Double Spring Clip Webley Mk1 Air Pistol.

[JimmieDee]

Hi Danny,

Thanks for sharing the reservations regarding the 'Spring Clip' which once again highlights the importance of this site and the invaluable input available from experts within and sometimes outside the forum.

Caveat emptor as they say.

Regards

Brian

Hey Danny,

My observations are:

The spring clips may have been replaced.

The broken frontal projections - this is not uncommon. This may have been done at the factory either by accident or deliberately or they may have been broken off with use. It is possible that at the factory, one projection could have been broken and that they removed the other deliberately in order to sell the pistol. There is another, later variant of the double spring clip that was made without the projections above the spring clips.

The rear plug retaining screw is also not unheard of.

The high serial number is the real oddity in my opinion. But an intriguing one nonetheless.

I have two double spring clips in my collection.

#281 Thicker reinforced (?) barrel. Projections broken off or removed. Visible signs that they existed. No retaining screw.
#656 Thin barrel. No projections. Not broken off. The metal work is square. Retaining screw present.

It is very plausible that design improvements were added to the double spring clip before the 2nd series with the sliding barrel catch was introduced.

As ever, I will fully document these variations in an article on my blog page when I get round to it.

All the best,
Jimmie Dee