Matching oil container for a 1926 Webley pistol would be glass?

[45flint]

Trying to create a historically correct cased set for a US imported Webley pistol made 1926? I doubt that there is any Webley oil imported. You would go into a hardware store here and pick up gun oil. In the 1926 I believe, like the early Webley oil, it would be in a glass corked bottle? See US gun companies going from glass to tin containers here, just like Webley. I think the oil tins came later?

Just found a hardware catalog online for 1926. Looks like both glass and tin cans were sold. The glass was smaller and cheaper, probably on its way out. Look at 3 in 1 on this page. I see very similar types for Winchester and Remington gun oil.

https://i.imgur.com/0WBVF5U.jpg

[Abasmajor]

Hi,

You are perfectly correct with your assumption that the first Webley oil was supplied in bottles with the can arriving later. If you go to Danny's gallery you will be able to see some nice pictures of the bottle and subsequent cans.

Unfortunately, only a few original bottles are known to have survived which would be reflected in the price, so in the unlikely event one could be found I would expect the asking price to be around the £400-£500 mark here in the UK.

Regards
Brian

[45flint]

Hi,

You are perfectly correct with your assumption that the first Webley oil was supplied in bottles with the can arriving later. If you go to Danny's gallery you will be able to see some nice pictures of the bottle and subsequent cans.

Unfortunately, only a few original bottles are known to have survived which would be reflected in the price, so in the unlikely event one could be found I would expect the asking price to be around the £400-£500 mark here in the UK.

Regards
Brian

Ironically here it seems the surviving glass corked gun oil bottles are cheaper than the tin ones of the same period? I think that’s cause there are a lot of collectors of tin oil containers and probably a lot of glass ones out there. My quest is a small corked bottle of gun oil.

[Abasmajor]

Ironically here it seems the surviving glass corked gun oil bottles are cheaper than the tin ones of the same period? I think that’s cause there are a lot of collectors of tin oil containers and probably a lot of glass ones out there. My quest is a small corked bottle of gun oil.

Hi,

As you are probably already aware, the pre-war Webley cans were sold containing either No1 or No2 oil depending on the type of piston seal. The No1 oil was a mineral oil (Neatsfoot?) intended for use with leather washers whereas the No 2 oil was basically an SAE 30 engine oil and meant for use with the metallic ring seals.

The cans were marked accordingly so that the purchaser was sure to be using the correct product for the intended application.

Regards
Brian

[Troubledshooter]

The Webley glass oil bottles as shown on Danny's site were introduced around 1946 due to a shortage of steel for the cans, so the 1920's onward oil containers would have been metal cans.

[45flint]

The Webley glass oil bottles as shown on Danny's site were introduced around 1946 due to a shortage of steel for the cans, so the 1920's onward oil containers would have been metal cans.

I think there was a 1920s glass bottle and a 1946 bottle. In US it seems the 1920’s had both glass and metal, metal took over in the 1930s.