The Webley & Scott Vulcan Air Rifle -- A Vox-Pop History

[Gareth W-B]

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Hello all. Over the last few months there have been several threads running about the Webley & Scott Vulcan. Coupled with the many info p-m's I have received regarding my posts on said threads (I can never resist these lol ), I have cobbled together an amalgam of my posts on the subject as follows. I am far from an expert, however, but hope you find the following interesting?

Many minor mechanical differences separate the various Vulcan variants, but these were basically variations on the same theme. The more noticeable cosmetic differences however are as follows, inc. info on the Xocet and Stingray (Brum built ones that is), which were basically continuations on the Vulcan theme ...

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Vulcan MkI: thinner barrel and slimmer stock than later models.

Vulcan MkII: fatter lacquered stock with pistol grip cup with white spacer, and a white butt pad spacer, too. The MkII also had/has a thicker 16mm barrel, and different front sights.

Vulcan MkIII: early MkIIIs sported same style stocks as described for the MkII, but later ones had plain pistol grip ends and no white spacers. These had the same style sights and barrel as the MkII, although later carbine K versions had threaded muzzle-breaks fitted which incorporated the front sight.

Xocet: a no thrills variant of the Vulcan (no safety and very plain stocks) with re-jigged breech so no gap apparent from above when rear sight removed.

Stingray: mechanically the same as the Vulcan but with finger grip flutes running length of stock, re-jigged breech so no gap apparent from above when rear sight removed, and a threaded muzzle break as standard incorporating a front sight.

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The Webley & Scott Vulcan air rifle first hit the market in 1979. All Vulcans were available in .177 and in .22. With the exception of the Xocet, all of the above have also been available as Walnut Deluxe Specials, too, and all models except the MkI have been available as carbines. At one stage I had eight examples of Vulcan in my collection, but now I only have the one: a MkI .22 SE special, which is one of only 110 of these ever made, ergo very rare and extremely collectable (have written a brief history of this particular model at the end here, as below).

Am a big fan of the Vulcan as you can probably tell, as imho, notwithstanding the use of a roll pin at the breech pivot instead of a breech bolt so as to save production pennies (why oh why did Webley do that ??? ), the Vulcan, particularly the Mk.I, was a real land mark air rifle, not only for Webley & Scott, but for the British air gun industry as a whole, as straight from the box, the Vulcan could muster upwards of 11ft.lb unfettled.

The Vulcan “One of 110” Walnut Special Edition (SE)
During the launch of the Webley & Scott Vulcan (first models weren't referred to as the MkI until the MkII went into production three years later), the factory produced 110 Special Edition versions wearing high-grade walnut stocks, and with gold plated trigger and safety catch levers.

So as not to be confused with the other walnut versions of the Vulcan that Webley were also to produce as an up-market mass produced up-grade item at that time (called the Deluxe throughout the Vulcan run) , these Special Edition Vulcans (oft referred to as The Vulcan SE), were given a fresh serial number range starting with a nine (9).

So if you are shown an alleged Vulcan SE check the serial number, because if it doesn't start with a nine (9), it is not one of the 110 that Webley & Scott produced, merely a doppelgänger, most likely cobbled together around one of the aforementioned Deluxe (lower grade walnut) Vulcan variants?

*** [the following down to the foot note = copied and amended from post #16 below, so as to ad further information and clarity] ***

The 'Special Edition' (SE) one of 110 variants as detailed were limited to what we now know as the series one Vulcan. Some people incorrectly think that there may have been more than 110 of these, however. Here is how this confusion has crept in:

As stated, each version of the Vulcan (I, II, and III) came with a walnut stocked Deluxe version. They also all came as a Custom walnut version, too ...

From the Series II Vulcan onwards, the aforementioned Custom Versions were called the 'Special Export' model. This inevitably got abbreviated by the trade to SE.

This is where the confusion comes in, as the ORIGINAL Vulcan SE was the Special Edition model, and as stated, all Special Edition examples have their own specific serial number range starting with a nine (9). As stated, there were only ever 110 of these manufactured.

