|
|
Post by tinkerpearce on Feb 17, 2019 12:38:50 GMT -5
A buddy of mine came across this one, and I swapped it off of him for a hand-made belt knife. Belgian, chambered for .380 Webley- looks like I'll be making more heel-base bullets... It's in decent condition overall, just needs the trigger-return spring replaced. This is common for guns like this; after a century or so the often break and fall out. Fortunately it's dead-easy to fabricate a replacement; I've done it for a couple of other guns. It's in pretty good shape, though the bore and chambers were pretty dirty when I got it. After cleaning the chambers look great, and there is only a little mild pitting in the bore; nothing to be concerned over. Lock-up is tight, and the trigger is super-smooth. The single-action notch is worn and will not hold the hammer back, but it has the Webley-style trigger safety so the firing pin cannot strike the primer unless the trigger is fully pulled, so there is no urgency to fix it for safety reasons. Overall it's a nice little revolver. I slugged the bore, and it came to .365", with the chamber-mouths running an average of .369". I'll be making a set-up to swage the heel-base bullets from lead 125gr .357" bullets; I'll have to squish them to get full diameter in the die but that's not been a problem before so it ought to work fine. The Proof Marks indicate that this gun was made between 1894-1902, but there is one mark I cannot pin down. It looks familiar, but I cannot seem to find a reference to it. Here's a sketch-  I intend to research the manufacturer, but this will be a pretty labor-intensive project. Anyway, here's the gun- ![]()   |
|
|
|
Post by bradshaw on Feb 17, 2019 12:54:34 GMT -5
A buddy of mine came across this one, and I swapped it off of him for a hand-made belt knife. Belgian, chambered for .380 Webley- looks like I'll be making more heel-base bullets... It's in decent condition overall, just needs the trigger-return spring replaced. This is common for guns like this; after a century or so the often break and fall out. Fortunately it's dead-easy to fabricate a replacement; I've done it for a couple of other guns. It's in pretty good shape, though the bore and chambers were pretty dirty when I got it. After cleaning the chambers look great, and there is only a little mild pitting in the bore; nothing to be concerned over. Lock-up is tight, and the trigger is super-smooth. The single-action notch is worn and will not hold the hammer back, but it has the Webley-style trigger safety so the firing pin cannot strike the primer unless the trigger is fully pulled, so there is no urgency to fix it for safety reasons. Overall it's a nice little revolver. I slugged the bore, and it came to .365", with the chamber-mouths running an average of .369". I'll be making a set-up to swage the heel-base bullets from lead 125gr .357" bullets; I'll have to squish them to get full diameter in the die but that's not been a problem before so it ought to work fine. The Proof Marks indicate that this gun was made between 1894-1902, but there is one mark I cannot pin down. It looks familiar, but I cannot seem to find a reference to it. Here's a sketch- I intend to research the manufacturer, but this will be a pretty labor-intensive project. Anyway, here's the gun- ![]() ***** tinkerpiece.... perhaps you will speculate on how the rifling was cut, as barrel and frame seems to be one piece. Reckon the frame is drop forged. And, without a sideplate, how was the frame cut for lockwork? What is that part behind the trigger? I’d like to hear your take, David Bradshaw |
|
|
|
Post by tinkerpearce on Feb 17, 2019 13:20:53 GMT -5
tinkerpiece.... perhaps you will speculate on how the rifling was cut, as barrel and frame seems to be one piece. Reckon the frame is drop forged. And, without a sideplate, how was the frame cut for lockwork? What is that part behind the trigger? I’d like to hear your take, David Bradshaw I imagine that the rifling was broached; Lock the frame in a fixture, bore the barrel and run in a screw-driven head or button. By the point this gun was made Webley had been doing so for decades on their solid-frame guns. I'm actually fairly sure that the frame and barrel were cast as a unit. Looking at the particulars of the design I can't really see another way that it might have been done; there are a few places where I can't figure out how they could be machined even with modern equipment. Casting steel for revolver frames was a mature and well-understood technology by the 1890s; some companies had been doing it since before the Civil War. With a good cast 'blank' and some simple machining it would be fairly easy to create this frame. The piece immediately behind the trigger is part of the hammer-safety mechanism. When the trigger is returned to the forward position it works against this piece to cam the hammer back to a safety notch so that the firing-pin isn't resting on a primer. It's the reason these and similar guns could be carried fully loaded rather than having the hammer down on an empty chamber. |
|
bones
.30 Stingray
Posts: 142
|
Post by bones on Feb 17, 2019 18:31:34 GMT -5
More proof that I'd like to have TinkerP as a neighbor, so I could check out all of these projects of his first hand! The intricate mechanics of that little revolver sound fascinating!
|
|
|
|
Post by tinkerpearce on Feb 17, 2019 19:26:20 GMT -5
I did manage to identify the maker- Antione Bertrand, who made guns in Liege from 1886-1900.
|
|
