Newest Toy .... Webley R.I.C. revolver

GrantR

GrantR

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Rating - 100%
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Location
Medicine Hat, Alberta
A local acquaintance decided he was willing to part with his Webley R.I.C. revolver and .... since I've always wanted one ..... :rolleyes:

Click on thumbnails -





This double action, sidegate loading/extracting design was first introduced in 1867, and was adopted by the Royal Irish Constabulary the following year, thus becoming known as the "R.I.C." model. A robust, functional and accurate revolver which saw a great deal of civilian, police and military use in Britain and its Empire, as well as throughout the world. Numerous copies of varying quality were produced in a number of foreign countries ..... George Armstrong Custer is reported to have been presented with a pair of R.I.C. revolvers in 1869 by the British Ambassador, and supposedly favored them - it is believed that he was carrying them at the Battle of the Little Bighorn ....

Serial no. 6597

Marked, left side of frame, in front of cylinder:
WEBLEY'S
R.I.C.
No. 1 .455 CF
NEW MODEL

Winged bullet logo over "W&S" lower front of frame, left side.

Marked on top strap:
ARMY & NAVY (left side of sight groove)
C. S. L. (right side of sight groove)
(This indicates that the revolver was retailed by the Army & Navy Co-Operative Society Limited ... an early "co-op" set up to supply British military and naval officers with virtually everything they required in service.)

Fully functional, bright clean bore with strong rifling. I have 50 black powder MkI cartridges loaded, and hope to get a chance to play with it briefly following a Cowboy Action match I'm going to tomorrow, which is being held in a small town indoor range - if they'll let me fire BP in there at all, that is .....

But I'm definitely a happy camper! :D
 
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Nice Grant! Great Score :)
Ive got a Webley RIC 455 marked new model as well but with a diffrent grip botom.
I think it was you that told me the grip configeration on mine is the way some were.
Has the retailers name as well as Calcuta on the barrel top.

Mine will chamber the longer Domion 455 rds But 45 scofeilds fit unaltered as well.
45 scofeilds loads full of pyrodex Kick pretty good the gun handles the load no problem tho.
They are well made Revolvers.

 
Dingus:

I can actually get a full-length .45 Colt cartridge to chamber fully in this cylinder - although it seems to just "headspace" on the forcing cone (?) which is well toward the front of each chamber -but even so, the thick .45 Colt rim will still allow the cylinder to rotate, though dragging noticeably on the recoil shield. I imagine it would really bind up with a cylinder full of such cartridges.

Interestingly, however, someone has machined narrow, shallow rim seats at the rear of each chamber just big enough to accept a .45 Colt rim - though not full depth ... rather, it would appear to be just enough to compensate for the diference in rim thickness between the .45 Colt and .455. The end result is that the previous owner was able to use shortened .45 Colt brass in lieu of .455 brass - without thinning the rims, since the rim recess is enough to enable the cylinder to rotate freely, and position the primer in the same place relative to the firing pin as it is in a .455 with its thinner rim.

Of course the wider rim of a .455 cartridge bridges this recess and contacts the rear face of the cylinder, thus being positioned properly. Based on my observation that a full-length .45 Colt cartridge will fully chamber in effect (though its rim will not quite enter this rim recess) I'd have to say that .45S&W would also undoubtedly chamber just fine in this revolver - in fact, I'd say that a full-length .45 Colt case would only have to be trimmed back maybe 1/32" or less to chamber all the way and seat its rim into the shallow recess. A most interesting modification, I must say!
 
Interesting.
Mine the back of the cylinder is un touched.
But theres enough head space at the back of the cylinder to fit and untrimed 45 scofeild case and cycle it.

I have shot 455 and 45 scofeilds outa my RIC and both work ex.

As far as 45 colt there a tad to long as the narrowing of the chamber throats stop the cases from going all the way in.

There sure nice guns. I was gona sell mine but am thinking i should keep it.
 
Now that I have had the chance to put a few rounds through this revolver, I'm even more pleased! :D

I only fired 15 rounds on Sunday because the small, old indoor range was filling up with more smoke than the exhaust system seemed able to handle ... :rolleyes:

Also, frankly, I decided that my standard load for my other .455 revolvers (effectively the British War Department specs for the MK I cartridge - i.e. 18 grains FF black powder well compressed behind a long-nosed hollowbase 265 gr bullet) was simply too stout to be very pleasant in this little revolver. They produced very substantial recoil, stupendous muzzleflash ... and cylinder gap flash, for that matter ... and flattened primers, which also gave rise to some degree of safety concern. :(

However, other than those minor details, it was an absolute blast ... both literally and figuratively! ;) It seemed to want to print reasonably well - i.e. likely quite sufficient for CAS-type shooting - but a more definitive test of accuracy will have to await another opportunity with some downloaded cartridges ...

A bit more detail, now that i've had the time to investigate further: this particular version of the R.I.C. - i.e. the .455 Center Fire New Model - was introduced in 1883. It had a longer cylinder to accomodate lengthier cartridges, and the cylinder flutes were introduced at this time (I assume as a weight-reduction measure to compensate for the elongated cylinder.) In fact I learned that, with this version, even .44-40 and .45 colt chamberings were manufactured! ... I can only imagine the excitement of firing one of those cartridges in this model of revolver - considering how it roared with .455 Webley! :eek:

Finally, a fellow who has copies of many of the Army & Navy Co-operative Society Ltd. firearms sales records, tells me that he was able to locate serial numbers 6596 and 6598 (i.e. flanking my serial number) in the sales records for 1886 - although mine did not show up on his review .... (He did mention that a review of these records show that the sales were quite jumbled up, serial number wise. I suppose that may reflect a purchaser's preference for some feature of one revolver over an earlier serial numbered one, so that the later number sold first ... or something of that nature.
 
