Early Hurricane?

[Mike95]

My neighbour produced a boxed Hurricane once belonging to his father.
Something I have not seen before...the "Hurricane" engraved on the front part is finely engraved and does not ever appear to have been etched in the normal white paint. The gun is in very good condition and my first response was to say "shame about the lettering" but the pics on the leaflets with the gun show a fine engraved "Hurricane" and no sign of white paint.
Anyone seen this before? He also has a batch number and a 21 point inspection ticket.

Mike95

[Andy W]

That does indeed sound like an early one. Apparantly the wording "Webley Hurricane" appears from 1978/9 onwards. The lovely red-lines box disappeared around 1980/81, being replaced with the rather less glam. polystyrene.
I have an example from the cross-over years myself i.e. Webley Hurricane but still with the nice box.
If I were you, I'd make him an offer and hold on to it for a few years. They are great fun to shoot and I reckon that their value can only ever go up.

Regards,
Andy.

[Mike95]

I have seen the early model with "Hurricane" in white lettering but never "Hurricane" in fine etching with no sign of paint. I will have to get the batch number.

Mike95

[Andy W]

Ah! I take your point. Yes, could be a very early one. Maybe a first batch before the factory had fully tooled-up? Even more worth-while making your neighbour an offer then. If you could establish some form of provenance, you could see a good return in a decade or two.
The guy you really need to talk to is a chap who used to work for Webley whose name I forget now. Think it was Chris Dunn, I'll try and find it for you. He was featured in AirGun World as Webley were in the throws of closure. He's a really top chap and knows Webley product inside out.

Regards,
Andy.

[Troubledshooter]

The first style of lettering on the Hurricane/Tempest was applied using the 'Hot Embossing' process which resulted in the appearance of a shallow etching, and once the white lettering had disappeared, either through general use or constant cleaning, the outline would still remain.
Later lettering was surface printed, and once the lettering has gone, nothing normally shows.

[Mike95]

Thank you Troubledshooter...I think you have the answer. The etching is so fine that the paint could not have lasted very long. I will get hold of the batch number on the inspection card, this might help to date. I don't think the gun is for sale.

Mike95