You know what would be awesome?

If someone would make a modern reproduction of the Webley Mk VI, chambered in .45 ACP. Sure, you can get a surplus one for $300-$600 depending on the condition, but sometimes shooting those old guns makes people feel guilty. And let’s be honest, who here hasn’t wanted to grab a Webley after seeing Indiana Jones run around shooting Nazis with one in The Last Crusade?

Sure, it’s an ugly British gun shooting a big fat bullet that goes really slow, but come on…it just screams “foreign adventures”.

15 Comments

  1. I can’t asy I every really gave it a lot of examination, but I always thought the gun Jones throws into his suitcase as he tells Marcus “I always take precautions.” (or something to that effect) was a S&W. Was it a Webley?

  2. It would probably be too expensive to make nowdays. Too many parts and too much labor involved. The average person would have no idea of what it is. It’s appeal mostly would be to folks who appreciate quality old revolvers.

  3. Hank, throughout the movies, Indy uses several revolvers. In Raiders, he has an S&W, in the Last Crusade he also has an S&W, and in later scenes, the Webley Mk VI.

  4. Curse you for showing me yet another pretty toy I would never have cause to fork over the substantial price for.

  5. I have never understood what is so ugly about the Webley. At least it doesn’t look like a S&W like every other revolver made since the turn of the century, last century that is.

    Labor to expensive? I hear tell the Indians still make copies in .32. Or even better, machine the pieces and let me put them together myself. Cut out the assembly labor completely.

  6. FYI, there was a discussion sometime ago about shooting .45 ACP in a Webley and there was some question about whether a Webley was strong enough to handle factory .45 ACP on a continuing basis

  7. I would so buy one of those, i’m working really hard to not to go buy a webley in .38 s&w that’s sitting in the local shop.

  8. “Sure, it’s an ugly British gun…”

    Heretic! But I also think the Ruger SRH is a good looking weapon, and I guess that’s unusual too.

    The path of least resistance would be 45 auto rim, but people are stupid, and they’ll load it to 45 ACP pressures and beyond. (This is assuming new build out of modern materials, not rechambering.)

    It would be cool, though, to have a Mk VI and not worry about getting replacement parts–say, if you accidentally drop it and it hits the steel bed frame instead of the yellow comforter, for example.

  9. Wow, this came up at work today. Someone asked if my Webley No.1 Mk.1 was a replica. Response: “Hell yeah, so I could shoot it more.”

    Fixed firing pin = new hammer if it breaks. Not my idea of a good time.

    I saw a scary kB! pic of a MkVI firing standard pressure .45 ACP on a British militaria forum. I suppose you could keep a moon clip or two of standard pressure DPX around for the nightstand and cook up something warmish for shooting. If you’re enough of a nerd to own a Webley, surely you are enough of a nerd to reload. Trail Boss, methinks.

  10. The idea sounds cool. However me thinks I will wait for the real thing. Webley Mark IV. However I probably would feen guilty about shooting it. Probably would have to take up reloading to feed it though.

  11. About 30 years ago Jeff Cooper had the same thought about the Smith and Wesson Scofield/Russian, also a top break revolver. Then about 20 years ago he made the observation that the Krag rifle was the smoothest bolt action he’d tried.
    In both cases the problem was late 20th century powders were way more powerful then the 19th century design and metal could stand up to. The Krag uses a single locking lug. His suggestion was to put the metalurgist ‘s to work.
    The suggestion still stand.

  12. Someone does make one, in India… err, not an exact replica but one based around the Enfield revolver, which itself was based on the Webley design. There’s a couple of other minor details to consider – it’s available only in .32 S&W Long, and it is made by a government owned monopolist so it costs a a bit more than the original, in fact it costs helluva lot more than the original – about US$ 1,400/- at current exchange rates.

    More information on the following thread – http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=2298

    Cheers!
    Abhijeet

    P.S. Did I mention that the build quality leaves a lot to be desired?

    P.P.S. Also there is no way to legally export an example out of India!

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