New (to me) Webley No.4 antique

Claven2

Claven2

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Picked this one up locally for not a lot of cash. When I got it, it was filthy with what looks to have been dried out and hardened olive oil or similar and the tip of the hand was partially broken off, so the cylinder was over-rotating back in the wrong direction by a good 20 degrees.

I got the hand TIG welded to build it back up, dressed it down, and now lockup is rock-solid and timing is bang-on.

the lanyard ring was also missing, so I made a replacement from the lanyard ring off an old Belgian piece of crap I scrapped years ago. Had to reshape the stud on the lathe, but it turned out great and is dimensionally almost identical to the original proper webley part.

Gun is nice and tight with no end wiggle and as tight a lockup as you are likely to see on the No.4 style locking pins.

Best of all, despite the finish wear on the exterior, the bore is a 9+ out of 10 - no pitting, bright and shiny, strong rifling. Probably carried and fondled a fair bit over the years, but not shot to death.

Rather happy with this one :)

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By the way - would it be a bad idea to shoot Fiocci MkII ammo or Dominion MkI ammo in this revolver? I have a good many of both on-hand.
 
Check the Chamber throats if there .460 then you need to get some .458 HB RN bullets and reload.
Thats what i found worked in my WG armys that were 476 Caliber they had big chamber throats and the bore was bigger than 455 to as the 476 Ammo used a big heeled bullet.
My Webley No 4 pryses were all .460 as well unless you get a 455 marked one.

You can shoot 455 ammo in them but id stay away from the domion 455 Colt i find it kinda hot.
Fiochhi might be a tad hot as well. Best to reload her with the .458 bullets and 5 grs of unique. 455 HB bullets will work to but just not shoot as good if her bores set up for 476 Cal.
I had one just like it and i used 45 schofield cases with the Rims thined to 455 case thickness with the .458 Dia HB bullets the gun drove tacks.

There very nice guns and the pryse latch system is very strong. they used that latch system on 577 cal revolvers to.
 
dingus said:
Check the Chamber throats if there .460 then you need to get some .458 HB RN bullets and reload.
Thats what i found worked in my WG armys that were 476 Caliber they had big chamber throats and the bore was bigger than 455 to as the 476 Ammo used a big heeled bullet.
My Webley No 4 pryses were all .460 as well unless you get a 455 marked one.

You can shoot 455 ammo in them but id stay away from the domion 455 Colt i find it kinda hot.
Fiochhi might be a tad hot as well. Best to reload her with the .458 bullets and 5 grs of unique. 455 HB bullets will work to but just not shoot as good if her bores set up for 476 Cal.
I had one just like it and i used 45 schofield cases with the Rims thined to 455 case thickness with the .458 Dia HB bullets the gun drove tacks.

There very nice guns and the pryse latch system is very strong. they used that latch system on 577 cal revolvers to.
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What mold were you using to get .458" HB bullets?
 
So Dingus, wrt the Dominion and Fiocci - are you thinking it's unsafely hot for the No.4, or more that it's not a good load to subject the gun to over time?

Virtually all my .455 brass is still in factory load configuration and I'd like to be able to shoot it off to recover the brass and then switch to less powerful loadings.

I rather imagine the guys who owned these guns in the 60's and 70's probably shot Dominion in them without a second thought - no?

Idealluy, I'd blow off the ammo, clean and tumble the brass, and then retire the gun to lighter loads. Maybe 50 rounds max of factory Dominion...?

Terrible idea, or reasonable in your opinion?
 
Claven2 said:
So Dingus, wrt the Dominion and Fiocci - are you thinking it's unsafely hot for the No.4, or more that it's not a good load to subject the gun to over time?

Virtually all my .455 brass is still in factory load configuration and I'd like to be able to shoot it off to recover the brass and then switch to less powerful loadings.

I rather imagine the guys who owned these guns in the 60's and 70's probably shot Dominion in them without a second thought - no?

Idealluy, I'd blow off the ammo, clean and tumble the brass, and then retire the gun to lighter loads. Maybe 50 rounds max of factory Dominion...?

Terrible idea, or reasonable in your opinion?
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Hard to say is the gun tight now? the barrel when its shut is there any up and down play when you yank on it shut?
Them Pryses are older designes than MKIs or mKIIs i think.
The latchs are strong tho.
The domion ammo is fairly hot the stuff eh.
I only shoot that 455 Domion ammo in my MKI** which has a MKV cylinder installed by the webley factory.
Tho i have shot it in MKIs i stoped because to me at least it seemed to really Kick!
I just dont want to tell you its OK then the gun shoots loose.
Bower someones MKVI webley blast off that ammo then reload the cases.
Thats the advise id give you.
That N0 4 is to hard to replace and theres 0 parts available unlike MKIs or MKIIs.
 
Oh, out of curiosity, what is a Webley No.4 going for these days? I mean one with a nice bore, good and tight, proper indexing and working well - much like the one I have?

It' not for sale, I'm just curious what they are typically selling at.

I found this one while looking for a MkI or MkII in .455.
 
Claven2 said:
Oh, out of curiosity, what is a Webley No.4 going for these days? I mean one with a nice bore, good and tight, proper indexing and working well - much like the one I have?

It' not for sale, I'm just curious what they are typically selling at.

I found this one while looking for a MkI or MkII in .455.
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I have sold them from $1400 for one shaved so it could use 45 schofield cases without thinning the rims, up to $2400 as there way more rare than a MKI or MKII
I have seen them sell in the USA from $750 right up to $3000 so it really varys.
I never had one yet that didnt have a good bore.
Id say yours i would insure it for $1800 if you do that kinda thing.

EDIT:: Looking at the pics of your guns bore and its condition its worth $1800 maby more.
that guns bore is near mint looking.

Pulling the bullets and then reloading them is a good idea to nice a gun to risk shooting it loose. ;)
 
Hmm... I didn't expect it to be worth that much. Before today, I'd have swapped in a second for a decent MkI or MkII still in .455...

I'm a bit embarrassed to even think what I paid for this beauty.
 
Claven2 said:
Hmm... I didn't expect it to be worth that much. Before today, I'd have swapped in a second for a decent MkI or MkII still in .455...

I'm a bit embarrassed to even think what I paid for this beauty.
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Well im not saying you would get $1800 for it but really thats what its worth it depends on what people want,
more people want MKIs and MKIIs but from a collector stand point and shooting stand point your gun is better than any MKI or MKII why do you think officers bought them ;)
The Pryse Latch sysyem is very strong.

If it was mine id keep it as they are rare eh and harder to find.
 
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