At the risk of putting the cat among the pigeons, does anyone agree with me that the Walther LP53 is somewhat overrated when compared with the contemporary Webley Senior in terms of build quality and materials? I stress build quality, rather than performance or appearance, as I think that when it comes to looks the LP53 is unarguably a clear winner, and is probably also a better performer. What prompted me to raise this was the current thread about renovating an old LP53 asking what sort of paint to use to refinish the barrel. This gave me to think that an equivalent question directed at an old Webley Senior would have received some harsh comments, if not ridicule.

Back in 1954 I can clearly remember as a youngster my favourite gunshop, which exhibited an LP53 alongside a Webley Senior, Mark 1 and Junior in its window, and I also remember marvelling that the price of the Walther was almost twice that of the Senior. I now wonder why this was, considering that the Webley was manufactured from forged steel involving more than 50 machining operations, and even the barrel was deep-hole bored from solid steel, whereas the LP53 relied largely on zinc alloy castings, and the barrel was a steel tube sleeved with alloy. Perhaps the price difference was the result of heavy import duties at the time, or was Walther adding a nice premium confident in the saleability of its attractive design?