Mk1 Webley Holster

braun

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This website has some nice-looking ones in the original style:

[www].pacificcanvasandleather.com

Ebay often has several of the canvas ones up for auction at any given time. If you want something a bit more modern, I like the Uncle Mike's bandolier holsters, size 3 fits the 6" barrels but I'm sure they have smaller sizes.
 
The webley holster they sell is for a mk6 which has a 6" barrel rather than 4". Mk1 holsters are difficult to find.

You could shove a speedloader in the bottom, that'd fill the space. :)

It looks like Pacific does their own work, maybe they'd customize one for you...
 
Uncle Mike's Size 2 is a nice snug fit for 4" MKI/II webleys.

Thanks! I'll definitely get one... I wanted to get a modern holster for my Webley ever since I got it, but I am pretty much limited to ordering online and therefore never got a chance to try how it'd fit. The info you supplied makes things much more simple for me and for the OP alike, I'd imagine.

:)
 
Thanks! I'll definitely get one... I wanted to get a modern holster for my Webley ever since I got it, but I am pretty much limited to ordering online and therefore never got a chance to try how it'd fit. The info you supplied makes things much more simple for me and for the OP alike, I'd imagine.

:)

Here's some pics of the MkI and a size 2 Uncle Mike's holster. US$15 for this one at Walmart in Anchorage, AK. :) Carries nice, snug fit no movement inside holster. Point of contact is the topstrap and the trigger guard, not the tip of the barrel, which is perfect.

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I thought I'd post this here, I found that the surplus russian nagant revolver holster is a very snug fit to the 4" webley, it only needs to have the closing strap modified or replaced (or the flap cut off entirely). It is a tight enough fit that the gun doesnt fall out with the holster upside down and the flap open.

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Also this holster fits the french 1892 revolver well, it slides in easier than the webley does but it is the right size/shape that the strap is able to snap shut (closes down very tight)

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Actually, the flapped type of holster sold by Pacific (and others) is the type which would have been used by a commissioned officer, who was required to supply all of his own kit (including his revolver and holster) at personal expense .... and who, in any event, was more likely than not to have some revolver other than a Webley Mark I.

Strictly speaking, the "Mark I" designation identifies the revolver as being an approved model owned by the War Department, for issue to Other Ranks. (Admittedly, the same model could be purchased privately directly from Webley, but officers were more prone to acquire a different model entirely, such as a Webley-Pryse, or W.G. Army.)

If your revolver has WD markings, then the correct revolver case (War Department term for holster) for it would actually be the open top version first introduced by the War Department in 1877 (a decade prior to adoption of the Mark I Webley revolver) for issue to any Other Ranks deemed to require a revolver .... It should look pretty much like this one - a Mark II, with the loop on the back introduced in December 1896 (and which was to be added to existing cases, as well as incorporated in all subsequent manufacture .....)

MkIIpistolcase_1.jpg


MkIIpistolcase_3.jpg


As you can see from the photos (and material added below) in the absence of the flap, and with no "toe plug" in the body of the holster, this would be a fairly easy piece of kit to make. If you lack leather-crafting skills or facilities, this type of holster is also available from various suppliers who cater to WWI re-enactors, although admittedly their versions tend to be the somewhat later configurations made to fit Pattern 1903 Equipment (and later Patterns also used in WWI, such as P'08 and P'14) and usually are made long enough to accommodate the 6" barrel of a Mark VI Webley. (However, the simple construction, without toe-plug, permits the holster to be shortened quite easily, if one desires .....)

Here are the three versions offered by "What Price Glory" US$36 each, including replica brass cleaning rod) . These are left "unfinished" so they can be dyed to suit the purchaser, or left to acquire the appropriate tone and patina from use and oiling ....
UK_Leather_Webley_Holster.jpg


And this one is offered by Schipperfabrik for US$44.95 (shown with an Other Ranks-pattern cartridge pouch they also sell for US$34.95). They only offer the P'1914 version ....
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And now, for those prone to say "show me" or those who appreciate "primary source" documentation, here are some relevant entries in the British War Department's "List of Changes" (only the last of these was "illustrated", but I have highlighted the description in the first one) -

loc3598.jpg


LoC8550.jpg


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Finally, a nice photograph showing both types of holster in use - commissioned officer on the left, non-commissioned officers on the right -

webhlst_WWIb.jpg
 
If you can find some old Canadian or Brit WW2 era webbing (at least thats what I think this is):

WebleyHolster.jpg


(Was made for a .38, those bullet loops are much too small for Webley MkII ammo)
 
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Wow, GrantR, that's quite a post. Where in the world do you get WD List of Change?
And if you know of place to find more turn of the century pictures of Webleys(with or without an officer attached to it) online, please let me know.
 
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