Webley Senior Restoration Info/Help

[tomgriffin]

Righty'O guys I am in need of a little refurbishing information and help....

I recently bought a nice old Webley Senior from eredel (another great guy on the BBS!) as a nice little project for the long summer (but rainy) nights

I received the pistol this morning and this evening began to remove the rust from the body and barrel quite successfully using wire wool, then with a small drop of oil to get the last of the rust spots off....There are a few small spots of pitting which I would like to try to remove...Have you guys got any ideas how I could go about this without mullering the body?

Also I was looking to see how old the pistol was but it doesn't have a date stamped on the body/frame, the only number on the pistol is 37 and this would be covered by the pistol grip but it is also stamped on the chamber cap...I presume this is the batch number not the serial number Could anyone tell me how old this pistol is?

I am pretty sure the pistol is a MK2 as it has the thumb latch to open the barrel which the MK1's dont have...

I am not sure whether I want to polish the pistol to a mirror finish (if I can remove the pitting) or try and either reblue the gun myself or pay for it too be reblued? .If I were to polish and/or reblue the frame and barrel would the stamped lettering be visible as I really dont want it too disappear?

Here are the pictures of the pistol before a quick rub down:

http://www.airgunbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=300694 (Sales Ad)

And here they are after:





I haven't cleaned off the trigger as I am planning on taking it apart

I am after the end part of the cocking arm, the part which actually goes into the chamber and cocks the pistol Do any of you have one for sale or know where to get one secondhand? (not bothered about condition)

Any help is appreciated,
Best regards
Tom

P.S. I will update my progress ASAP

[Troubledshooter]

Without access to factory records it is impossible to accurately date the Senior.
All Senior air pistols from the first straight grip model onward had the thumb operated stirrup barrel catch. Obtaining a replacement could prove difficult. Chambers or Knibbs may be able to help, at a price.
The Mk.1 air pistol had the sliding top breech catch.
Elbow grease plus various grades of wet and dry is the best way of removing rust and pitting.

[draitzer]

I once took on a project Webley similar to yours. Fine flat files carefully applied over countless hours removed enough metal to nearly vanish the pits. I followed up with 400 grit paper IIRC, then sent it to a purveyor of "black oxide" treatment as used on industrial fixturing etc. The end result was quite gratifying, though when I later sold the gun my labor came out to about $1.50 an hour!

[Troubledshooter]

I agree, flat files are very useful tools for removing pitting in some areas, and I use them myself, but I have found the best end finish is normally achieved by wet and dry.

[eredel]

Looking good Tom....
Didn't realise there was a bit missing though...
Eric.

[tomgriffin]

Hi Eric,
The piece isn't missing, it either looks as if its worn of or snapped But I may be able to put a blob of weld onto the worn/snapped piece and file it down

Thanks for your help Troubledshooter and draitzer, I will carry one rubbing the pistol down with wirewool and light oil and then get some wet and dry and try to get most of the dings and pitting out

draitzer, it sounds like you really worked hard for such little return I will not be selling this pistol and dont mind if it takes me a few months to finish as I really want to return this to a reasonably decent condition

Troubledshooter, could you give me a rough idea of the pistols age? No need to be specific as I am not going to sell, I just wondered

Does anyone know where I could get "Wet and Dry" from and what grades to buy?

Thanks for all your help so far lads
Tom

[Troubledshooter]

Tom,
With regard to it's age, all I can tell you is it's a post war pre 1958 model, as it's got 'Birmingham 4' on the RH side.
Try Halfords for the abrasives supplies.