Rick said:
Just curious, but what do you expect to gain by doing this, aside from "just for fun"?
I have one of these handguns and make my brass from Schofield brass, length trimmed just enough so brass will easily seat in all cylinders (and of course the rim trimmed back from the front). I end up with brass longer than spec for the .455 Webley in any of its' Marks/configurations, but it works fine for me.
It appears to me that the limitation on the Webley is its' pressure limits, and I don't see how a cylinder in .45 Schofield will provide any advantages over the standard .455 cylinder.
Well, it’s not just for fun, all that length trimming and rim thinning is one of two main reasons why I would like to have cylinder modified; I can use just straight 45 Schofield brass. What you had done, I did also about 15 years ago, but using 45 LC brass. With one additional operation; I had to ream case inside in order to have proper brass thickness. At that time 45 Schofield brass was unavailable.
One suggestion; instead of thinning the rim from front, make a simple die 1” dia x 1” long (use good quality tool steel), with snug fit bore for the case body and depression on one side .500” dia x .038-.040” deep, for the rim. Trim the case to .880 length, insert it in the die (with the rim in the depression, of course) and put it in a good quality machine wise, preferably in the centre of the jaws, with some kind of flat steel plate as a backing. Just squeeze the wise until steel plate from the back hits the die and you will get perfect rim, identical on all cases. Much faster and as the bonus, rim dia will be slightly increased.
So, by making the brass for Webley one of those ways, you will get so called Mk I case. And here is another problem and another reason why I would like to use straight 45 Schofield brass; loading data for 455 Webley Mk I round are basically nonexistent, at least I couldn’t find them in any reloading manual. I have somewhere Alliant/Hercules booklet, but if remembered correctly, loads in it are for the shorter Mk II round. Some folks are using 45 AR loads; a DANGEROUS idea because loads listed for 45 AR are considerably higher than any 455 Webley round. Others are using 45 ACP loads; this a outright EXTREMELY DANGEROUS idea because these loads in Webley are de facto PROOF loads. As for all those stories about proof loading Webley for 45 ACP, there is a possibility that it was done, however, for that reason I refuse to even take a look at any Webley revolver modified that way. If I ever buy 45 AR Webley, it will be for the parts only.
Since the pressure level for 455 Webley is basically the same as in 45 Schofield, in that respect loading 45 Schofield is better and safer way because loading data are available from the most of powder suppliers. Loads are tested on modern equipment and you know exactly what is the pressure level your loads are going to have; a BIG advantage in my opinion.
Just my .2 cents. Take care of your Webley and enjoy this old grand revolver by using appropriate loads. Regards, Onty.
