Webley Mark VI replica

[filfoster]

WW2 British officer's impressions and displays and of course, Indiana Jones displays need a good Webley Mark IV. Until now, there haven't been any good metal replicas except originals which cost dear. (I know because I bought one!).
www.keystonearsenal.com has just introduced full metal copies. Only a few were just received as prototypes for the full production run. These are shown on the 'WWII' replica pages of the site.
I just got their Indy Colt and Indy Smith & Wesson and although the painted finish is OK and the wooden grips are crude (but real wood), a half hour spent with some very fine steel wool and 1600 wet sandpaper to smooth and weather the painted metal finish will yield very fine looking, large and hefty blank firing replicas, fit for a jungle adventure.
The grips could easily be swapped out for better ones-undrilled to match up the holes-and I may do that later on.
I'm not shilling for this site but I always appreciate a tip and these guys deliver a pretty good product for the money.
They assemble the Indy guns on site but many of the others are imports you will recognize from other sites. The Thompson range is pretty comprehensive. Still saving for one of those!
Anyway, if your holster is stuffed with a resin replica, you can now upgrade for a reasonable price. Delivery of the full inventory of the Webley is estimated for November. The prototypes are sold out. (Yeah, brag, brag, I got two.)

 

[doctor dan]

Have you ever gone to the site GUNBROKER.COM. They had Webley's starting at $269. Smith and Wessons are another story but if you go to some of the swap meets, you can still pick up pistols in the 200 plus range. But there is a waiting period and you have to have a liscense, at least here in ILLINOIS. Everyone now adays wants automatics so revolvers are relativly inexpensive. I always buy orriginals because some day you will want to sell them and a fake will have no market valvue.

 

[filfoster]

Webleys

Have you ever gone to the site GUNBROKER.COM. They had Webley's starting at $269. Smith and Wessons are another story but if you go to some of the swap meets, you can still pick up pistols in the 200 plus range. But there is a waiting period and you have to have a liscense, at least here in ILLINOIS. Everyone now adays wants automatics so revolvers are relativly inexpensive. I always buy orriginals because some day you will want to sell them and a fake will have no market valvue.

I bought an original from Joe Salter a few years ago and it had to be shipped to a local FFL-no big deal. I think I gave $600 for it with an original holster. It is for the .455 ammo and it's got a loose cylinder that I fear would shave lead. But it's real and complete and matching serial numbers, etc.etc.
Concede the point that many if not most people share your feeling about replicas but I belong to a tight group of replica fanatics who really treasure and value a well made copy almost as much as an original. There's something very compelling to many of us about a really well made and more easily replacable example of something we want. The jury may not be 'in' on the eventual resale value of well made accurate replicas, sold as replicas. See the posts on the neighboring 'Wehrmacht Collection' thread on replica uniform items.

 

[Badluck Brody]

I can also understand and agree with the replica suggestion. For some events and even historical conventions, real firearms are a no-go and as a result we can only have the replicas. It's also not bad to have a replica for a static display or in case the public try to walk off with it.

Now in addition to reenactments, we also do live action events, where we use primer only blanks due to the close proximity. Those blank firing replicas wouldn't be too bad an alternative for the buck!!

 

[Sgt Brown]

Also, some of us cannot own shootable firearms. A buddy of mine lives in Warsaw, Poland, and the pistol he needs for his display is TOTALLY out of the question there. Unfortunately, the S&W these people sell won't work for him either. It appears to be a replica of the Smith "N" frame with its shrouded ejector rod and Jurek needs a replica of the "Victory Model" "K" frame revolver for his USN flier mannequin. Ah well, keep watching.

Tom

 

[filfoster]

Webley Mark IV

I will post a review of the Webley once I have it in my feeble, late-middle aged hands.

 

[filfoster]

Webley Mark IV review

Well, I now have both Webley Mark IV replicas in hand. I have a real one for comparison so let me say that this is an "A" copy, as far as appearance. It is nearly the same size (smaller) and 'heft' of the original and has the 'plastic' (Bakelite on the originals?) grips and the finish is very subtly 'weathered'. It looks like a real Webley at a glance. Althought there is a "Mark IV" marking in the top of the frame on the lefthand side, it is slightly smaller than my Mark IV. There are no other markings save the "Denix Spain" on the right side of the frame. This is not detractive from the appearance.
The cylinder action is horrible. It's a double action revolver so when you pull the trigger and the hammer strikes, the cylinder just spins rather than advancing by one chamber.
Keystone says they will either correct this 'in house' or just drop the model.
As someone who has waited a very long time and even went 'full Monty" on an original, I do hope they will make the corrections or at least keep this model in their 'arsenal' for those of us who just want a really nice, full metal replica for static display. It still fires much better than the resin copy, doesn't it?
It also has the advantage of being the only all-metal replica I have yet found.

 

[filfoster]

Marky Mark

The Keystonearsenal replica is a .38 Mark IV. I have the original larger .455 Mark VI to compare and that is a larger revolver by some appreciable degree. Still, it is a nice replica and as noted, the only one I have found as an all-metal one. I hope Keystone decides to fix the cylinder problem. Until then, it's still a very nice prop.
I notice Keystone also sells these on ebay at the same price. These must be for preorders due in November.

 

[Erik-Frimann]

I know there is nothing quaint about a Webley .455 mark IV, especially not if it has been chambered for .45 - but the smaller versions, like the one issued for British police and generally used in the Empire, was much smaller as I understand it. This little gun fires blanks, and gives the aura of police rather than military. Looks a bit like the guns used in Hong Kong in the late thirties, or am I wrong?

By the way, KFC makes a good copy of the S&W M1917 revolver, although the barrel is a bit think. It's made of metal, so it can be rubbed down, blued and fitted with S&W wooden grips.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

FWIW Indy carries a Webley VI Green.

 

[TomS]

Thanks for sharing...

 

[TomS]

Thanks for sharing...