After much debate(much of it on this forum) nearly 9 months ago about the merits of restoring a fine old antique that although mechanically perfect was lets say "hard on the eyes".
I did my research, including letters to England and I could find no significant provenance that would potentially sway me from altering the more than "honest" appearance. I wanted a restoration for her not just a refinish(there is a difference).
As I did not feel sufficiently experienced to competently tackle the job my quest was to find a gunny who could. Interestingly, it was very difficult to find one in Canada and ultimately I had to look stateside. I am glad I went trough the effort of finding and experienced gunny that does period restoration and not just reblues. The restoration was meticulously thorough that culminated with an exceptional period correct high shine carbonia or charcoal finish and all markings prominently and perfectly intact.
After a decent wait, I finally got my nearly 120 year old Webley WG Army model .455 back. I have absolutely no regrets as this refreshed look just naturally complements her existing like new mechanicals and a superbly accurate barrel.
This is probably one of my best target shooters even compared to my modern bullseye handguns. Not too surprising, as according to my reference material the Webley WG target models within context of international period bullseye competitions were arguably one of the most winning/succesful target handguns including anything that Colt or Remington could produce during this time.
Of course because I know we all like pictures I had to show her off in her undies as I think she looks darn ###y.
Enjoy the peep show genetleman
I did my research, including letters to England and I could find no significant provenance that would potentially sway me from altering the more than "honest" appearance. I wanted a restoration for her not just a refinish(there is a difference).
As I did not feel sufficiently experienced to competently tackle the job my quest was to find a gunny who could. Interestingly, it was very difficult to find one in Canada and ultimately I had to look stateside. I am glad I went trough the effort of finding and experienced gunny that does period restoration and not just reblues. The restoration was meticulously thorough that culminated with an exceptional period correct high shine carbonia or charcoal finish and all markings prominently and perfectly intact.
After a decent wait, I finally got my nearly 120 year old Webley WG Army model .455 back. I have absolutely no regrets as this refreshed look just naturally complements her existing like new mechanicals and a superbly accurate barrel.
This is probably one of my best target shooters even compared to my modern bullseye handguns. Not too surprising, as according to my reference material the Webley WG target models within context of international period bullseye competitions were arguably one of the most winning/succesful target handguns including anything that Colt or Remington could produce during this time.
Of course because I know we all like pictures I had to show her off in her undies as I think she looks darn ###y.
Enjoy the peep show genetleman
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