Boxed Webley Premier E valuation please

[Troubledshooter]

I have two boxed uncoded 5 pin Premiers with batch numbers 141 & 808, not that the batch numbers appear to mean anything, but neither have dates or any other markings under the grips on either side.
Also two boxed 4 pin B's and a 5 pin D.
I may have some unboxed Premiers somewhere, but from memory they are all coded.

[flogger]

While supping a superb cup of Darjeeling tea i thought i would have a look at my Premier models for batch and letter stamps to the action.After finding at least ten of them, all boxed 8 were stamped either E OR D. Two i find suncorite finish with a batch no.888. in .22 5pin trigger, black grips,dated 2/1973 has no action stamp at all. The other one batch no.445..22 5 pin trigger. dated 2/1975 appears to be the same,but on removing left hand grip i find stamped on the metal grip the letter E near the top of the grip.I am sure John M. and you other brains will have some remarks.If i was asking some of my mates about this my nickname would be what a boring f--t. So there we are.
Roly.

[Josie & John]

While supping a superb cup of Darjeeling tea i thought i would have a look at my Premier models for batch and letter stamps to the action.After finding at least ten of them, all boxed 8 were stamped either E OR D. Two i find suncorite finish with a batch no.888. in .22 5pin trigger, black grips,dated 2/1973 has no action stamp at all. The other one batch no.445..22 5 pin trigger. dated 2/1975 appears to be the same,but on removing left hand grip i find stamped on the metal grip the letter E near the top of the grip.I am sure John M. and you other brains will have some remarks.If i was asking some of my mates about this my nickname would be what a boring f--t. So there we are.
Roly.

Hi Roly,

I'm guessing the E on the 1975 pistol is larger than on the others - and yes they were partially obscured by this stage of production. As this pistol came after the F series, I'm reluctant to call it an E series, bearing in mind the finish is a baked on enamel; so perhaps the large E stands for Enamel? I wonder if Ray (abellringer) knows for certain?

John

[Geezer]

Didn’t John’s epic batch number thread some years ago (ten?) roughly conclude that while batch numbers are completely useless in dating most Webley pistols, they do have some utility in respect of Premiers?

Or have I completely mis-remembered that, while also being too lazy to do a search and then read through about 40 pages of posts?

[Josie & John]

Didn’t John’s epic batch number thread some years ago (ten?) roughly conclude that while batch numbers are completely useless in dating most Webley pistols, they do have some utility in respect of Premiers?

Or have I completely mis-remembered that, while also being too lazy to do a search and then read through about 40 pages of posts?

Yep, batch numbers are pretty irrelevant for collectors but most Premiers were date coded under the left grip.

John

[WebleyWombler]

Yep, batch numbers are pretty irrelevant for collectors but most Premiers were date coded under the left grip.

John

And the more date/letter codes that are compiled, the better as it enables dates of subtle changes to be tied down to a more accurate period.

[flogger]

Hi Roly,

I'm guessing the E on the 1975 pistol is larger than on the others - and yes they were partially obscured by this stage of production. As this pistol came after the F series, I'm reluctant to call it an E series, bearing in mind the finish is a baked on enamel; so perhaps the large E stands for Enamel? I wonder if Ray (abellringer) knows for certain?

John

Thanks John. You are absolutely right in your explanation,the E is quite a large stamp compared to the normal size on most frames. 1975 must be getting near to the mk2 version.
Roly.