Best Webley Rifle made?

[splosh!]

Absolutely. Have both and it is a fact. Just surprised about the statement that a Sidewinder Compact is better than a vglided HW80. I had one of each in 0.177 and the Compact didn’t come close. I can only assume the same in 0.22 the Compact wouldn’t come close in that case either!

Sorry Jonathan I cant see the post where it states the sidewinder compact is better than the 80 but I did say as good and I'm sticking to it. I own a glided 80 and did own 80 hunter Tyrolean and love the 80 but its heavy I still think they are on par in 22 any way .sorry to upset you bud .

[Muskett]

MKI is too much a contraption, though a lovely bit of engineering.

Webley MKIII certainly an elegant hansom rifle. Just didn't shoot well enough with the pellets of the day and that tap loading breech.

Webley Vulcan: MKI, MKII, think even MKIII?? MKI great boys rifle but that trigger is hard. MKII getting better. MII Walnut Deluxe was a great looking rifle too. But with all of them the trigger couldn't get them to shoot beyond the farmyard.

Webley Omega was the best yet. A great handling sporting rifle, one of the best stock designs ever done. A better trigger than the Vulcan, but still not good enough compared to the competition. Wish they had done them in walnut.
The Eclipse was a great effort which could have come off if it hadn't the same trigger as the Omega. It could but wasn't a BSA Superstar or HW77.

Longbows, finished off the the action and trigger to what is necessary, but then changed the stock. Good shooting rifle but not as elegant as the MKII or Omega.

So to me Webley never made a "best" as all had at least a major fault if not two. I have an Omega and MKI, both in .22, which about says it all from me.

[Jonathan G]

Sorry Jonathan I cant see the post where it states the sidewinder compact is better than the 80 but I did say as good and I'm sticking to it. I own a glided 80 and did own 80 hunter Tyrolean and love the 80 but its heavy I still think they are on par in 22 any way .sorry to upset you bud .

Hey you haven’t upset me. I haven’t tried the Compact in 0.22 so can’t comment on the comparison you made. In 0.177 the Compact really wasn’t that good - certainly not a comparison with a vglided 80. We all have our opinions and I for one never get upset about guns. Much better things to lose sleep over

[Rickenbacker]

Ok, so what's 'flawed' about the whole design, apart from it being a tad underpowered in it's standard form ?

Is it because the piston travels the wrong way?

[Mach 1.5]

Seems the Longbow and Omega getting the thumbs up. Have a Stringray Express in .20 cal with full Webley Venom tune and it's a lovely bit of kit. Don't forget the Cobra Webley Venom did based on the Tommy. Only 12 made and they shoot AMAZING. Mach 1.5

[Geezer]

Is it because the piston travels the wrong way?

That and a long transfer port that forces the air to do two right-angle turns before it gets to the pellet.

In a pistol, those aren't such big issues, and they allow an appealing compactness compared to the more conventional layout. In a rifle, the performance limitations if the design are more apparent.

And I've never been sure about the quick-change barrel, from an accuracy point of view.

Don't get me wrong, they are fascinating, charming, important rifles. But as a shooting proposition, the LJ BSA and similar knock them for six on both power and accuracy. Which is probably a factor in why Webley replaced the MkII with the BSA (via Diana 45) derived MkIII.

[Rocket launcher]

Do I see the hands of Sean and Don all over that?

Lovely job,

ISP Sean who brought it from the dead ..did the woodwork and manufactured the sides and replaced screws and blacked it for its first dip
Don the engraver ..the pics are enough
And V-mach Steve ..trued the cylinder which was oval.replaced spring .phosy bronze rings and gave it its seond blacking and put it together...

the scrap pics




If any one has an old webleys send it to them before they retire..
I like to show off there work..

[Geezer]

ISP Sean who brought it from the dead ..did the woodwork and manufactured the sides and replaced screws and blacked it for its first dip
Don the engraver ..the pics are enough
And V-mach Steve ..trued the cylinder which was oval.replaced spring .phosy bronze rings and gave it its seond blacking and put it together...

the scrap pics




If any one has an old webleys send it to them before they retire..
I like to show off there work..

Never seen the "before" pictures before. Makes the end result even more impressive.

[Geezer]

MKI is too much a contraption, though a lovely bit of engineering.

Webley MKIII certainly an elegant hansom rifle. Just didn't shoot well enough with the pellets of the day and that tap loading breech.

Webley Vulcan: MKI, MKII, think even MKIII?? MKI great boys rifle but that trigger is hard. MKII getting better. MII Walnut Deluxe was a great looking rifle too. But with all of them the trigger couldn't get them to shoot beyond the farmyard.

Webley Omega was the best yet. A great handling sporting rifle, one of the best stock designs ever done. A better trigger than the Vulcan, but still not good enough compared to the competition. Wish they had done them in walnut.
The Eclipse was a great effort which could have come off if it hadn't the same trigger as the Omega. It could but wasn't a BSA Superstar or HW77.

Longbows, finished off the the action and trigger to what is necessary, but then changed the stock. Good shooting rifle but not as elegant as the MKII or Omega.

So to me Webley never made a "best" as all had at least a major fault if not two. I have an Omega and MKI, both in .22, which about says it all from me.

