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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Webley & Scott, W.S. Army Model


tocemma

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Hello Tony,

I have a WS Army Model .455 Pistol. It is marked along the top of the barrel P. Webley and Sons London & Birmingham. Was this model commercially available during the war? I seem to be able to find very little on this particular model by googling. I have never researched this pistol. It is of course now sadly deactivated.

I have the original 1920 Firearms Act, Form 7, Firearms as Trophies, Certificate of dispensation for this pistol.

1 Webley Revolver, No 125883.

It is described as a 'trophy of the European War' It has a Metropolitan Police stamp and the date 18 March 1921.

Do you have any info on this type?

Regards

Tocemma

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The W.S. was introduced by Webley just after the turn of the century to complement their W.G. and Mark IV service revolver. It was first advertised by the Army and Navy Co-operative Stores in 1905 at a price of 91/-. The W.G. was 100/- and the Mark IV 85/-.

It was available as an Army model with fixed sights or a Bisley and Target model with adjustable sightd at 105/-. It continued to be advertised until 1916 when presumably Webley's stock of components ran out and they were fully occupied with the Mark V and VI production for the government. It went on sale again after the war and continued to be offered up until WW2, by which time the price had risen to 147/-.

Unfortunately, because Webley ran the serial numbers of these pistols in the same range as their military pistols it is difficult to date it precisely, but I would estimate 1909 or 1910 as the date of manufacture. Serial No. 122441 was sold in 1908 which is about 3000 guns ealier than yours.

If you would like to run a trace on the gun, I can put you in touch with the chap who has the Webley records and will try to locate who it was sold to, but he will charge a fee.

I suspect it belong to an officer who bought it just before the war and wanted to keep it when Firearm Certificates were introduced in 1921.

I hope that helps,

Regards

TonyE

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Tony,

Perfect, better than I expected in fact. The name of the owner is on the certificate, but this is slightly damaged so the last letters of his name are a little difficult. It looks like Towers.

I was surprised to hear that the records survive, so yes please I would like to run a search, even if it simply confirms the name on the cert. I will PM my email to you.

Many thanks for your help with this.

I'll post a photo of the pistol and cert at some point, just for interests sake. It seems to have seen a good deal of service with some holster wear, but overall is still quite crisp.

Thanks again

Tocemma

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  • 8 years later...

I'm sad to tell you Tony died, I think in 2014. We all miss him, his helpful style and his knowledge.

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Tony and tocemma,

With your permission, may I add a question regarding a Webley W.S. Army Model I have?

So sorry to hear. Posted elsewhere my questions.

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