Webley & Scott Service - The Holy Grail?

[SRV1]

Oh no Mrgeoff....

Your comments on your experience of the Service is of great concern to me......no so much as taking it out on my old 1948 Matchless G3L, but, whether I have spent unwisely. I suppose I could have done better by buying many Airsportes for what I paid then?

[Garvin]

Oh no Mrgeoff....

Your comments on your experience of the Service is of great concern to me......no so much as taking it out on my old 1948 Matchless G3L, but, whether I have spent unwisely. I suppose I could have done better by buying many Airsportes for what I paid then?

Relax! You have bought a piece of history that is beautifully made and lovely to handle. You might even come to love the way it shoots. True, it probably doesn't perform quite as well as other rifles of its vintage, but that didn't stop thousands of people buying them at the time. And you can't compare the performance of a Webley Service with a rifle made decades later, so don't try.

[clarky]

Relax! You have bought a piece of history that is beautifully made and lovely to handle. You might even come to love the way it shoots. True, it probably doesn't perform quite as well as other rifles of its vintage, but that didn't stop thousands of people buying them at the time. And you can't compare the performance of a Webley Service with a rifle made decades later, so don't try.

I think this hits the nail on the head. I found mine at the time @1986 to be quite novel and quirky even though it was already decades old even then. Beautifully made but utterly trounced by the Lincoln Jeffries that i also owned.
A Service nicely cleaned out and with a good piston ring (we didnt super tune such guns back then so cannot comment) would hit about 10.3 ftlbs in .22 and a tad more with the .25 barrel.
As regard the 80 yd accuracy, i could usually get most of my shots into a 2 inch circle at about 20 odd yards with the apeture sight.....it was not the most accurate of tools.
In comparison a Lincoln Jeffries could hit 11.5 ftlbs all day long and the model D could stray over 12 in some cases.
The accuracy of both a good 1/2 inch smaller at the same range and handle much nicer..

[Binners]

Oh no Mrgeoff....

Your comments on your experience of the Service is of great concern to me......no so much as taking it out on my old 1948 Matchless G3L, but, whether I have spent unwisely. I suppose I could have done better by buying many Airsportes for what I paid then?

Fear not, I do not know how much you paid, or for which series, but if you secured the 2nd series they had for around £700, it will not turn into 5 magic beans. I reluctantly sold one for £900 last year.

[SRV1]

Mr Binners, spot on...looking for your next heads up it is then......many thanks for lifting my spirits, I was crying like Tim Farron over Brexit when I read that buying into a Service Mk2 would be a disaster. I have had so many mood swings over this thread and I haven't got it yet....! Maybe one of our experienced and savvy Collector NT boffins could set up one of those polls and see where the Service is ranked against other air rifles of that period?

All the best to all.......