A Bisley Find

[Josie & John]

I came across this manky old Webley Junior at this weekend's fair and I'm sure you would agree it had seen better days.

With a little OOOO grade wire wool, some oil and an evening's patience, she has cleaned up quite nicely. Thank you Troubledshooter for finding a spare right side extended grip, which could have been a deal breaker, had I not sourced one.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ku98h9zl6...eq8QuI2La?dl=0

Back in the late 1940s, the frame had blow holes upon arrival at the Webley factory and engraving was applied to hide these faults. There is even a border around the rear of the breech block.

The internals were in fine fettle, unlike the exterior and the pistol shoots well too. This little pistol was worth the insomnia prior to the fair!

John

[357marlin]

Looks really nice. Wish I was able to get up to there.

[piggy589]

Very nice John,
If you hadn't said otherwise I'd have assumed the engraving was custom work carried out at some point in the gun's ownership.

[AC99]

I have only read about these engraved Juniors in Bruce's book but have never come across one - a very collectable item!
It seems that Juniors were fabricated differently from other models like the mk1 for example in that the Juniors had steel tubing inserted within a malleable iron frame which often suffered from blow holes and other deeper imperfections which could not be machined out. Rather than discard them they were given to apprentices to disguise with artistic engravings which were considered a useful part of their training and also of course apprentices were probably regarded at the time as a source of cheap labour.
You have achieved a remarkable piece of restoration - a lot of patience and elbow grease I suspect; well done!
Aubrey

[Josie & John]

Thanks All,

I spent some 15 years looking for one of these factory engraved Juniors and would you believe, have found two in the last month or so!

Don Blocksidge was the youngest of four engravers at Webley when both my pistols were made and as the youngest, he tells me he had the job of 'smartening' up the Juniors. Don also tells me between 50 and 100 pistols were engraved in this way while he worked for Webley & Scott.

John

[Abasmajor]

Thanks All,

I spent some 15 years looking for one of these factory engraved Juniors and would you believe, have found two in the last month or so!

Don Blocksidge was the youngest of four engravers at Webley when both my pistols were made and as the youngest, he tells me he had the job of 'smartening' up the Juniors. Don also tells me between 50 and 100 pistols were engraved in this way while he worked for Webley & Scott.

John

Hi John,

I picked up this engraved Junior many years ago which came in a really nice case somebody had made. I'm not really sure if this engraving is factory applied though as the lettering on the side is also infilled with white paint which I'm not sure would have originally been the case.

http://i1362.photobucket.com/albums/...pspobhp2w0.jpg

http://i1362.photobucket.com/albums/...psmplaqssy.jpg

Regards

Brian

[Josie & John]

Hi John,

I picked up this engraved Junior many years ago which came in a really nice case somebody had made. I'm not really sure if this engraving is factory applied though as the lettering on the side is also infilled with white paint which I'm not sure would have originally been the case.

http://i1362.photobucket.com/albums/...pspobhp2w0.jpg

http://i1362.photobucket.com/albums/...psmplaqssy.jpg

Regards

Brian

Very nice Brian - I've seen your pics before while thinking to myself "I want one of those and that Brian is a lucky so and so" .

It's a post 1958 Junior, so not one of Don's as he left Webley's in 1955. Are there any blow holes or other faults under the engraving? If there are, it's fairly safe to assume the engraving was factory applied.

Kind regards,

John

[Garvin]

Thanks All,

I spent some 15 years looking for one of these factory engraved Juniors and would you believe, have found two in the last month or so!

Don Blocksidge was the youngest of four engravers at Webley when both my pistols were made and as the youngest, he tells me he had the job of 'smartening' up the Juniors. Don also tells me between 50 and 100 pistols were engraved in this way while he worked for Webley & Scott.

John

That makes it a real find, John, with the provenance that the engraving was done by Don Blocksidge and that so few were done! Congratulations.

[Josie & John]

That makes it a real find, John, with the provenance that the engraving was done by Don Blocksidge and that so few were done! Congratulations.

Thanks Danny,

My other engraved Junior has some excellent provenance with it including box with the usual accessories and a dated letter from W&S. I'll feature it in my column one day as I need to take a rest from writing about Webleys for a while on the basis I could be seen as neglecting other makes!

John

[Abasmajor]

Very nice Brian - I've seen your pics before while thinking to myself "I want one of those and that Brian is a lucky so and so" .

It's a post 1958 Junior, so not one of Don's as he left Webley's in 1955. Are there any blow holes or other faults under the engraving? If there are, it's fairly safe to assume the engraving was factory applied.

Kind regards,

John

Hi John,

This is a closer photo of the engraving on my Junior. Although a different design to your own, it is the same as an example pictured in Gordon Bruce's book. He also seems to suggest that at least some of the work may have been carried out by apprentices rather than a skilled engraver as part of their training and as you say, to cover casting imperfections thus permitting the sale of an otherwise reject pistol.

http://i1362.photobucket.com/albums/...pseiajosl0.jpg


Regards

Brian

[Josie & John]

Hi John,

This is a closer photo of the engraving on my Junior. Although a different design to your own, it is the same as an example pictured in Gordon Bruce's book. He also seems to suggest that at least some of the work may have been carried out by apprentices rather than a skilled engraver as part of their training and as you say, to cover casting imperfections thus permitting the sale of an otherwise reject pistol.

http://i1362.photobucket.com/albums/...pseiajosl0.jpg


Regards

Brian

Thanks Brian,

Yes I have seen that style in GB's book too. Don left Webley in 1955 and others would have engraved Juniors after this time. Others may well have engraved pistols while Don worked for the company too but its a fair bet that most were completed by him, particularly if the engraving comprises of his trademark scrolls.

I wonder how many others are out there and sitting in collections?

John