value of Webley Mark 1?

rjeffers

August 21, 2003 19:07

My brother has a Webley Mark 1 .455 revolver that was given to him by a deceased uncle. Does anyone have a guess at the value of this revolver? He has just recently began to study the history of this gun, and thinks he may have a nice remembrance of our late uncle. Any replies appreciated!

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  Python

  August 21, 2003 22:15

  rjeffers;
  The Webley MarkI revolvers are like any other old gun. Condition is everything. It must be in good to excellent condition, complete and original in every respect. The Webleys have never garnered great collector interest, lately however, this seems to be changing. If you can post a few pictures and post the markings and proofs along with there location, We should be able togive you a close estimate of it's value,& date of manufacture. The markings are nessesary to determine which revolver you actually have. The serial number range will be needed as well, i.e. 413xx, not the complete number, together with any prefix or suffix letter.
  
  Kill all the lawyers and the world will be much better for it.

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  rufe-snow

  August 21, 2003 23:05

  The Mark 1 was the first "Mark" of a long line of .455 Webleys used as service pistols by the British military. It dates from the late 1880's and had short production run. It's quite singular in appearance because of the "shoulder" behind the hammer on the "bird's head" grip, the latter "Marks" didn't have this "shoulder".
  Because of it's short production run and appearance, it's a quite desireable collectors piece.
  Unfortunately many of the .455 Webleys of all "Marks" that were sold as surplus here after the War had the rear of their cylinders machined to take .45 Auto Ammo in half moon clips. This has a very negitive affect on their collectors value. As far as the Mark 1 was concerned it was also potentially dangerous, as the Mark 1 was designed and used with Black Powder Cartridges.

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  Xracer

  August 22, 2003 07:04

  The approximate value of your Mk.I Webley is:
  
  V.G. - $500
  Good - $350
  Fair - $250
  
  As Rufe Snow says, the Mk.I was originally designed (in 1892) for black powder, but in 1894 the propellant was changed to Cordite, so the gun is safe for low-powered smokeless powder loads. However, ammunition for it is likely to be very hard to find.
  
  If it's been modified to shoot .45ACP, remember, original factory loads for this pistol were in the 600-700 fps range....so no hot loads for this old lady, please.

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