Webley MK VI .45 ACP Collectible
Possibly the best and most graceful regulation six-gun used by any military service!
Anybody who can watch the movie “Zulu” without wanting to own a Webley revolver is made of sterner stuff than me. I fell in love with the big breaktop revolvers when I saw the movie for the first time at the tender age of 10. It was a long time before I found out that the Brits didn’t even use Webley service revolvers until eight years after the Zulu war of 1879. And certainly they shouldn’t have had a Word War I era Webley MK VI on hand. So much for Hollywood’s historical accuracy, but, by the time I learned that sad fact, the damage was already done. My psyche was indelibly imprinted with the image of the big Webley as the quintessential handgun of the British Empire. And I had to have one.
It took close to 30 years to satisfy that craving, but eventually a Mk VI Webley crossed my path at an estate sale. The rest, as they say, is history. The MK VI Webley represents the end of the evolutionary line for big bore service revolvers in Great Britain. And I would rate it as the best regulation revolver used by any military service…ever.
Strong words, I know. And as a Colt Single Action Army fan, they are a bit hard to say, but facts are facts. Starting in 1887 with the MK I, Webley service revolvers had all the features a fighting man could ask for. They were robust, reliable and accurate. They fired a big, .45 caliber bullet with enough force to put down an enemy, but without excessive power. So they were both effective and easy to control, even when firing with one hand. Webleys could be fired double action when things were close and hairy, or single action when time allowed, or distance dictated the need. Their top-break design, with automatic ejection, allowed soldiers to clear empties quickly with one hand.
From the Mk I through MK V, Webley revolvers followed the same basic pattern; four-inch barrels, birds head, rounded grips and front sights machined integral with the barrel. Each model exhibited some evolutionary improvements, with the 1913 MK V being proofed for smokeless powder. In 1915 Webley introduced a major redesign with the MK VI. The birds head grip was out; replaced with a hand-filling, squared grip, and the hammer spur was modified. The barrel was lengthened to six inches and was topped with a removable front sight blade.
For all its size, the Webley MK VI is a graceful sixgun. The barrel is slender with an integral top rib. The sights are big and easy to pick up. The rear sight is milled into the top of the frame latch, and it offers two sighting options; a very broad “U” for fast shooting and above a fine “U” for more careful aiming. The hammer spur is positioned to make thumb cocking effortless. You could cock this gun on the draw just like a Colt Single Action if you were of a mind to.
The top-break design is often cited as a knock against the Webley. American firms like Colt and Smith & Wesson were producing solid frame designs with swing-out cylinders during the same period. And there is no question that solid framed revolvers are stronger than top-break revolvers. I wouldn’t want to shoot a .44 Magnum round out of a Webley, but for rounds like the .455 or the .45 ACP the difference in strength between the two designs is moot. If you aren’t shooting magnum class loads, a top-break is every bit as good as a solid frame revolver, and top breaks are faster to reload.
My Webley is no show piece. It is an honest, well worn veteran, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Like a lot of Webley revolvers that were imported into the States, my specimen has had the cylinder cut back to accept .45 ACP cartridges loaded into moon clips. These are thin steel shims that lock around the extractor groove of a .45 ACP round. The round then headspaces on the clip. And revolvers’ star extractors are able to bear on the clips to kick the rounds out. Moon clips come in three configurations; two-round, which are great for cartridge belt loops, three-rounds, which are the classic half-moon configuration from World War I, and six-round full moon clips. The full moon are my favorites. They are like speed loaders, only faster. I usually load up a dozen or more of these before going out to the range. When you get the hang of it, a Webley with full moon clips can almost give a 1911 a run for its money.
A number of sources can supply you with moon clips. I get mine from Ranch Products in Malinta, Ohio. They also make a dandy device that looks something like a church key style can opener that is used to unload moon clips. Moon clips are cheap and small. I store a couple of dozen of them in an old .22 long rifle ammo box. That many 1911 magazines would take up a shelf of their own in my shop.
If you are examining a Webley you can tell at a glance if it’s been modified to .45 ACP by looking at the serial numbers on the cylinder. If you can see the complete serial number, it is an un-modified revolver, chambered for .455 Webley cartridges. But, if the bottoms of the digits are cut off, then you have a .45 ACP specimen.
There are both good and bad aspects to the .45 ACP conversions. On the bad side of the ledger is the sacrilege committed by changing a piece of history. And there are some people who will claim that Webleys so modified are unsafe due to the higher pressures of .45 ACP ammo. If I came across an unmodified .455 MK VI I’d buy it in a heartbeat, and I wouldn’t consider modifying it. But I’ve been shooting my Webley with .45 ACP ammo for well over 10 years and it is perfectly capable of handling reasonable .45 ACP loads. I have friends with nineteenth century Webleys that are modified for .45 ACP that have fired thousands of rounds without ill effects. Though under no circumstances would I shoot +P rounds in a Webley.
On the plus side of the ledger, .45 ACP ammo is obviously easier to find at the sporting goods store than .455 Webley rounds. I have thousands of pieces of .45 ACP brass for reloading, and I don’t think I’ve bought any of it. I pick it up off the range for free almost every time I go to shoot.
