In my modest collection of single-shot target pistols, one of my more cherished items is a single-shot Webley & Scott target pistol that was originally owned by a celebrated figure in American firearms history -- Julian S. Hatcher.



This pistol came into Hatcher's hands under interesting circumstances: he won the Webley & Scott Pistol Trophy match at a competition in Bisley, England, in 1931, and the pistol that I own was the winner's prize, donated for that purpose to the sponsoring rifle club by Webley & Scott.

Julian S. Hatcher (June 26, 1888-December 4, 1963) served a distinguished 41-year career in the U.S. Army, retiring in 1946 as a major general (two-star general). He was an early expert on machine guns for the Army, before and during World War I. He was in charge of rifle manufacturing at Springfield Armory from 1919-1921, and oversaw ammunition manufacturing at Frankford Arsenal from 1923-1928. From 1929-1933 he served as the Chief of the Small Arms Division in the Ordnance Department. He was instrumental in resolving early production issues with the M1 Garand Rifle, the main battle rifle of the U.S. during World War II. During World War II, Hatcher served as chief of ordnance for the U.S. forces in the Pacific in 1943-44, and for Europe in 1945.


Hatcher authored a number of influential books on firearms, including Machine Guns (1917), Pistols and Revolvers and Their Use (1927), Hatcher's Notebook (1947, 1957, 1962), The Book of the Gerand (1948), and The Textbook of Pistols and Revolvers (1935). This last book introduced the "Hatcher Scale," a pioneering attempt to establish the "stopping power" of various handguns. Hatcher also authored the Textbook of Firearms Investigation, Identification and Evidence (1935), a pioneering work on firearms forensics for law enforcement. (The book provided the foundation for an updated work in 1957 of which Hatcher was listed as co-author, with a foreword by J. Edgar Hoover.)

So, this guy knew his guns!


Jim Casada, an NRA editor, wrote that Hatcher "in some sense could almost be considered a Renaissance man. He served for a number of years on the U.S. Olympic Committee, and he was active in a whole host of avocations. Among these were lapidary work...ham radio, optics (he served as a consultant to several companies on telescopic sights and binoculars), microscopy, mountaineering, and golf."

Hatcher was also a competition shooter with many distinctions (one of the images here lists some some of them). In 1931, he was the captain of the U.S. Rifle Team at the Bisley shooting competition in Bisley, England, where he also participated in and won a pistol match, the Webley & Scott Pistol Trophy competition. He won the pistol match by shooting a perfect 100 x 100 score, "A British Empire record," shooting an American-made Harrington & Richardson USRA Model single shot .22 LR pistol. The winner's prize was a brand-new Webley & Scott single shot target pistol, no. 1533, which had been donated by Webley & Scott to the Society of Miniature Rifle Clubs, the organization that sponsored the event. This prize is the pistol that I now own.




Perhaps the best-known of Hatcher's gun books is Textbook of Pistols and Revolvers, originally published by the Small Arms Technical Publishing Company in 1935, re-issued in 1995 in a handsomely bound edition as part of the NRA's "Firearms Classics Library." This book has a photograph of my pistol on page 35 (shown here), in a section about the Webley & Scott target pistols. The caption under the photo reads, "Webley and Scott Single shot Target Pistol given as First Prize in the Pistol Match at Bisley, England, in 1931. Won by the author, shooting an 8 inch barrel Harrington & Richardson."

The book text states further, "The photograph shows a gun of this type won by the author as a prize at Bisley in 1931. The gun is very comfortable to hold but seems hard to shoot after using our American pistols because of the rather heavy trigger pull which runs about six pounds on the sample that I have. In view of the fact that the sights are not adjustable I was somewhat surprised on first using this pistol to make an actual score of ninety-three on the standard American target at 20 yards with my first 10 shots. This score is better than my average with any gun and indicates that this Webley & Scott pistol is accurate and that the sights are properly adjusted at the factor for the average user. The weight of the pistol is 37 ounces."

On page 468 of the book (also shown here), there is a photo of Hatcher shooting his H&R pistol at the Bisley match. The caption reads in part, "The author shooting his 8 inch barrel Harrington & Richardson in 1931 at Bisley, England, where he was winner of the Webley & Scott Pistol match with a perfect score of 100."


I obtained Webley & Scott single shot no. 1533 some years ago from a dealer who had acquired a number of guns that originated in Hatcher's estate. Among the documents that I received with the pistol is a listing of firearms owned by Hatcher in 1948. This list reads to me as if it was prepared by Hatcher himself, although I cannot be sure of that. One of the entries is, "Webley & Scott Single Shot / 1533 / Won at Bisley."




