WEBLEY Mk VI REVOLVER
In 1887, the British Army was searching for a revolver to replace the largely unsatisfactory Enfield Mk I & Mk II Revolvers, and Webley & Scott, who were already very well known makers of quality guns and had sold many pistols on a commercial basis to military officers and civilians alike, tendered the .455 calibre Webley Self-Extracting Revolver for trials. The military was suitably impressed with the revolver, and it was adopted on 8 November 1887 as the "Pistol, Webley, Mk I".

The Webley revolver went through a number of changes, culminating in the Mk VI, which was in production between 1915 and 1923. The large .455 Webly revolvers were retired in 1947, although the Webley Mk IV .38/200 remained in service until 1963 alongside the Enfield No. 2 Mk I revolver.

The standard-issue Webley revolver at the outbreak of the First World War was the Webley Mk V (adopted 9 December 1913), but there were considerably more Mk IV revolvers in service in 1914, as the initial order for 20,000 Mk V revolvers had not been completed when hostilities began. On 24 May 1915, the Webley Mk VI was adopted as the standard sidearm for British and Commonwealth troops and remained so for the duration of the First World War, being issued to officers, airmen, naval crews, boarding parties, trench raiders, machine-gun teams, and tank crews. The Mk VI proved to be a very reliable and hardy weapon, well suited to the mud and adverse conditions of trench warfare.

(C) SOFO OBLI5816

OPERATION
FEED
CALIBRE
LENGTH
BARREL  LENGTH
WEIGHT  (UNLOADED) 
MUZZLE  VELOCITY

DOUBLE ACTION
6 ROUND CYLINDER
.455
11.45 inches/ 286mm
6 inches / 152mm

REFERENCES

1. MILITARY SMALL ARMS OF THE 20TH CENTURY 4TH EDITION
By Ian Hogg & John Weeks 1981 DBI BOOKS ISBN 0-910676-28-3

2. MODERN SMALL ARMS
By Major Frederick Myatt MC 1979 SALAMANDER BOOKS ISBN 0-86101-024-8