Unfortunately I had to handload for the Webley to get the kind of accuracy I’d expect from a great revolver. Because the .455 Webley bullet is a bit bigger than the .452 inch .45 ACP bullet, hardball ammo only groups into 3 inches for me at 15 yards. That’s OK, but not what I like to see. By handloading with .454 inch semi-wadcutter bullets I’m able to get one to two inch groups that print right at the Webley’s point of aim.
For half a dozen years my Webley earned its keep as a home defense gun. Even though I carry a compact 1911 every day, I prefer double action revolvers as house guns. And the big Webley fits the bill perfectly. That sewer pipe sized bore flanked by big, .45 caliber flat faced bullets are very visible, and very serious, looking when viewed from the business end.
So for years the Webley resided in my sock drawer, and it was what I reached for when things went bump in the night. But experts like Massad Ayoob have demonstrated pretty convincingly that surviving the attack isn’t much good if you don’t survive the subsequent court case. And handloaded ammo is a great way to go down in court.
Unfortunately, since I wasn’t satisfied with the Webley’s performance with factory .45 ACP, I was forced to reluctantly retire it from sock drawer duty. I relegated the old Webley to plinking at the range; which seemed like an ignominious mission for a fine old soldier.
But this story has a happy ending. Black Hills Ammunition has started producing .45 Autorim ammo for revolvers chambered for .45 ACP. This is a boon for Webley shooter like me, and for anyone with a fine old 1917 revolver or even a new S&W Model 25. Autorim brass has a thick rim, allowing it to headspace on the rim the way .45 ACP rounds head space on the moon clips.
The Black Hills Autorim rounds are topped by 255-grain lead semi-wadcutter bullets, just like my handloads. And boy do they shoot. I clocked them at 732 feet per second from the Webley’s six inch barrel. If I did my part I could keep all my shots in a one-inch circle, shooting off-hand at 15 yards in single action mode. And, if I didn’t do my part so well, groups were closer to two inches. Those big slugs hit dead-on at the point of aim. Shooting rapid fire in double action mode at 10 yards I was shooting three to four inch groups. Not exactly national record class, but it will do just fine in a fire fight.
These Black Hills factory rounds almost exactly matched the performance of my handloads. My rounds are loaded with 5.1 grains of Hodgdon’s HP-38 powder and a Federal large pistol primer pushing a 255-grain, .454, lead semi-wadcutter from the National Bullet Company. My handloads averaged 757 feet per second and averaged one and a half inch groups. For what it’s worth, Black Hills standard 230-grain hardball ammo averaged 897 feet per second in the Webley, and produced three-inch groups that printed two and a half inches below the point of aim from 15 yards.
These Black Hills Autorim rounds can also be useful to anyone with a Webley or a 1917 Colt who wants to try shooting in a Wild Bunch match. Wild Bunch matches are kind of like IPSC meets Cowboy Action Shooting. They are based on the time period of the Mexican Revolution, and, while most people think of them as 1911 matches, they allow you to compete with most pre-1918 revolvers. Whether you use an autoloader or a revolver, bullets have to be lead. Jacketed ammo is a safety hazard when you’re shooting at steel plates. The Black Hills Autorim is factory made ammo that fits the bill perfectly.
No pistol is complete without a holster to carry it. I have the original, full-flap, military holster for my Webley, but it isn’t what I’d choose to carry. I’ve got a few holsters that I like for the Webley. The first one might surprise you because it is an Uncle Mike’s Side Kick shoulder holster from Michael’ of Oregon. Though I don’t carry the Webley as a concealed weapon, I like this holster if I’m taking the Webley to the range and I don’t want to remove my CCW belt holster. The nylon holster is comfortable to wear. It fits the Webley well and it doesn’t interfere with anything on my belt.
When I do wear the Webley on a gunbelt I usually use a generic model 1100 holster from Hunter. It’s a good solid rig that looks appropriate to the era of the gun. But I have to confess that my favorite holster for the Webley is one I have just for Wild Bunch matches. It is a combination of a Kansas Drop holster and a Texas Jock Strap holster. It was designed by my friend Jay Harrell, and it positions the big Webley with the top of the grip just about even with the bottom of my gunbelt for a comfortable, natural draw. If you’re interested in one for your revolver, Rod Kibler Saddlery in Alto, Georgia can put one together for you. He’s made up Kansas Drop rigs to Jay’s designs before and his work is outstanding.
So, thanks to Black Hill Autorim ammo, my old Webley is out of retirement and back on guard duty in the sock drawer. And I’m sleeping soundly knowing it’s there if I need it.
Specifications:
Webley MK VI
Caliber: .45 ACP
Barrel: 6 inches
OA Length: 11 ½ inches
Weight: 2 lbs 4 oz
Grips: two-piece hard rubber
Sights: Fixed
Action: Double action revolver
Capacity: six rounds
Points of contact:
Black Hills Ammunition
PO Box 3090
Rapid City, SD 57709-3090
605-348-5150
Michaels of Oregon Co.
P.O. Box 1690
1710 Red Soils Court
Oregon City, Oregon 97045
(800) 548-0446
Rod Kibler Saddlery
473 Mud Creek Rd.
Alto, GA 30510
706-778-3753
Hunter Company Inc.
3300 West 71st Avenue
Westminster, CO 80030
800-676-4868