When I was a youth I would often sneak downstairs to watch Sherlock Holmes with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. They usually had sidearms like this. The series had very high production values for its day and the two actors were destined to play their respective roles. Very entertaining classic programming.
I loved those films (some are lurking on RU-vid for free...): you always knew when Holmes asked Watson if he'd remembered to bring his Service Revolver, that shit was about to get real.
Authors are still to this day terminally confused about guns in general ! But most particularly with handguns, which makes me quite cross, mainly because they could do the research/ fact check on their mobile phones !it’s not hard !! And some of them seem to think it does not matter.
@@CrimeVid Yeah. It's almost as though slavish attention to accuracy with regards to firearms in literature isn't actually that important, except in the sort of books where the author's name is printed bigger than the book's title, which is normally something on the lines of "The Euripedes Protocol," or "The Archimedes Covenant," and which nobody ever admits to buying anywhere other than from charity shops.
An old WW1 and WW2 major friend (battery of 25 pounders) had a false bottom to his officers' trunk. He ignored the firearms' truce, come back to the UK and joined Bisley. I was an MOD apprentice and Bill had helped design large engines, he ended his days in our engine bay. Often he would signal me over, open his draw and show me a stripped revolver, machine pistol, etc, etc. with ammo. Without looking, he could assemble and load within seconds. Bill is no longer with us, of course, he never used 'Major' it's rather 'orf' to use it. An English gentleman if ever there was one. Tad off-topic - sorry.
I have seen and fired a full size Webley Mk 4 with this "cross bolt" safety. I think it came from Singapore and it was some kind of bank security service. Totally superfluous.
Utterly amazing. It took a while and although my first thought was this pistol is tiny it only truly dawned on me after constant repetition hammered into my brain by the narrator that this tiny 'pocket' Webley Mark IV gun was indeed tiny!!
Hey Jonathan, speaking about revolvers, you mentioned in one of the Gamespot react videos (I forgot which) that there are revolvers that eject spent casings. I'd like to know more about them if the Armouries have an example, or maybe their names so I can browse about them. Thanks, Jonathan!
Discussing pistols in fiction reminded me of Geoffrey Boothroyd and 007. Mr Boothroyd wrote to Ian Fleming to critique his choice of pistol usd by James Bond in Casino Royal (if I recall correctly). Fleming took the advice to heart and appointed Boothroyd as "Official Armourer to James Bond".
The Indian Ordnance Board model is more closely related to the Enfield No 2 in that it is not a miniature Webley mk 6 as it does not have a separate trigger guard, which leads me to a question when Webley bid for the .38 revolver and before Captain Boys revised the trigger lock work did the Webley submitted have an integral trigger guard and side plate? The changes of course led to the stolen (In Webley’s eyes at least) Enfield design? I would love to see a model of the original Webley .38 submitted pistol if one exists? Thanks Johnathan!
That's not tiny. I have my Great Grandfather's .32 Iver Johnson Safety Automatic Revolver. (A branding thing. It is not actually a semi-auto.) It is truly tiny, in .32 S&W short. It's basically the same break-top design as the Webley, but with a safety bar that drops when you pull the trigger. They used to advertise it by hitting the hammer with a bigger hammer to show it wouldn't even go off it you dropped it on the hammer. (Hence the "Safety Automatic" part of the brand.) My Great Grandfather was a school teacher in the 1920s and carried it to shoot rabbits when he rode his _horse_ the 11 miles to the school house every day. My hands are so large I find it difficult to shoot, but certainly rabbit accurate at anything up to 10 yards/meters.
Who is the intended user of, or customer for, this pistol? It's a very svelte weapon. Could the pistol grip not have been designed to be extendable when in use?
Airgunner here (no offence taken) there are several replica CO2 Webley pistols available, in both .177 and .22 (if your tin cans have been really naughty). I think we need a replica of this cute fella now.
Hey Jonathan, I just saw the previous video about the russian pump action launcher, I am writing here because you probably dont check old videos. Did you know that someone made a 3d printed version of that firearm? It is a 37mm launcher pump action, kind of like what you showed. It has a couple versions wiht longer and shorter magazines. I would love to hear what you think of it, and what you think about 3D printed firearms in general.
There's the even smaller "WP" which has a slightly less military profile than the MkIV. It comes in hammered or hammerless versions, blued or nickel and usually in .320. Glad to hear MkIVs are being produced in India. I thought Webley was only producing air weapons there.
Since 2006, Webley branded air rifles and air pistols are manufactured in Turkey by the Hatsan Arms Company, who also make their own branded range of air weapons.
