Strange Webley Senior

[ptdunk]

Hi,
I've recently picked up quite an odd webley Senior:
It has a 1955-1963 body (with no paint in the lettering) but has an older barrel with the longer knurled section, and an even older linkage system with a 2 piece slider that you normally see on pre-war barrels with no knurling.

The block at the front top of the cylinder seems to have been braized on after the pistol has been blued as the heat has faded the blueing at the front of the cylinder and you can see the fresh copper braize. It's a pre-war shaped block so I'm guessing it was fitted to facilitate the older barrel and linkage.

Everything is mint though, the body, barrel and linkage are in perfect condition, and it shoots really nicely although the linkage arm does rub the block ever so slightly at the end of the cocking cycle.

I can't work out why someone would do this, it seems like a lot of trouble when you could have bought a contemporary barrel and just swapped it out.
I wonder if it's something Webley would have done to utilise some old parts when they got caught short during assembly? all very odd.

Do you think this would be something a collector would be interested in or are these sorts of oddities not particularly desirable.

I'm trying to keep my Webley selection down to one of each type and I have a nice Senior already so would like to sell this on. Otherwise it'll be a near mint plinker!

I'd be interested to know what you think it's story is. (pic link below)

Thanks,

Matt.







https://www.flickr.com/gp/158270726@N07/VKrBu3

[Mark D]

Link not working for me

[johnbaz]

404


Not the page you were looking for!!

John

[ptdunk]

Link not working for me

Sorted, Thanks

[Lawrie Amatruda]

Link not working for me

Get yourself a decent computer

Guess who?

[Troubledshooter]

I'm surprised you can remember how to use yours, Lawrie.

[ccdjg]

To me this looks like a Senior that has been worked on fairly heavily despite the quality of the bluing, and by an amateur rather than Webley. You can see that some of the screw heads have been damaged, and in particular you can see that someone at some point has had a go at removing the breech sealing plug, not something that Webley would do.

Possibly this was a reclamation project involving a marriage of a Senior body with an earlier barrel, and probably followed by a rebluing. I think any brazing would have been done before rebluing, as if it had been done after, the discoloration would have been far more drastic. Probably the bluing didn't take very well over the areas that had been cleaned up after the brazing process.

[Fronteria]

To me this looks like a Senior that has been worked on fairly heavily despite the quality of the bluing, and by an amateur rather than Webley. You can see that some of the screw heads have been damaged, and in particular you can see that someone at some point has had a go at removing the breech sealing plug, not something that Webley would do.

Possibly this was a reclamation project involving a marriage of a Senior body with an earlier barrel, and probably followed by a rebluing. I think any brazing would have been done before rebluing, as if it had been done after, the discoloration would have been far more drastic. Probably the bluing didn't take very well over the areas that had been cleaned up after the brazing process.

The brazing of the block on to the frame is because the web between the barrel slot and the slot for the cocking linkage to run in has fractured due to very heavy use or the frame being overload by a heavy spring or excessive preload on the spring.
The MK11 target pistols are also prone to developing the same fracture and they also fracture between to barrel pivot and the end of the body.
The pistol is what is commonly known as a bitza.

[Geezer]

The brazing of the block on to the frame is because the web between the barrel slot and the slot for the cocking linkage to run in has fractured due to very heavy use or the frame being overload by a heavy spring or excessive preload on the spring.
The MK11 target pistols are also prone to developing the same fracture and they also fracture between to barrel pivot and the end of the body.
The pistol is what is commonly known as a bitza.

I too can't get the pics to work, but the first two paragraphs of the original post led me to a similar conclusion. Mismatched parts and signs of amateur gunsmithing are telling.

[ptdunk]

To me this looks like a Senior that has been worked on fairly heavily despite the quality of the bluing, and by an amateur rather than Webley. You can see that some of the screw heads have been damaged, and in particular you can see that someone at some point has had a go at removing the breech sealing plug, not something that Webley would do.

Possibly this was a reclamation project involving a marriage of a Senior body with an earlier barrel, and probably followed by a rebluing. I think any brazing would have been done before rebluing, as if it had been done after, the discoloration would have been far more drastic. Probably the bluing didn't take very well over the areas that had been cleaned up after the brazing process.

Thanks John,
that sounds spot on. They probably didn't bother filling the lettering in with paint once they saw the bluing didn't take on the heated section. They must have been dissapointed!

Well it shoots really nicely so it'll be a good plinker that I won't be too precious about.

Cheers,
Matt.

[ptdunk]

The brazing of the block on to the frame is because the web between the barrel slot and the slot for the cocking linkage to run in has fractured due to very heavy use or the frame being overload by a heavy spring or excessive preload on the spring.
The MK11 target pistols are also prone to developing the same fracture and they also fracture between to barrel pivot and the end of the body.
The pistol is what is commonly known as a bitza.

Thanks,
Good guess but I checked inside and out and can't see any trace of a crack, so I think John's right and someone's just brazed the block on to facilitate using an older barrel.
Lot of effort for a Frankensenior though!

I'll still get some use out of it as a nice plinker.

Cheers,
Matt.