Senior Newbie

[Modski66]

Had a first proper go with my Webley Senior this evening, and I don't know where to start!
The trigger is so heavy compared to my Tempest, and when it goes, it gives quite a kick. The good thing is, it does not twist to the right, so it reminds me of a single shot 22lr pistol I shot many years ago. The compact size and the weight give it a hint of a firearm experience, more so than any of the co2 replicas I have had.
However, for all that 'action', it could not punch a clean hole in a target card at 10m with 0.22 Hobbys, something my Tempest can do easily. Should the Senior be able to do this?
Three jobs on my list so far:-
1. Polish all the faces in the trigger mechanism that move against each other.
2. Check the breech seal.
3. Check the main spring. (Not sure what I should be looking for here!)
I might invest in a leaf spring for the trigger rather than the creaky coil spring currently fitted.
Should I be checking anything else?

[Lakey]

A senior should be a lot more capable than your gun, so you are right to investigate. From memory I think seniors had a phosphor bronze piston ring, instead of the normal leather washer. The piston ring needs to be properly lubricated otherwise it does make a good seal., also the breech washers dry out and become ineffective. Good luck

Lakey

[ggggr]

Had a first proper go with my Webley Senior this evening, and I don't know where to start!
The trigger is so heavy compared to my Tempest, and when it goes, it gives quite a kick. The good thing is, it does not twist to the right, so it reminds me of a single shot 22lr pistol I shot many years ago. The compact size and the weight give it a hint of a firearm experience, more so than any of the co2 replicas I have had.
However, for all that 'action', it could not punch a clean hole in a target card at 10m with 0.22 Hobbys, something my Tempest can do easily. Should the Senior be able to do this?
Three jobs on my list so far:-
1. Polish all the faces in the trigger mechanism that move against each other.
2. Check the breech seal.
3. Check the main spring. (Not sure what I should be looking for here!)
I might invest in a leaf spring for the trigger rather than the creaky coil spring currently fitted.
Should I be checking anything else?

There is not a lot you can do with the trigger really, although someone who used to target shoot with one told me they used to put a 5 degree radius on the holding face of the piston and do similar on the holding face of the sear with a really soft stone. As I see it the main problem is the sear is vertical and does not pivot (I can only think of the Senior and the Relum underlever pistols that have a vertical sear). You can stone the sides of the sear and I guess if you had a very small stone or maybe a needle file with wet and dry paper, you could clean up the groove the sear slides in. Somebody gave me a leaf spring out of a lock that was slightly softer then the proper leaf spring.
If someone had an old/scrap sear, I was tinkering with the idea of trying to get it better.
With Webley pistols, especially old leather ones, a replacemet seal really helps as they can lose power and become slammy.
Mainsprings tend to be generic for the Webley pistols now and if you get a new one, the gun may actually benefit from taking a couple of coils off it. (More spring = Heavier trigger).
When you strip the gun, there is no harm in using Gn paste, BUT I would use it with a mineral oil as well. I think Webley oil was straight SAE 40 engine oil?
I prefer the Senior to the Premier.
If you want to get your Tempest trigger really good,I did post something on here and I think Danny put it up with pics on his site.

PS--just seen your gun has the coil spring trigger. Is that correct? Must be quite and early one then? Waits for Josie and John or one of the other experts to get on.

[Modski66]

Mine has the 'Birmingham 4' marking which dates it to 1958, I also saw on an old thread that the coil springs were replaced around 1955, so I have at least narrowed down its year of production to a 9 year window.
I was hoping that the batch numbers might also give a clue to dates, mine is 2237 (higher number=later?), but I think it is a vain hope!

[harvey_s]

Certainly, just polishing the piston's sear face can make a huge difference.

[45flint]

Best investment in airgunning is a chronograph, with it your really guessing.

[45flint]

Quick read of the Bruce book on Webley pistols says both the Senior and the Temptest shoot the same 330 FPS in 22. My 1946 Senior shoots 312 FPS and is stock I’m sure: not a mark on it. 70 year old spring has lost a little? Should be same performance as a Temptest. I would try a target but it way too cold outside. Lol