Just bought my first revolvers.

[FCRPhila]

Bought a Colt Official Police .38 Spl and a Webley MkIV .38 S&W. Shot the Colt today, performed beautifully. Webley I couldn't find ammo for and also the cylinder is a tad loose for my liking so I think I'll be visiting a gunsmith before I fire it.

[Dave_n]

The Webley Mk IV 380 uses 38 S$W cartridges. The commercial ones are 146 grain lead rather than the 178 grain FMJs or 200 grain lead that the UK Forces designed it for. All Webleys appear to have loose cylinders to people who are not used to them. These guns are unique in that they lock up on trigger pulling. There is a stop bolt that comes up from below and locks the cylinder as the trigger is pulled. The way to test any Webley is to pull the trigger on a cocked hammer and then holding the trigger back, see if you can move the cylinder (rotating it). There is always a little fore and aft play but there should not be any side to side. Do this for each cylinder. How do I know ? I have 4 of the Mk IVs in 0.;380, 4 MK VIs (3 cut for 0.45 ACP and one still in 0.455) and the Enfield step child of the Mk VI in 0.45 ACP.

If you do not like your Mk IV then I might be willing to purchase it from you depending upon its condition. Since I have a C&R, the transfer can be face to face as it is on the C&R List. Dave_n

[FCRPhila]

It does lock up upon cocking however there still is a little play right-left in the cylinder and no play back and forth

[Dave_n]

Does it have any play when you pull the trigger and hold it back. A degree or two left and right is not a problem. Dave_n

[FCRPhila]

when the trigger is pulled the cylinder is solid as a rock

[Dave_n]

Webley "strikes again"!!! Now you can see what I meant by my comments. What I would do is to reload for the Webley. Since you are in Philly, you are relatively close to Roger's Better Bullets" (he is an advertiser as well) in King of Prussia. Roger will make 180 grain flat point lead bullets for you, sized at 0.360. Buy Starline 38 S&W cases (directly from Starline, much cheaper), then using a simple Lee press you can reload using Lee 38 S&W dies. I literally have reloaded thousands this way. Cheap, a little tedious, but fun as you will find them to be at POA at 7 to 10 yds. Dave_n

[FCRPhila]

My Mk IV has a serial number 103xxx. Would you happen to know how old it is?

[Dave_n]

the first WWII revolvers were serialed around 44,389 and went through to 171,718. All of these should have "War Finish" stamped on the side as Webley were worried that they would be mistaken for their commercial models. Postwar numbers had A and B prefixes. There were some MkIII's which can be distinguished by a different grip that had safety's on them behind the hammer (rectangular pin) that were Singapore Police Force guns. There are a batch that have just come in that have a tubular safety in front of the hammer. These safeties were put in by the importer not Webley. Dave_n

[FCRPhila]

So would you say this one is about mid wwii, like 1942ish?

[Hugazombie]

I bought a Mark IV Webley on whim awhile ago, it was cheap and had a unique look to it. I cut down some 38 special cases and they fireformed nicely once I shot them. Then I used 38 S&W .360 180gr bullets from Kings Shooter Supply in KOP in the newly formed cases.







And yes it's normal that the cylinder is very loose, hence the nickname Wobbly Webley but it should lock up tight like a Colt Python once you pull the trigger.