Webley Premier

[chrissy]

Hi,
OK just about to start working on this, it misfires/snaps on fingers and as such is dangerous. Was given this to fix whilst working at my last company and I am now approaching 25 years service with my current firm. Obviously I am a very urgent type person.

Any advice gratefully accepted. Looking at Chambers WEB site and note that there are two marks for this weapon. Mine has serial number 2066. Could anybody tell me which mark I am dealing with just in case I have to order parts.

Lovely gun to hold but I would like to shoot it as well, unfortunately it is 22 which I consider utterly pointless in a pistol.

Thanks in advance and greetings to all on this esteemed board.

Chris.

[ikarma70]

nothing wrong with an air pistol in .22.

sounds like a sear lock up fault.

[Gareth W-B]

Lovely gun to hold but I would like to shoot it as well, unfortunately it is 22 which I consider utterly pointless in a pistol.

nothing wrong with an air pistol in .22

Actually, from a collecting perspective, notwithstanding BSA Scorpion's and Milbro Diana Cougars (where the reverse of what I'm about to say seems to be the case), regarding Webley pistols, although I too like you prefer shooting them in .177, it is the .22 variants which I learned relatively early on in my pistol collecting activities that are the rarer to find: ergo the more collectable . The reason for this seems to be that whereas up until quite recently the favoured calibre for air rifles was .22 (and for some it still is), the favoured calibre for the majority of air pistols was/is .177, so more were/are made and sold in that calibre resulting in more being available second hand. If this argument is flawed, I dare say someone will delight in pointing it out to me in much the same way that if the correction is valid, I will delight in being corrected. I say this as personally speaking, the enjoyment of the never ending learning curve that surrounds air gun collecting is, thankfully, never ending . Atb: Gareth W-B.

[beagle2]

I had this problem develop with my premier it was the trigger adjustment loosen the lock screw on the side then put a tiny screw driver in to the hole in the front of the gaurd you can then set the trigger to be harder to pull this will stop it going off when cockin etc
Pat

[chrissy]

Thanks for info submitted so far, I'll forgive it for being 22 and live with it if I can get it to shoot safely.

Tried the trigger adjustment, the screw had been mullered before I got the pistol so others have tried this as well. I seem to remember taking this apart years ago and coming to the conclusion that it could never have functioned correctly even off the production line!

Hey Ho give it another go, I'm getting on a bit now and have more time and patience (and still have all my fingers at the moment).

Any ideas on age and mark appreciated.

Thanks Chris.

[draitzer]

Chris, the Premier Mark II has an alloy housing covering the rear of the compression tube, and a painted finish instead of blued steel.
If yours is all steel it's a Mk I.
Once you take it apart you may find the sear can be re-shaped if it's just worn - suggest you give it a look before ordering parts.

Don R.

[1996clive]

some times wear develops in cocking linkage and the sear etc cant engage properly as the barrel comes to limit of its stroke before sear is fully engaged

[chrissy]

Thanks Don,
It's a mark 1 with an excellent blue finish. Just chased a beer can round the garden with it using AA field(brilliant fun). Hardly the sort of pellet to feed this diminutive pistol with but the only 22 ammo I have to hand. Put it across the chrono for just over 230 FPS for a shade under 2 ft/lb, not bad. Then it started it's old tricks again...Doh.

I had never tested after it's last "seeing to" and thought perhaps it was ok now even though the trigger was a little too hairy. Not so, so it'll come to pieces tonight if I can be bothered or someone here might end up with a "nice" little project.

Thanks again for all input.

Chris.

Aside from this, missed on a Lucznik Predom on here yesterday(double Doh) so if anyone has one they would like to part with please PM me.

[tomgriffin]

someone here might end up with a "nice" little project.

Let me know if you have no luck as I may buy it from you

Sent you a PM anyway

[pennineway.fswo]

some times wear develops in cocking linkage and the sear etc cant engage properly as the barrel comes to limit of its stroke before sear is fully engaged

Hi Chris
I have found that if the adjustment on the trigger does not work then the above is possibly the problem
Often the pins through the linkages are worn and/or bent so if you replace them, the problem may be solved
If it is not, then you have the option of fitting a new long link or modifying it as advised by Mr Hiller in his 3rd addition of Air pistols page 222 (ie. bend it)

If this does not work then the trigger sear must be badly worn
It can be reground as advised above but I suspect they may have been surface/case hardened during manufacture and any surface hardening will have a limited depth (possibly .030"), so the sear contact area would rapidly wear again, and you are then back at square 1

Perhaps some-one on here may have a spare long link and/or sear going

Please be carefull when removing the old link pins, they may be bent and stubborn, so support the link properly to prevent breakage
Good luck
John

[pennineway.fswo]

If the holes through the links are worn/oval, then you can carefully drill them out slightly oversize,if you have a bench drill/press . Then make new pins from the drill bit that you have just used by cutting/grinding to length. The drill tip is slightly larger in diameter than the shank so there will be a small working clearance. This mod does work, but only attempt it if you have the facilities and patience

I have not tried Hillers mod, but apparently it worked for him
john

It also sounds as though it needs a bit of lubrication as velocity should be about 320'/sec in .22

[chrissy]

Such nice people to deal with!!

Will try all the advice given, my major skill as mentioned before on this board is to recognise that I don't have any skill. That said I know a man that can and I can hopefully identify any of the problems above but require the skill of someone else to rectify. Another unfortunate is that the beer can I chased round the garden earlier was only the first, so I am laying this to rest for now.

I will update but if I remember correctly the internals showed very little if any sign of wear hence my suggestion that possibly this was a friday afternoon job off the line!

All the best to all.

Chris. (still looking for a Predom would stretch to LP53 if I had to 007 signing off)