped running . In real history the Walkers and Dragoons were horse pistols, rarely carried all day about the person.

Certainly, it’s all relative. You can carry the size with no problem, especially if you enjoy doing so as a hobby, like with your matches, and like guns. That doesn’t describe the majority of soldiers of the World Wars, when handguns in general were of marginal importance.

Thanks Muddy for the link. And Absalom, I’m sure that you’re right about Clint, his Walkers and his cameras. After you run out of rifle ammo the next step is a handgun if you’ve got one and the last is hand to hand with your knife. I’ve heard it said that a knife is always loaded. Of course Sgt Horvath chucked his steel helmet at a german when his 1911 ran dry. Your helmet is always loaded?