Webley Air Pistol Batch Numbers

[Josie & John]

Hi john remind me how to tell they are after WW2.

Mk1s, Seniors and Juniors will all have WEBLEY moulded at the top of each grip. Prewar Senior and Junior serial numbers are also prefixed with S and J respectively.

John

[hyscore100]

Juniors

99
796
653
773
1751

Mk1
262
1265

Seniors
327
557
1251

Cheers Kev

[johnbaz]

Hi all


Junior

376
605
725
2888

Junior mk2

306

Mk1

225

Senior

442
547

Premier

257
405

Premier mk2

891



John

[Josie & John]

Thanks Kev and John. I have started a "Master" list at the top of this thread, which will be updated periodically as results come in. Some numbers are close but no matches yet.

Any more?

John

[Troubledshooter]

As I believe I've mentioned to you before, John, I have a Junior Air Pistol batch No:1, as does another BBS member. I have pictures of his as well as my own.
This is the only batch number I know of with a twin.

[webman]

Just a thought. I've always assumed that the number signified the particular gun made in a batch. For example, you could have a batch of say 3000 gun bodies, and as each one in the batch was assembled, it was given a consecutive number. Is this how other collectors see things? In this case, the number isn't actually a batch number, but the number of the gun made in a particular batch.

[Josie & John]

Just a thought. I've always assumed that the number signified the particular gun made in a batch. For example, you could have a batch of say 3000 gun bodies, and as each one in the batch was assembled, it was given a consecutive number. Is this how other collectors see things? In this case, the number isn't actually a batch number, but the number of the gun made in a particular batch.

Hi Webman,

You raise a very interesting point. There are two schools of thought around Batch/Assembly numbers.

1/ Consecutive numbering of all pistols within a batch and then start again from the beginning.
2/ A certain number of pistols made together as part of one batch and all sharing the same number.

Chris Thrale identified the use of the 1st explanation above with some Mk3 air rifles but production within this serial number range was around 10,000, so quite a large batch and the higher numbers are way higher than any seen on Webley air pistols.

Dennis Hiller seemed to favour the 2nd explanation when he said he had never seen the same batch number stamped on more than one pistol. As for me, well I honestly don't know. The first explanation is the more logical and one of the reasons for starting this thread is to see exactly what is out there. Let's see if we can identify two identical pistols that may have been part of the same batch.

Keep 'em coming!

John

[Troubledshooter]

Here's a list of most of mine:

Junior:

1
43
203
259
581
624
762
1150
1198
1342
1523
1736

Junior Mk.II:

717

Mk.I:

73
309
1069
2290

Senior:

87
126
149
209
312
459
488
617
841
1322
1456
1530
1648
1929
2161
2381

Premier

80 - 'E' - 7-8
141 - N/L - N/C
301 - 'E' - 11-71
477 - 'D' - 2-8
553 - 'E' - 12-71
806 - 'B' - N/C
808 - N/L - N/C
974 - 'B' - 9-5
1888 - 'D' - 7-7
1398 - 'E' - 12-8
3315 - 'D' - 12-6
4219 - 'D' - 1-8

Premier Mk.II

319

[M.Meijer]

Any more?

Yes, a pair from Holland but both bought separately in Sweden: Mk1 188 and Senior 684
A good initiative that might shed some light on a topic that leaves me clueless sofar.
Regards, Mike

[Garvin]

I have Senior B'ham 4 batch 730 and a Premier "D" series, but no idea where it is.

[Josie & John]

I have Senior B'ham 4 batch 730 and a Premier "D" series, but no idea where it is.

You're worse than me Garvin I need to look for a Premier to double check something but have lost that too. Details of the D would be nice if you find it as the interesting thing with Premiers is they are date coded, so that may tell us a little more about the logic behind these numbers.

Kind regards,

John

[Ormicron]

Premier E477 Date code 1 74

Ormicron

[Josie & John]

Any more?

Yes, a pair from Holland but both bought separately in Sweden: Mk1 188 and Senior 684
A good initiative that might shed some light on a topic that leaves me clueless sofar.
Regards, Mike

Thank you Mike.

I recorded some notes when I spoke with Webley's former Works Manager the late Tom Cooper in 1997 but I did not press him on the logic behind batch or Assembly numbers. I now wish I had done as the only notes relating to this aspect I made were around tracing individual assemblers from the numbers, should a quality control issue be discovered. Tom was a fascinating man to talk to and there is so much more that I wish I had asked on that and several subsequent occasions.

Kind regards,

John

[webman]

There is a definite trend with the numbers recorded. The highest individual number occurs in the model with the largest number of entries. This would support the theory that we are looking at batch numbers, not numbers in a particular batch. If there were a large quantity made of one model, and batch sizes were the same for all models, then there would be more batches required for that model.

I've just added the date codes for my Premiers to my list. They don't appear to have made it to the master list yet. this is turning into a big job!