Czech Webley Refugee

This machine seems to be in the Czech Republic, owned by a guy with a fairly extensive collection of target pistols. So at least one of these pistols resides in the Czech Republic.

Pathetic.

This battered example is in the REME. It is wrongly described and mis-identified. The rear sight is missing, and I suspect this pistol had a metal butt piece that has been sawn or torn off with a vise grips. It looks like the action is damaged as well. Bummer. Ironically, for reasons I'll get into soon (in another series of posts) it's probably one of the few W&S SS Pistols left in the UK.

My Personal Webley

I got my pistol when I was 14 years old. My family at the time owned guns, and I had a .22 rifle and a .30-30, but I kind of liked pistols. The head of the household disagreed with allowing me to purchase a pistol (with my own money, I might add), but at a gun show in the Midwest I saw a Webley Single Shot .22 pistol. I'd never seen anything like it, and was fascinated. I was used to single shot .22 rifles, so a single shot .22 pistol appealed to me.

The decision was made, actually, ironically, by the sheer length of the thing. The quote, if I recall, was, "Well, it's as long as a rifle. How much trouble could you get into with it?" It was purchased in the early 1980s for $140.00 cash, a fair amount of money for the time.

An earlier (?) example.

This pistol turned up for sale a while ago over at a guy named 'Bayonet Addict' and I lifted it for the archives. It's an older, I think, example, which actually could mean post-World War II. It's easy to see the resemblance to the Tranter in the frame shape.

The Tranter Parlor Pistol

This is an example of the Tranter Parlor Pistol; I assume it's chambered for the .22 Short and likely used most often with the BB cap, again, likely in the loading without powder in the case.
This design is the basis for the later Webley and Scott SS Pistol. I don't know the serial number (if any) of this pistol; it came up for sale some while ago, and I added the image to my archives and then promptly forgot where I got it. I have no idea how old this pistol is; I would assume prior to 1900, but who knows?

Introduction

Hi. I'm starting this blog to establish a web presence for information and stories about the Webley & Scott .22 Single Shot Pistol. I'm doing it in blog form because it's just easier for me. There will be photographs of pistols, notations of where and when pistols have come up for sale, times of when people have run across them, and other ephemera.