New webley owner! Question

J

john94

Member
Rating - 100%
12   0   0
Location
Greater Vancouver
I recently crossed the webley Mk 1 off my bucket list! I have a question however. On latch, there is a slight gap, ~0.5mm wide, between the top strap and the rest of the frame, when the latch is closed. I'm suspecting that perhaps the frame has stretched from shooting, but that doesn't seem likely because the bore is in mint condition, the hinge is very solid, and the cylinder gap is tight. If the frame is stretched I'd assume the cylinder gap to also widen, along with developing endshake, which isn't the case here. Does anyone else's Mk 1 have a gap like this? Will it get worse with shooting?

IMG_3585_zpsyvasix9d.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
john94 said:
I recently crossed the webley Mk 1 off my bucket list! I have a question however. On latch, there is a slight gap, ~0.5mm wide, between the top strap and the rest of the frame, when the latch is closed. I'm suspecting that perhaps the frame has stretched from shooting, but that doesn't seem likely because the bore is in mint condition, the hinge is very solid, and the cylinder gap is tight. If the frame is stretched I'd assume the cylinder gap to also widen, along with developing endshake, which isn't the case here. Does anyone else's Mk 1 have a gap like this? Will it get worse with shooting?

IMG_3585_zpsyvasix9d.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
Click to expand...

If theres no side to side movement then i wouldnt worry about it. Have seen lots of webleys and never have seen the loose frame webleys people refer to. Theye overbuilt and so solid it would be hard to damage one under normal conditions.
 
I have several Webleys and none have that gap. Even on the one with a sloppy cylinder. If the cylinder doesn't move side to side (not just forward and back) with the trigger pulled you should be ok.

-> Thenoobgunsmith: My friend's mk1 had a stretched hinge that caused the cylinder to get sloppy. Adding some metal to the latch helped, but not sure how that 'repair' held up.
 
The bore being mint has nothing to do with it, a few rounds of jacketed factory 45 ACP will leave your bore looking great but will stretch the top strap. Are you sure it has no back/forth play?
Adding metal will help but it’s a temporary fix according to my gunsmith.
 
If you hold the butt in one hand and the barrel in the other, go through the motions of trying to open and close the revolver with the latch firmly in place. Any significant wiggle?
 
You got me interested, i own 3 Webley MK1** in original chambering.
None of my revolvers show a gap like the one showned here. I would not shoot it unless very weak reloads.
 
tiriaq said:
If you hold the butt in one hand and the barrel in the other, go through the motions of trying to open and close the revolver with the latch firmly in place. Any significant wiggle?
Click to expand...

Nope, it feels very solid and there is absolutely no wiggle up/down or side/side. Only if I try to pull the barrel forward and backward with quite a bit of force, the barrel seems to shift a few fractions of a millimetre, hardly noticeable.
 
Clotho said:
I was thinking the same thing. The yield strength of the top strap has been exceeded and it has been stretched/deformed.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing too, but if the top strap has been stretched then wouldn't the cylinder gap also widen? Right now the cylinder gap is pretty tight, and if you were to subtract the gap in the latch, the cylinder would be brushing right up against the forcing cone.
 
''Judging by the cylinder gap in the picture, I’d say it’s a safe bet it’s been shaved for ACP on clips or AR.''

I agree, very common procedure done by Importers in the 1950/60's, when these appeared on the surplus market.
 
john94 said:
I was thinking the same thing too, but if the top strap has been stretched then wouldn't the cylinder gap also widen? Right now the cylinder gap is pretty tight, and if you were to subtract the gap in the latch, the cylinder would be brushing right up against the forcing cone.
Click to expand...

If the top strap is deformed, as anecdotal evidence would suggest then I think it would be a reasonable assumption that the bottom frame is also deformed. It was the part that was exerting force on the top strap during firing. If you consider this and the fact that the forcing cone is off-center to the hinge (pivot) then I'm not surprised that you still find the forcing cone clearance to be reasonably tight this early in the progression.
 
Last edited:
Question; does this gap and play only exist when the latch is closed under its own power?
Or, with the latch closed, can you manually apply force to the barrel and frame and close that gap.
It’s very common to bend the screw on the latch creating the play you are seeing.
The answer is usually to tighten the screw and the play disappears.
Another oddity is if the screw is already as tight as you feel comfortable (but play still exists) remove the screw and reinstall it.. I’ve found for some reason it can help eliminate this play (seems odd but I’ve witnessed it).
It is possible the top strap is damaged from factory 45acp but I doubt it.
For ammo I’d recommend getting the soft cast 265 grain bullets from Jet and load your own.
Unique works well.
 
stampede said:
Why would there be a gap at that location if the top strap had stretched ?
Click to expand...

My guess is the top strap would stretch at the weakest point, which is behind that gap where it splits into two thin pieces. The weakest part of that gun definitely appears to be the latch area, those Webleys have a thick top strap above the cylinder.
 
wasrupzuk said:
Question; does this gap and play only exist when the latch is closed under its own power?
Or, with the latch closed, can you manually apply force to the barrel and frame and close that gap.
It’s very common to bend the screw on the latch creating the play you are seeing.
The answer is usually to tighten the screw and the play disappears.
Another oddity is if the screw is already as tight as you feel comfortable (but play still exists) remove the screw and reinstall it.. I’ve found for some reason it can help eliminate this play (seems odd but I’ve witnessed it).
It is possible the top strap is damaged from factory 45acp but I doubt it.
For ammo I’d recommend getting the soft cast 265 grain bullets from Jet and load your own.
Unique works well.
Click to expand...

There's no play on mine, just the gap that I showed in the photo. It closes up tightly, but visually the gap is triggering my OCD.
 
That seems odd.
On mine, when fully closed no gap is present unless it has play (see my latch screw comment in prior post) which looks like your picture.
On mine, when there is no play there is no gap and the inner and outer peg and hole make a flat shelf (they are flush).
To make the gap pictured the peg is no longer flush and is lower the the strap and the latch can’t be fully closed (on mine adjusted for no play).
The gap suggests to me the strap or barrel is not fully closed by the latch and should have play.
If there is a gap and no play it makes me think that:
1) the hole has been stretched but to still be tight then the strap would have to be bowed to still allow the tight lock up.
2) the gun is fine but the latch was adjusted tight with crude build up on the frame or latch (something to keep it from closing further).
Not that I have a great amount of experience with these but I would think in a stretched strap when one goes (gap) the other comes with it (play).
Or (IMO) you can have a straight strap and a loose latch but I question if you can have a tight latch and a stretched/bent strap (?).
Definitely an interesting problem,
 
I took a look at the hinge pin. It appears to have a very slight bend on one end, where the hinge screw threads into. It is bent forwards, in the down-range direction. Perhaps this is offsetting the barrel forwards, resulting in the gap. I wonder if I can get a replacement for this part.....

50387868182_570d7a39ae_z.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom