Making .455 Webley cases

tinymike66

tinymike66

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Hello.
Just Purchased a Webley W.S. Target
It's chambered in .455 Webley.


I have 45LC and 45Acp brass sitting around.

Would love a "how to" on turning these into .455 Webley?

Or is it better to buy the brass of i can find it?

Cheers
 
Some sponsors get 455 Webley in from time to time but it's pricy! $70.00 to $100.00 per box of 50. Your best bet if not buying loaded ammo is to check gun shows for reloadable brass or cheaper loaded ammo. 45LC can be made into 455 but I don't think I would go that route, it can be a little tedious. You have to shorten the case then thin the rim from the case side. Good luck with the route you choose to go.
 
Can be done with 45 Colt or 45 auto rim. Cases need to be cut to length. The problem you may run into is the rim may be to thick. If it the front part of the rim can have some spun off in a lathe to reduce thickness. Don't remove any off the back where lettering is as primers will be high. Try a case first to see if gun closes you may not need to thin rim. The other problem rims may be too large in diameter and may have to be reduced. When rounds go into cylinder they may over lap if not reduced. The cases I did needed rim diameter reduced but rim thickness was fine. I usually make a few cases up get the gun shooting then trying to find new cases. On something like this it could take awhile for cases to come in due to being back ordered or you could get lucky and have them in a couple of weeks. 45 ACP dies work for sizing.
 
Had a deal in the works for a S/W hand ejector. Just picked it up a couple of days ago. So far I have made up 30 cases out of 45 Colt. Shortened and thinned the rim. I'm in the middle of looking up load data for different bullet weights. Probably will use Lyman 454190 for attempt.
 
If you're buying, buy all the Fiocchi you want - and nothing else. Reason being, the Fiocchi use small primers; I've got a mixed bag, and sorting / putting different primers in different cases is a pain. Or get others and don't touch Fiocchi, so you'll have all large primers - Fiocchi is real pricy anymore.

The .45 LC has a thicker rim than the .455's and Webleys are finicky about rim size, my Mk. VI will not close on them. Only way to use .45 ACP is with a shaved cylinder and moon clips - DO NOT use commercial .45 ACP ammo in a Webley, the standard ACP load is a proof round for the Webley and I've seen pictures of blown-up Webleys.

I use VV N310 in mine (3.6gr IIRC) with a mild crimp and a 255gr Lyman SWC, sized to 0.452". Yeah, it calls itself .455 but in fact, Webleys were all drilled with a 0.442" drill and then had 0.004" of rifling, for a total (two sides of rifling) of 0.450"; it's inadvisable to use hard-cast bullets in bigger sizes, the Webleys have huge forcing cones but they were intended for soft lead. The mild crimp is to raise the pressure in the case - if there's not enough resistance, your Webley will spit-out so much unburned powder you'll think it's raining. :(
 
I see that Budget Shooter Supply now has it listed on their website:

Starline – BRASS 455 WEBLEY UNPRIMED 100/Bag (Large Pistol primer)

$69.75
 
Snider shooter said:
Can be done with 45 Colt or 45 auto rim. Cases need to be cut to length. The problem you may run into is the rim may be to thick. If it the front part of the rim can have some spun off in a lathe to reduce thickness. Don't remove any off the back where lettering is as primers will be high. Try a case first to see if gun closes you may not need to thin rim. The other problem rims may be too large in diameter and may have to be reduced. When rounds go into cylinder they may over lap if not reduced. The cases I did needed rim diameter reduced but rim thickness was fine. I usually make a few cases up get the gun shooting then trying to find new cases. On something like this it could take awhile for cases to come in due to being back ordered or you could get lucky and have them in a couple of weeks. 45 ACP dies work for sizing.
Click to expand...

I made a bunch from 45 auto rim by machining the rim a little thinner at the front.
Another advantage I found that by using these or 45 LC I can now use them with a regular speed loader (HKS 25-5) since the rims are slightly smaller in diameter than the .455 Webley cases.
 
I happen to be a cheap ass and have about 500 45 Colt cases so a couple of hours work gives me close to 200 Webley cases.
Due to having a S/W hand ejector I made my cases 0,980 long. The extra length allows 45 ACP dies to be used. Longer case
is easier to handle. My cases won't fit a regular Webley as they are too long. When I get a break open shorter cases will be made.
 
A couple of the local nuts who apparently know what they're doing, have .455's (don't know which) - they rebated the rim recess, bored the cylinder through and use .45 Colt brass in them, unmodified.
 
gwesson said:
A couple of the local nuts who apparently know what they're doing, have .455's (don't know which) - they rebated the rim recess, bored the cylinder through and use .45 Colt brass in them, unmodified.
Click to expand...

As long as pressure was kept down it could work if bullets where seated deeper. Wouldn't want Blackhawk loads put in them. Guns would have to be hand ejectors as cylinders are longer. Webley cylinders would be to short.
 
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