Webley MK2 Service

[Troubledshooter]

Further scans of Morton's Booklet covers, plus the two versions of the sixth edition: http://mynetimages.com/album/Trouble...rtons_Booklet/

[Josie & John]

Yes, this is correct, although it is not fibres that show up, but the whole paper area that is not covered by print.

Before 1950 no paper was ever pure white. After 1950 the paper industry begain to put substances called optical brighteners in paper, which gave a very bright white appearance and after 1955 up to the present time virtually all paper has contained these. The interesting thing about these brighteners is that they are very easy to detect. All you have to do is shine a weak uktraviolet light on the paper, preferably in the dark or low light conditions, and the paper glows a brilliant blue. Paper that does not contain these additives just looks dark. This phenomenon is used as an anti-counterfeit measure for banknotes - real banknotes are printed on paper that does not have any optical brightener in it. Such paper is extremely difficult to source these days, so counterfeiters are often forced to use ordinary brightened paper. This means that most counterfeit notes will glow blue under ultraviolet light whereas a genuine note won't.

So you can assume the following:

1. Any printed literature or box label that DOES glow blue under ultraviolet light CANNOT POSSIBLY date from before 1950.

2. Any printed literature or box label that DOES NOT glow blue under ultraviolet light MOST PROBABLY, but not necessarily with absolute certainty, will date from before 1955.


I have used this technique several times to authenticate air pistol boxes and airgun literature. In particular one very convincing box claiming to be original to a pistol made in the 1920's was shown to be a fake by this method. This helped prevent an incorrect historical record being made, as a box for this particular pistol has never been reported before. Unfortunately it came too late to help the owner, who had paid a high premium for the box some time before.

In case you think ultraviolet testing might be too expensive for the average collector, note that you can buy perfectly adequate ultraviolet pens off fleabay for one or two pounds.

Fascinating John. Thank you for posting this.

John

[Garvin]

Yes, this is correct, although it is not fibres that show up, but the whole paper area that is not covered by print.

Before 1950 no paper was ever pure white. After 1950 the paper industry begain to put substances called optical brighteners in paper, which gave a very bright white appearance and after 1955 up to the present time virtually all paper has contained these. The interesting thing about these brighteners is that they are very easy to detect. All you have to do is shine a weak uktraviolet light on the paper, preferably in the dark or low light conditions, and the paper glows a brilliant blue. Paper that does not contain these additives just looks dark. This phenomenon is used as an anti-counterfeit measure for banknotes - real banknotes are printed on paper that does not have any optical brightener in it. Such paper is extremely difficult to source these days, so counterfeiters are often forced to use ordinary brightened paper. This means that most counterfeit notes will glow blue under ultraviolet light whereas a genuine note won't.

So you can assume the following:

1. Any printed literature or box label that DOES glow blue under ultraviolet light CANNOT POSSIBLY date from before 1950.

2. Any printed literature or box label that DOES NOT glow blue under ultraviolet light MOST PROBABLY, but not necessarily with absolute certainty, will date from before 1955.


I have used this technique several times to authenticate air pistol boxes and airgun literature. In particular one very convincing box claiming to be original to a pistol made in the 1920's was shown to be a fake by this method. This helped prevent an incorrect historical record being made, as a box for this particular pistol has never been reported before. Unfortunately it came too late to help the owner, who had paid a high premium for the box some time before.

In case you think ultraviolet testing might be too expensive for the average collector, note that you can buy perfectly adequate ultraviolet pens off fleabay for one or two pounds.

Yes, very interesting, John, thank you. With this advice we need never be caught out by a fake 'prewar' box or document, and with a simple precaution too.

[MWebbo]

Thank you all for your welcomes and for the excellent advice and comments...much to take onboard. I have ordered a new seal from John Knibbs and will go for a very careful removal and replacement when it arrives. I intend to try the suggested temporary fix first though.
I'll certainly keep my eyes open for an original instruction manual but won't hold my breath for long....thanks everyone for the technical comments and reference advice. Excellent stuff ....much appreciated and a real privilege to be part of the forum. Cheers.
Martin

[MWebbo]

Hi all

Just a follow up on my new adventure...

I have set out to replace the breech seal. The old (leather?) seal is definitely knackered after many years of happy plinking and hunting. I set the new John Knibbs' seal into the copper washer and placed it back into the breech but its too thick (by about 1mm I'd say) to allow the barrel to close again. Maybe I'm doing something wrong but before I go customising the new seal, giving it a shave, or dent it more than I have already.... any thoughts, tips or pointers please? (This is where I find out that B&Q sell a breech seal tool made just for the purpose!)
Regards
Martin