On the advice of Joel Black, an expert on Webley & Scott firearms, in 2016 I contacted Richard Milner in the England, who has custody of the original Webley & Scott factory records. In 2016, Mr. Milner provided me with the equivalent of a factory letter, which that no. 1533 was sent to The Society of Miniature Rifle Clubs on 19 July 1931. He also provided an image of a page from the Webley & Scott register which reads, "1 Single Shot Target pistol .22 R.F. (illegible word) 1533, Soc Min Rifle Clubs London Regd Dealers Donation." Both the letter and an image of the ledger entry are shown here.



Mr. Milner wrote, "The Society of Miniature Rifle Clubs (SMRC) was formed 1902 after the end of the Anglo Boer War to promote the sport of rifle shooting with .22 r.f. miniature rifles, so that in any future war many more of our citizens would be proficient in the use of the rifle. Annually, usually in August, the SMRC organized an international shooting event at Bisley. The margin note 'Donation' tells me that this pistol no. 1533 was a prize to be awarded to the winner of a particular competition. You tell me that it is generally believed that this pistol was the one that Major J. S. Hatcher won in 1931, as claimed in his book 'Textbook of Pistols & Revolvers' I see no reason to doubt this assumption."

The pistol has a small scuffed area on the right side of the barrel, and some other signs of active use, but it is in overall excellent condition, with a good bore. Hatcher wrote on p. 35 of his book, "There is a hole in the butt for the attachment of a skeleton stock which can be used with the pistol converted into a short rifle for accurate work up to 150 yards." No. 1533 does indeed have a metal base with holes designed to affix such a stock, and the bluing there is heavily worn in a manner that suggests that a stock was indeed affixed at times in the past, but no stock has come down to me with the pistol, nor is any shown in the photo in the book.

According to The Webley Story, by William C. Dowell (1962), the Webley single-shot target pistol was originally introduced in 1909 "to meet the requirements of expert shots..." The book says that the "heavy solid metal butt [was designed] for acting as a counterweight to give a perfect balance."

Douglas Johnson
SWCA No. 2404
Maryland

Very nice, indeed!

Do you know who has the H&R?

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Formerly Model520Fan

I do not know who owns the H&R USRA Model (8-inch) with which Hatcher won the Bisley match.

This is waaaaaaaaay cool. Thank you for sharing.

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I am a sheep dog!
1601 (ret)

Unique pistol and an amazing story! It must be a real thrill to own a pistol traced to such a important individual. Thank you for the detailed post!

Excellent research and provenance on your Webley. It helps underscore the rapid development in single shot target pistols going on during the early 20th century.
Attached is some extra information on the Webley single shot target pistols, albeit in German. Note, though, the rather mediocre accuracy in the test target images even when fired with match grade ammo.
The influence of the break-open action for serious target use was brief. By the end of the 1930s, it was becoming apparent that other designs, mostly falling block actions such as the Martini and Aydt designs, would prevail. One characteristic they shared was their adaptability to the use of a set trigger. Primarily these were being made in Germany and Switzerland.
Julian Hatcher was an excellent all-round target shooter who had a strong interest in set triggers as applicable to rifle use. So, naturally, when he discovered these European pistols, he was intrigued.
Attached is a picture from his book, Textbook of Pistols & Revolvers, written in 1934, depicting his Stotzer and Buchel "free" pistols, both made in Germany. The text discusses the design and use of the set trigger. While in inexperienced hands they can be a liability, or even a danger, with training they are a great advantage, certainly over the 6 lb pull of the Webley!
It is very likely that Julian Hatcher met some of the excellent European shooters like Torsten Ullmann, whose performance at the Olympic Games in 1936 dramatically raised the bar. His score of 559 using an Udo Anschütz 210 free pistol was incredible considering that American shooters had previously won firing scores under 500 using pistols like the S&W .22 Perfected.
In the last image you can see the fantastic sophistication and complexity of the Udo Anschütz 210.
Despite all of this development, the Webley and the similar break-open designs would continue to find widespread use at the club level.

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6string, this is very interesting to me-- thank you for posting it. I recognize your first two images from the book Die Scheibenpistole, by Bruno Brukner and Ott Halfmann (2004), which I also own. But I think one of your attachments is missing-- I am not seeing here the Anschutz pistol to which you refer.

I have several of these old "free pistols," and I love to learn more about their history. My little collection includes an Arminius-Waffen-Werk (Frederick Pickert) Model 3 free pistol (circa 1925), with double-set trigger, and a Buchel "Winkelblock" (circa 1911), with single-set trigger-- I'll post a couple shots of each.

Very interesting post! Thank you.

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Terry Lester

Oops! I just added the pic.
Those are a couple nice oldies (but goodies) you have there!