A Warrior pistol serial number/data list

[ccdjg]

Following an earlier thread asking for information on second series Warrior pistols, I have now been able to put together the following list of serial numbers vs. structural features.



Warrior Serial Number list Comments

1. The list does not, of course, include all known serial numbers, but only those that provide helpful information about pinpointing when modifications cropped up.

2. So far the lowest serial number known is 1051 and the highest 6051, a curious coincidence. If numbering started at 1001 as is generally agreed, then the previous estimates of just over 5000 guns made in total are correct.

3. The list contains all confirmed examples of known serial numbered .22 pistols, and these are highlighted in red. There are 20 listed. However, as a much larger number of .177 examples are known that have not been included in the list, we can conclude that .22 examples are rare. It is interesting, but not surprising, that according to the serial number data, the .22 guns seem to have been made in small continuous batches.

4. The list shows that the old style half-moon trigger guard was replaced by the recurved one somewhere between serial numbers 1921 and 1943. However there are a few rare sporadic instances where the old trigger guard was used at higher serial numbers.

5. The pistol underwent something of a minor face lift between serial numbers 5547 and 5801, when the front pillar sight was replaced by a blade sight and the stampings on the grip frame were changed. The serial number was moved from the front to the rear grip edge, and front edge was stamped with ‘Made in England’.

6. The ‘superfluous’ screw on the right hand side of the trigger housing also cropped up by serial number 5801 and seems to have persisted up to serial number 5924 at least. The much earlier pistol with serial number 4227 was exceptional, in that it had this superfluous screw and a blade front sight, but the grip stampings were the old style. (A total of six examples with this screw are known: five are in this list, and a sixth is not included as its serial number is not known).

7. The last two guns in the list (6019 and 6051) broke the trend and, while keeping the new style grips stampings, reverted to the older front pillar sight. They also lacked the superfluous screw.

There are two things that we cannot work out from the list that would be interesting to know:

First, if and when were the old type horn grip plates phased out and replaced by the more modern vulcanite type? This is not something that we are likely to ever find out, as it is often hard to tell the difference between them visually, and few owners are likely to want to subject their grips to the red-hot wire test. The very limited data in the list suggests that both types were in use up to at least serial number 3479, but after that number we have no data at all.

The second gap in our knowledge is quite surprising, and I thought we knew the answer until I started compiling the list. When did the changeover from the first style box (with the pale Union Jack red, white and blue background, and the warrior knight) to the second style box (with the blue-black background and gold medallion) occur? I always thought that this happened well into the serial number sequence, but I have not yet been able to confirm absolutely that the changeover even took place in the second series serial numbered guns. It may have occurred at the introduction of the second series.
If anyone has any definite information about a serial numbered gun associated with a first version box, I would be very keen to hear about it.