LOL ya them full BP loads are something eh :D

I was shooting full loads in a 45 Scofeild in my RIC (pyrodex tho not BP) but anyway i guess cause the case rims are thicker on the 45 Scofeilds i had the Flatened primers like you said.
I also had the Primers Rupture and #### the hammer back :eek:
I did that about 4 times till this old timer was watching said STOP THAT :D
Guess the presures were a tad high.
Hey i didnt have to pull the hammer back it was like a Semi auto. Now if i could get the cylinder to rotate to id have something!

Seriously tho i loaded back the 45 scofeilds and have had no more ruptured primers or older guys yelling at me.
4 grs of Trail Boss is great in the 45 Scofeilds or 455 Domion cases.
I really am likeing TB gun powder alot.
Im asumeing Joel was the fellow with the Records.
Hes a great guy full of info on these great old guns.


Have you Tried Trail Boss yet Grant?
 
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Bought a couple of bottles of Trail Boss a while ago, but haven't got around to doing any loading with it. Definitely want to, though - what is that 4 grain charge equivalent to in BP, approximately?

(For anyone not familiar with Trail Boss, it is a smokeless powder developed to be extremely bulky, for use in smokeless loading of the various high-capacity cases originally developed for black powder loads ... e.g. 45 Colt, .44-40, whatever .... both to avoid the "tiny bit of powder in a cavernous case" syndrome - which can result in "powder position" problems and erratic ignition - and also to greatly reduce the danger of double charging with smokeless loads. To give an idea of how bulky it is, the standard IMR bottle for 1 pound of most smokeless powders holds only nine ounces of Trail Boss! It has become very popular with Cowboy Action shooters, and folks of that ilk ....)

Yes, Joel was who gave me the ANCSL information ...
 
Ya gota try it Grant its EX :)
I have shot it in several of my Antique guns and should Throw out my Unique after trying TB
Frist off its got a snap to it! second theres NO unBurnt Power everywhere.

I hated that about Unique how can ya get good groups when some of the powder burns and some dont depending on how you hold the gun.
I could point the barrel up or down no unburnt powder with TB.

Short and sweet Try it you will love it.
I shot 5.5 grs behind a Keiths 250 gr FB bullet, in a 1885 WG 476 caliber and that was in a 45 Colt case, Mine can chamber 45 colts tho was never chambered in 45 colt. ( Starline solid head brass case) i started with 5 grs then went to 5.5 and 5.7 is there max load.
It worked EX.

Try it you will be hooked. hey it smells nice to.

Im gona do some Chrnos of the loads but its got more snap than unique. Beter Penatration to! :)

I have no clue how to compare 4 grs of TB to BP
Just load it to TB specks or Guess as best ya can if they dont list 455.
Start low work up. I did and the stuffs designed for us so presures looked great!
Cases extracted primers looked ex!

Mind you i noticed now when i shoot at the range the benches on each side of me are always Vacant LOL
Mainly when i shoot my rem rolling block 50 70 pistol tho.
 
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dingus said:
Ya gota try it Grant its EX :)
I hated that about Unique how can ya get good groups when some of the powder burns and some dont depending on how you hold the gun.
I could point the barrel up or down no unburnt powder with TB.
Click to expand...

What do you think they make drier lint for? I just put a pinch of it on top of the powder to keep it against the primer.

cheers mooncoon
 
Ya OK Dryer lint i will put that on my gota get list Mooncoon :rolleyes:


Trail boss is Great Try it and save on Dryer lint! :D
But Mooncoon is probebly right! Man that dryer lint could save Unique alot!
 
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Thanks for the "heads up", Meanea. Hopefully someone in that area can pick some up.

As a ".455-aholic", I currently have nine revolvers which can digest this ammo (... see my recent nearby post about my ".455 Family", featuring eight of 'em ...) I have long been set up with quite a bit of brass, mould for "correct" 265gr. .455 bullet, and loading dies. Couldn't afford to feed the horde, otherwise! :runaway:
 
GrantR said:
Thanks for the "heads up", Meanea. Hopefully someone in that area can pick some up.

As a ".455-aholic", I currently have nine revolvers which can digest this ammo (... see my recent nearby post about my ".455 Family", featuring eight of 'em ...) I have long been set up with quite a bit of brass, mould for "correct" 265gr. .455 bullet, and loading dies. Couldn't afford to feed the horde, otherwise! :runaway:
Click to expand...
His was the short Webley II .455 I think, Shorter than 455 Colt. If you need some 455 Colt I can give you an email for some CIL and Dominion but over $125 per box. I only have the 1 .455 Colt SAA London we talked about before
Meanea
 
Thank you, Steppenwolf! :redface:

Meanea, that price is pretty steep for my Scots blood! :eek:

I actually use mostly old Dominion .455 Colt cases - which is really just a North American commercial variant of the Webley MkI case. I have a several hundred of them, so I'm not hurting .... at least for now ..... :rolleyes:
 
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