Each to his own, and this stuff is very personal. For me, the Omega is a very good rifle, one of the top ten or fifteen factory break-barrels, but I much prefer the scope-optimised stocks on the Bow and Tommie (and their triggers). Maybe they just happen to fit me better.

As a long-time FWB Sport user, the Omega feels to me like a Sport not very successfully crossed with an early Anschutz 335. I don't like the early 335-style barrel latch, and the Omega doesn't have quite the same lively feel in the hands as the FWB.

There could be some subjectivity in this, in that I really wanted an Omega when they came out, but it was years later before I shot one. Maybe my view is in part based on the reality experienced as an adult not quite meeting the overblown impression I had as an adolescent that the Omega was (as Webley hyped it) the last gun you would ever buy.

One of the many tricks that Webley missed was not using the (perfectly decent) Omega/Eclipse trigger (or the better Bow/Tommie one) for the Mk3 Vulcan and Stingray/Xocet. That might have been a very worthy HW95 competitor.

[Muskett]

Geezer, we have similar taste as I am a FWB Sport fan too. The Sport's trigger isn't a Record, but not bad.
The Vucan MKI was at least a boys rifle and priced that way two. I exchanged my father's MKIII for a Sport and never looked back. Friends on just pocket money had the Vulcan. The MKII was getting bigger, and the Omega a grown up's rifle.

Both Sport and Omega if not overly scoped, and kept low, can point dead on when scoped up...just. So many stocks optimised for open sights, all BSA's Airsporters and such.

Can't quite remenber if the Vulcan Deluxe was a MKI or II, though the stock was bigger than the MKI?? Take the open sights off a MKI and the break action hole left isn't attractive; I know why they did it but...!

I might have to get myself a Longbow, or Tommie. However, I've moved on a bit and just kept those that have meaning to me. Had a whole lot of those I couldn't have had when younger; most are more "average" than my dreams.

[Geezer]

Geezer, we have similar taste as I am a SWB Sport fan too. The Sport's trigger isn't a Record, but not bad.
The Vucan MKI was at least a boys rifle and priced that way two. I exchanged my father's MKIII for a Sport and never looked back. Friends on just pocket money had the Vulcan. The MKII was getting bigger, and the Omega a grown up's rifle.

Both Sport and Omega if not overly scoped, and kept low, can point dead on when scoped up...just. So many stocks optimised for open sights, all BSA's Airsporters and such.

Can't quite remenber if the Vulcan Deluxe was a MKI or II, though the stock was bigger than the MKI?? Take the open sights off a MKI and the break action hole left isn't attractive; I know why they did it but...!

I might have to get myself a Longbow, or Tommie. However, I've moved on a bit and just kept those that have meaning to me. Had a whole lot of those I couldn't have had when younger; most are more "average" than my dreams.

Agree with all of that. I am fond of 32/33mm glass in low mounts on classic factory springers. Particular exceptions being the FWB, because I have had one in the inventory since 1982 with a 4x40, and am just used to them with that scope height over many thousands of shots, though they are probably more suited to a slightly smaller scope (I did in the 80s rig up a Scout/Teleskan-style set up with a pistol scope on the breech block, but quickly abandoned it as a gimmick, but boy did it point well); and the Longbow and Tomahawk as their stocks seem optimised for a 40mm in medium mounts.

Of course, this all depends on how a particular rifle fits and feels to a particular user. Me, I'd take the FWB or the Tom/Bow over the Omega. The Omega to me just feels a bit heavier, fatter, less fast, I don't know. It just doesn't handle quite as well for me, though is better than a lot of other highly-regarded stuff, including every factory HW that I have used.

I'm also a latecomer to the Tommie and Bow. They did not emotionally interest me much when new (I was heavily into powder-burners at the time). But coming back to air power since, they have impressed me as being pretty much all that I wanted in a factory springer in the 80s, just twenty years too late.

[Muskett]

Don't have a picture posting site as otherwise I'd send you my perfect Sport combo: Apel mounts and a 4X40 Optima. I prefer .177 even in a Sport but bth my .22 Omega and Sport shoot nicely.

Telescan, Scout system works. Just sold my boxed Telescan. Sadly the Webley was let down by using too poor a scope; the cheapo 1.5x20. Put a good handgun scope on and the system is pretty good though not with much magnification.

All the great shooting springers weigh a ton. Just like powder burner long range, or culling, rifles. Few people shoot standing unsupported any more. I do but I'm not getting better at it as its a young man's game. Thats rifle, not shottie. Still surprise myself sometimes by pulling off a good shot.

[Hartcliffer]

After reading this thread with great interest, it's occurred to me that I've never shot a Webley rifle, only pistols. I've now got an itch to get one, and I've always liked the Tracker.... so I'll look for an Omega by the sounds of it.

[Gareth W-B]

After reading this thread with great interest, it's occurred to me that I've never shot a Webley rifle, only pistols. I've now got an itch to get one, and I've always liked the Tracker.... so I'll look for an Omega by the sounds of it.

Good choice, or alternatively, go for a Brum-bow.

[Hsing-ee]

It's got to be....