Some studies done by police forces indicate a pistol (or revolver) with a safety catch reduces the incidence of a policeman being shot with his own gun that's taken off him. So for colonial police force use maybe the slightly awkward safety is a good thing.
Remember reading about the Indian gun laws, apparently as well as been strictly limited to a few designated calibres, importing forign firearms for civilians is either very strictly regulated or downright prohibited. So it's basically a captive market and those Webley clones aren't cheap. IIRC, £800/$1000+. 😮 Always facisnating as a Brit to look at other countries, obviously we've got this reputation as been one of the most anti gun places on earth, but compared to many we are pretty lucky really. 💁🏼♂️
Reminds me of the small frame .38 Special Aircrew revolvers the USAF issued for decades. Actually, this Webley would be ideal for an aircrew defense weapon: compact and with a positive safety.
A friend in the States carried an S&W Centennial Airweight in .38Special as his day-to-day gun (he had the sort of job where being discreetly armed in public was required). He really liked it for its light weight and compactness but he hated having to fire it in regular qualifications because of the perceived recoil.
Suggestion to the Royal Armouries: please add proper captions to the videos on the channel, it would be a great way to be able to teach a larger group of people and would be much appreciated by many. Thank you to everyone at the RA for this and your other series, they are all quite interesting
Thanks Jonathan and team. In the early 1970s, I do remember those Webley Mk.IV revolvers being listed in the same catalogue as their air weapons. Under UK law, air weapons ARE classed as "firearms" but are exempted from firearms certificates below muzzle energy thresholds of 6ft.lbs for pistols and 12 ft.lbs for long guns. From a technical standpoint, I would distinguish between air weapons and other types of weapons, including cartridge powered weapons. However, irrespective of the technology employed any "barrelled weapon" with a muzzle energy greater than 1 Joule is counted as a firearm in the UK Firearms Act 1968.. So bows and crossbows do not fall within that definition, but railguns would and coilguns might.
India seems to like anachronistic things. They continued making the Royal Enfield motorcycle long after the company seemed to disappear to the rest of the world (and still do), and now they have the old Webley back. 👍
Tucking your little finger under? How uncouth! Proper English firearms etiquette dictates that you hold the grip as you would a teacup, with pinky finger extended...
You talking about the lack of safeties & soft trigger pulls reminds me of an old story about a court case that went badly. A man was on trial for shooting someone in a billiard/pool hall. His defence was that he was passing the gun to someone by picking it up with a cue through the trigger guard. it slid down & the gun went off. The prosecution didn't believe it & asked for a demonstration in court. The gun was brought in & with the pool cue & the defence lawyer demonstrated. Unfortunately the gun hadn't been cleared & he proved it could happen as the gun went off, shooting someone in court. Gun safety & safeties are important!
There's another similarly legendary case in which former Ohio congressman and lawyer Clement Vallandigham attempted to prove in court that his defendant was innocent of a bar-room shooting by demonstrating that the victim had in fact accidentally shot himself when his gun caught on his clothes as he stood up. Vallandigham reenacted the motions, not realising that the gun he'd chosen to do so with was in fact loaded, and shot himself in exactly the same manner as described. The defendant was acquitted and Vallandigham died from his injuries the following day.
@@BrynTheWizard The crueller amongst us may think it a win - win. The defendant goes free & one less lawyer in the world. 😄 being brought up in the UK it was really hammered home that gun safety was paramount. So I always find it odd that in such a gun soaked culture like the US that people can be a bit lax on the subject. Cheers for the story though, I like these little nuggets of history.
Ironically, I was watching Ice Station Zebra yesterday and (Ernest Borgnine), who plays Boris Vaslov in the film. Was wielding this exact same revolver in the scene near the climax od the film, where he knocks Jones out and then holds Lieutenant Webson at gunpoint to get attack him, then he shoots him wirh this gun! Such a cool and iconic piece of militaty and cinmatic history!
Why is there not an arrangement like the British Library has? An example of every new Firearm produced by a British firm to be deposited with the Royal Armouries? Or even just a posh logo 'Example deposited with the Royal Armouries' made available to firms who do just that to use in their publicity. Worth a try?
Had a look on Webly India's website & they're still doing the MK IV pocket with the short/compact grip. Comes in a nice wooden presentation case too. They are also doing a MK IV with long/standard grips & lanyard ring, both in .32 S&W Long as you said. Always enjoyed firing my Webly when we were still allowed them. Some think they're a clunky old design, but I liked the feel & look of them.
