The original article appeared in Guns Review, March 1979 and was written by Dr Joe Gilbart , a much respected collector of air pistols and writer of the late 1900’s. The pistol under discussion belonged to another collector and Joe was describing it first hand. His photograph (below) was originally black and white and I colorized purely it out of interest.




His write up went as follows:

“The Webley pistol has a most unusual appearance and when I first saw it my reaction was “Good Heavens, a Webley Buntline! ……………………………………..I am sure you will see what I mean when you look at the illustration of this Webley “Senior” (Fig. 5). These very long barrels were not made by Webley & Scott, but by an independent firm who advertised in periodicals of the mid 1950’s as replacement barrels for the Webley Senior air pistol, reputedly to improve the accuracy and velocity. The barrel is very well made of steel , with a foresight brazed on the muzzle end. The hinge piece and the standard Webley cocking linkage are also brazed to the barrel. The fit and finish, including the blueing, are truly excellent. However, when we look inside the barrel, we find a surprising thing. The rifling is 13 groove, which is a true departure from the contemporary standard Webley seven groove rifling. The calibre is .22 and the barrel length is 11 and a quarter inches. ……………………………………………….. .”

He the goes on to say that the owner has made further modifications to the pistol by fitting thick walnut grips and adding a trigger adjusting screw.


Evidently these barrels were sold complete with cocking linkage and were interchangeable with the standard Webley Senior barrel without the requirement for any further modification of the pistol.