Best Shootable Antique Revolver
- Thread starter zachhamel
- Start date
The 8mm french service pistol (aka 8mm lebel revolver) is a good starter gun for getting into antiques. Webleys will cost a few hundred bucks more.
If you are going to get into antiiques it's a real advantage to be a reloader because factory ammo for most of them is hard to find for most of them.
Willy Tincup
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Owen Sound
Ya better duck Skinny; I think yur gonna get shot at. 
- Location
- Not really sure.
Except, you don't need to register antiques and they are worth more.
True, and not only reproductions. You can buy a Webley MkVI .455 revolver that is a stronger, better action made for smokeless for half the cost of the antique MKI or MKII. The desireability of "antique" status doubles or triples the value. I dare say most people wouldn't pay $400 for a MKII service webley if it wasn't antique, and yet they sell regularly for $1400 as antiques.
Antique status has caused the price of otherwise indifferent pistols to soar.
Good business to buy antiques that have no particular collector desirability in the US, and resell them here for a very tidy profit.
As far as which are the best shooters is concerned, any quality military or commercial pistol in sound condition would be a good choice, and an even a better choice if the ammunition is not exotic.
Good business to buy antiques that have no particular collector desirability in the US, and resell them here for a very tidy profit.
As far as which are the best shooters is concerned, any quality military or commercial pistol in sound condition would be a good choice, and an even a better choice if the ammunition is not exotic.
- Location
- Not really sure.
Most people avoid it it would seem. I think the issue is that they're pricey, old, not of uniform condition or quality, and therefore there's a higher risk to hotloading them than most people would accept.
http://www.thefirearmsforum.com/showthread.php?t=77895
After looking at that cylinder, I wouldnt have fired that gun anyway... even with light loads.
The metal where it fractured looks very rusted all the way through and quite a bit of frosting and pitting throughout.
If you look at the top intact cylinder you will see rust there also; appears to have rusted after the blowup
cheers mooncoon
Still... even with the blow up, the explosion seems to have been very well contained. The frame is most likely still salvageable and only needs a new barrel/cylinder installed, which is a 10 seconds job. This is yet another testament to the quality and overall toughness of these tank-like revolvers. That said, I'm willing to bet that the guy has used full 45ACP loads to make this happen... that, plus jacketed bullets were used, which increases the pressures drastically. All in all, if you put an idiot at the reloading bench, you could make a .50 Desert Eagle blow up too!
P.S. For 45ACP "Webley" ammo, use 5.0 gr of Unique and a 200 grain cast bullet. It's a load that's supposed to generate under 9,000 PSI and also happens to be the starting load for standard 45ACP reloading, according to my Lyman Pistol Reloading manual (in other words, it shouldn't be too underpowered and should also be able to fire off nicely in any modern 45ACP firearm).
P.S. For 45ACP "Webley" ammo, use 5.0 gr of Unique and a 200 grain cast bullet. It's a load that's supposed to generate under 9,000 PSI and also happens to be the starting load for standard 45ACP reloading, according to my Lyman Pistol Reloading manual (in other words, it shouldn't be too underpowered and should also be able to fire off nicely in any modern 45ACP firearm).
