The "Webley" Revolver
​
Spring 2017
Caliber: .22 Long Rifle
Action: Single-Action-Only, Top-Break
Barrel Length: 5"
Capacity: 6
The Revolver with the grips removed and a clear side plate installed to see the internal parts
My take on the Webley Mk VI service revolver. I had originally thought about chambering it in .45 ACP, but I decided I didn't want to deal with moon clips, so it had to be a rimmed cartridge. The nature of top-break revolvers means the cartridges need to be fairly short to allow for easy ejection, which meant .38 special would be feasible, but difficult. So I decided to go with .22 Long Rifle, which also allowed me to use commercially available barrel liners.
The gun did turn out to be more difficult than I anticipated, however. Because the cylinder is only supported from the front, it must be a very close fit to the pin to prevent slop and jamming.
​
Being such a small cartridge, allowing for smooth extraction was difficult with my lower-quality Mk I reamers. In fact, two of the chambers are still very tight after firing and the shells will occasionally get stuck in them.
​
I had a lot of fun making this gun, the intricacy of the internal parts and the ejection mechanism made it delightfully complicated. Overall it took 55 days and approximately 150 hours of work.
​
​
Using the lessons learned from this gun, I intend to make a much more powerful .38 special version later on.
​