@@brittakriep2938 That was true for government made firearms but recently the government liberalized the industry and allowed private manufacturers, so someone bought Webley brand licence as Webley was very popular in 2nd hand market and made them here. Since they are a private manufacturer the quality is good. Now they are also selling .45 1911 pistols.
@@SurajSinghTomarArya :Your Name Sounds very indian, so your comment is believeable. I also have noticed that there , that an assumingly private company started production of pistols ( revolvers are a dibcategory of pistols) in India under name Webley. I am no expert , german gunlaw is restrictive, but: A pistol in.45 Acp with only seven cartridges seems a bit dated. Pistols in .32 Acp are also dated, and revolvers in .32 S&W Long are also dated ( in late 1940s FBI ended use of .32 S&W ). In my oppinion the .45 Acp pistol of , Webley ' company is totally outdated for modern civilian use. The .32 Acp should be replaced by .380 Acp, and .32 S&Wlong should be replaced by .38 S&W, .38 Special or .32 H&R Magnum., or .455 Webley. The ( to few!) indian citizens who can buy firearms should be able to be equiped with with firearms, useable for selfdefence.
@@brittakriep2938 Most people buying a 1911 these days probably aren't planning to carry it for self-defense; in modern clothing, a handgun that big and square would be as obvious as trying to shoplift a microwave oven.
Ah, yes, a nice Webley revolver, and of course another interesting and informative video from John, however, as always, my eye get's pulled to the weapons on the rack behind him, and just look at all those lovely EM2's.....
I think it's prudent to say, for those that may not know, that whilst not firearms in the sense that airguns don't go "bang", in UK law airguns are indeed firearms.
The Maltese Falcon movie of 1941 opens with private detective Miles Archer being murdered with a Webley-Fosbery 'automatic' revolver. When I found out how the thing actually worked I thought to myself, "That could only come from the mind of an Englishman." BTW, the Webley-Fosbery is also featured in the movie Zardoz where as an added bonus you get to see Sean Connery in a diaper.
Still think this is a case of the giant curator. i like to think jonathan stalks the exhibits, rarely emerging like some mythical BFG of the Armouries.
Really interesting. One small point. as I'm sure you are aware, our odd gun laws do regard air weapons as firearms. In cases of misuse, you may be prosecuted under firearms legislation and if you have an air rifle with a power above 12 foot pounds you need a firearms certificate.
I would love to spend a week picking your brain. They need to go ahead and Knight seeing as it's about the only way your title could be cooler than it already is. Peace & Long Life
My pop pop who was from Ireland bought my granny who is from Poland one of these and she didn't like it for some reason and switched to an American top break .32 from iver Johnson. 84 years old and she still lives by her .32 in the purse lol
In the world of concealed carry, this size is perfect in .38 special. Also it is reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes and doctor Watson's pistols in the overcoat pocket carry.
Always wanted a Webley revolver, when Webley India announced theirs I had hopes of getting a new one but so far no sign that they are going to be imported into the US.
I was involved with doing some work for W&S a few years ago (Probably 2015-2016) when they were going to do a reissue of the MKIV (Service model I guess) manufactured in India - I believe mainly aimed at the US market. At the time they were trying to get pre-sales. They first tried to do so on eBay (eBay rejected this as it was firearm related). They did have a website advertising these guns.
Looking at the current Indian Webley site - I suspect they are 100% Indian based - the poorly drawn logo and bad English use 'Make in India' point heavily in that direction.
@@mattvanderwalt6220Wrong. "Make in India" isn't bad English, its the name of official Indian policy of promoting domestic manufacturing. It's common to see this written on products but it's referring to the name of policy that promoted such ventures. Yes the Webley India is 100% Indian.
What always interested me in the Webley revolvers were those flanges in front of the cylinder. I assume they are to spread the hosler when inserting the gun. But no other revolver seems to use them, or even need them.
Other revolvers might need these flanges as well, but I don't see how they could be implemented. With any gate-loader you can only get it on one side, because ejector rod needs to run on the other. With swing-out cylinder one of those flanges has to be put on the crane, adding weight, and thus inducing additional wear on the locking mechanism, and it would also hamper ejection.
Anderson Wheeler was making them in .357 a while back. Problem is they're all so old that Americans have been shaving and wrecking already-shonky war production models with .45 ACP. Don't even get me started on Indian manufacturing standards.
I saw a short barrel Webley .38 here in the USA and thought that this had its barrel shortened. The revolver also had been nickel plated. I was unaware that any shorty versions had been produced for the military. Then I saw, again, the film THE THIRD MAN. This movie was filmed in Vienna shortly after the war and dealt with British occupation MP investigating Black Market sales of penicillin. The MP was using a short barreled Webley.
