Webley Book

[majex45]

As a collector of books on guns much more than metal, I appreciate this wonderful effort. I am gradually preparing a monograph on another topic so appreciate the amount of work that has gone into this book. Well done.

[Phil Russell]

I have just had a call from WHSmith regarding my order. This was placed on 14 April but I did not receive it. I asked WHS why not and today have had a very nice chat with the customer services.
It appears that orders placed at £31 by some people in the period from mid April upto around June (??), became stuck in a (electronic?) system with the suppliers (Gardners?) that meant the order just sat there and was not actioned. I was advised that I had to cancel my order (which was done while I waited on the phone) and re-order the book at the higher price of £43.40. But WHS would then refund me the difference (£12.40) at the point of book despatch. I re-ordered and now await further communication ...
I had the impression that the other people who were still waiting for their early orders were being contacted by WHS, but if you have not been contacted soon then you may wish to contact WHs yourself. I believe this does not apply to those who ordered at the £43.40 price.

I await further developments.

Cheers, Phil

[Pagoda113]

I think it is an extremely valuable book, particularly regarding the Mk.I, Mk.II, and Mk.III. The chapter on the Mk.III clears up all the anomalies that surround which variants had the early "double pull" trigger. The published serial no.`s and status of the known Mk.I`s are enlightening, and the illustrations of the Mk.II Service variants are superb. In my view the best book since John Griffith`s work on pistols, and look how that is regarded at present.

[trevor1]

An extremely useful addition to my library. Chaps who bother to sit down and "put it all together ",do a tremendous service for our hobby. Nice to see my old Mk1 #s,577 and 787,in the lists.
I wonder if anyone is contemplating a Weihrauch book? So many marques(including Webley,BSA,Diana and FWB)stood in the shadow of this great German establishment in latter years.
Trev

[Pagoda113]

One thing not mentioned by Chris Thrale in the Mk.III chapter is the alleged fragility of the early "double pull" trigger that is emphasised by Dennis Hiller in his book. I recently obtained an early Mk.III with this feature, the rifle being in well used condition, but this trigger works very well, and is lighter and superior in "feel" to those on later Mk.III`s. Is this so called fragility a myth? I can`t recall any complaints regarding the Diana`s that used this design which essentially is what Webley copied. It makes me think that if Webley had been really serious about making the Supertarget competitive they should have used this trigger and accepted that the cost would have been higher.

[Garvin]

One thing not mentioned by Chris Thrale in the Mk.III chapter is the alleged fragility of the early "double pull" trigger that is emphasised by Dennis Hiller in his book. I recently obtained an early Mk.III with this feature, the rifle being in well used condition, but this trigger works very well, and is lighter and superior in "feel" to those on later Mk.III`s. Is this so called fragility a myth? I can`t recall any complaints regarding the Diana`s that used this design which essentially is what Webley copied. It makes me think that if Webley had been really serious about making the Supertarget competitive they should have used this trigger and accepted that the cost would have been higher.

I think you're spot on about the suitability of the Diana double pull trigger as a better target trigger for the Mk3 Supertarget. I haven't come across any complaints about the Diana version of it either and I have quite a few of them that all work flawlessly.

I did wonder when I read Hiller on the subject whether somehow Webley had introduced a flaw into the manufacturing process when they set up the machinery to copy the trigger? Although surely by the 1960s Webley could have come up with something better? By then the German manufacturers, the FWBs, the Dianas, the Walthers and the Anschutzs had developed fantastic match triggers.

There's something cringeworthy to me about the final pattern Mk3 Supertarget, supposedly the finest match rifle Britain could produce in the early- to mid-1970s; a pre-War design with its absurdly incongruous modern (German) Anschutz diopter sight!