It seems a great many of these fine pistols were held by Pistol Clubs in the UK. For those unaware of (previous) UK pistol laws, a brief overview is that you had to first join a club and demonstrate proficiency with 'a pistol' BEFORE being able to purchase a handgun. Therefore, clubs typically had 'loaners' held by the club itself, probably on members' or multiple members' licenses, for use by applicants and new members looking to get a pistol license.
And, you DID have to have a special license or endorsement on a firearms license to buy or possess a pistol. Legally, in the UK, ALL PISTOLS were registered/listed/made known to the Government, in specific, including who owned them, where they were stored, and how much ammunition (roughly) was on hand for them.
Therefore, most clubs had a few loaners, usually single-shot .22s, there for the purpose of safely teaching pistol handling to people. They were sometimes Czech, sometimes Russian, etc. But traditionally there were a great many Webley Single Shot Pistols held in clubs in the UK. These were, of course, all duly and responsibly registered/listed with the Home Office/Government.
So, when the UK decided to ban handguns (for most practical purposes) all those fine pistols were conveniently located for simple and easy confiscation; and they, for the most part, were.
The WSS wasn't terribly popular outside the UK, being too expensive, irrelevant to most other countries' pistol laws, etc. so I strongly suspect the majority of these pistols never left the Islands; and consequently the Government snapped them up and destroyed them. There are a few left in the UK (more on that later), but the vast majority of what's left of the production is whatever filtered out of the Islands before the Big Crushing.
So; this relatively innocuous, accurate, finely made, delightful (and eminently useful) pistol went from being considered "common" (as described by a former pistol shooter in the UK) to being, now, very likely the very rarest of all Webley products. There are very few left.
If you have one, you're fortunate.
i own this rare pistol brand new only test fired 4 times is very easy to use very accurate, the trigger guard is the lever that break opens the barrel for insertion of round, snaps shut manually cocked automatically ejects the spent cartridge for next round. superb design for endless use.
ReplyDeleteThis rare pistol is for sale contact me on 8588997001, it is a collectors item very easily snapped up by pawn shopa in UK
ReplyDeleteHi there, my Dad owns one of these in Australia, and we are looking to find out some more info to try and trace its age and lineage. its in very good condition can post photos if someone can tell me how to??
ReplyDeleteMy name is Jason FYI, (came up as UNKNOWN on the post), I just set this account up to post on this blog, as it was the only resource I could find to discuss this amazing old pistol.
DeleteMy name is Jason FYI, (came up as UNKNOWN on the post), I just set this account up to post on this blog, as it was the only resource I could find to discuss this amazing old pistol.
DeleteHi there, my Dad owns one of these in Australia, and we are looking to find out some more info to try and trace its age and lineage. its in very good condition can post photos if someone can tell me how to??
ReplyDeleteBonjour, je possède un de ces rare pistolet, en parfait état. Il est équipé d’une crosse ergonomique. C’est un bonheur de l’utiliser.
ReplyDeleteHi, yes they were very common in the UK and very cheap! I remember buying mine in about 1984 for a massive £50. It was one of the most accurate pistols I ever shot. Can somebody resolve a question for me? Some of us were having an argument about how the pistol locked. As far as I remember it was the trigger guard that locked the barrel down. Can somebody who still has one of these in there hand confirm this it's been a jolly long time since the ban. Oh somewhere I still have a pair of original plastic grips for a mark 3 they are about as much use to me as a bicycle is to a fish. Does anybody with a mkiii with non original grips need them
ReplyDeleteJust picked one of these up in Canada, has a horrible set of aftermarket target grips. Will be looking for a set of original replacements. Mine is quite 'well loved' but the barrel seems quite sharp.
DeleteHow is this possible? This is my own Blog and I can't access anything.
ReplyDelete