Loading Webley 455 Mk. II

[dingus]

Well my MKVI cylinders cylinder walls are about .072 thick
the trigger stop cut outs are cut .044 deep
the stop notches are .031 deep
the stop notches leave about .040 tho of steel remaining over the chamber.

I agree that my 45 colt starline solid head cases help alot with any weak cylinder wall areas.
Tho i have shot over 1000 FPS loads with a 250 gr keith bullet and NO sign of any excess pressure. The longer case im sure helps alot.

I have seen a MKVI cylinder blowin up BUT that was with a very hot 45 ACP ammo.
Again thats a very short case like the Mark II webley.
I think haveing the cylinder altered to shoot 45 scofeilds or colt cases is the only way to go.
Saying that the weak point on the Webleys is the frame latch that keeps the gun shut,
the screw that comes thru it on the right hand side has very little steel in that area and they crack at this point.

Not on any of my guns yet tho

 

[GrantR]

Where the cylinder stops slots have been ground the steel is paper thin and barely covered by the Mark II case.The Mark I case covers it and presumably so does Dingus's .45 Colt case.Bulging of these stop slots is an indication of high pressure and wrecks the collector value of a fine revolver.

Certainly a valid concern .... in fact, it makes me wonder if some of the reports we hear (of the cylinder stop of some revolvers not engaging well in the cylinder stop notches) are perhaps the result of such bulging in the bottoms of the notches? Would seem plausible .....

While I have a few Mark II cases, it is my practice to use Mark I cases (Dominion .455 Colt, actually) almost exclusively. Still not solid head, but longer in the body at least. I do have some converted .45 colt cases, but the smaller rim diameter seems to result in less than positive engagement by the extraction star, so I tend not to use those. I do have to use the shorter cases in my WG Target revolver (a .455/.450), however.

My recently acquired .455 RIC will actually accept a full .45 Colt round (provided it is not over-long) - a rim seat has been machined at the rear of each chamber just large enough in diameter to accomodate the thicker .45 Colt rim, whereas the wider .455 rims bridge it and thus are still positioned against the rear cylinder face. However, having experienced the impressive buck, roar and flame produced by a full black powder load in a Mark I case (17 gr. IIRC) in this revolver, I most definitely wouldn't dream of firing it with anything even close to a full .45 Colt load - which would be at least twice that charge in a solid head case!