All the Vulcan Special Export variants have serial numbers which slot straight in to the running sequence of serial numbers, however, and run into their thousands.


Poignant Foot Note
Webley & Scott air rifles using the model names of Xocet and Stingray were also made and marketed after the original British Brum based manufacturing company of Webley & Scott closed in 2006. They were sold by the outfit that bought the Webley and Scott name. These later examples were made in Turkey and/or Eastern Europe, and imho leave a lot to be desired . Hope this helps: G.

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[Geezer]

Some more info.

The Vulcan carbine came out as a MkII or Series 2, in late 1983.

The Victor (1981-88) was a youth model. Plain stock, shorter butt. Slightly weaker spring for easier cocking. No safety.

Victor replaced by the Excel in 1988. Similar, but full power and a higher price.

Beeman C1 carbine: 1983-1991. A Vulcan action with a 14" barrel in a straight-grip stock. Originally had no safety catch. Not popular here, but briefly quite popular in the US.

The Stingray was sold as a standard rifle and as a carbine. As you say above, a deluxe model with a walnut stock was offered.

From the Vulcan Series 3, the trigger blade on this family (and it is the same trigger on the Tracker and Viscount sidelevers) was made much more curved.

[Gareth W-B]

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Cheers Geezer, some excellent extra info there to (hopefully) help turn this thread into an on-going great Webley & Scott Vulcan reference thread?

[Paul SE]

Excellent post Gareth

As you may recall, I purchased a Mk1 Vulcan a couple of weeks ago from a fellow BBS member.
(http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread....-Vulcan-Mk1-22)

The Vulcan is one of those guns that I really should have bought when they first came out back in '79, but at that time I had a Mk3 Hawk

One of the thngs I cannot understand is that the Hawk Mk3 is slagged off as a really poor rifle, yet the Vulcan is a Hawk Mk3 with a larger diameter cylinder and different seal on the piston

I have to agree with ggggr in that many of the parts were the same and interchangeable on both rifles.
I found that the .177 Mk1 Vulcan that a mate had at the time, was without doubt, more powerful than the Hawk, but also that the firing cycle seemed smoother and quieter.

Another thing I've noticed on my Vulcan is that there is a pressed metal plate that sits between the trigger guard and the stock; I don't recall this item on the Hawk

As for prices, I remember the Mk1 Vulcan being sold at Jim Johnsons Norbury shop for £45.95

[Garvin]

Brilliant history, thanks Gareth! Just shows how much information there is buried in BBS posts if you take the time to look. But it's amalgamation posts like these that will endure.

Years ago on the American Vintage Airguns forum I tried to pull threads together into some sort of index of posts on early Weihrauch air rifles, which sort of worked but as it turns out was vulnerable to the Photobucket switch off.

[Muskett]

I'm a fan of the MK1 because it was the "boy" scaled full powered rifle of my youth. When all the "grown ups" were raving about the 81/2 lbs HW35E, most 10 years olds could barely lift the German machine, let alone afford one.
The Vulcan MKI packed a punch in a package we could shoot. Very heavy trigger but we worked through that. Open sights were OK, but we all wanted to fix a scope. Scope creep was an issue. Take the iron sights off and it exposed an ugly breach area. Webley brought out the Telescan scout scope that fitted on the barrel block; good system let down by a basic Webley branded Jap pistol scope with very fine wire crosshair. Anyhow, generally a 4x40 or 32 could be bolted on somehow and they were the scourge of critters around many a farmyard. I think the .22 was the better as these rifle worked best at short ratting ranges.

The MKII was much more refined but lost that small package size. You may as well have had the far superior FWB Sport, so I did. Vulcan MKII Deluxe is a good looking rifle but let down by that trigger. "Buy British" wasn't enough. By the time the Webley Omega came out, a fine rifle, things had moved on again.

If only Webley, and BSA for that matter, had have produced a better trigger to compete with the Record. British Industry was pile it high, sell it cheap. Thing is their cheap on old machinery was still expensive and not very profitable as the market had moved on and demanded more. Thankfully Theoben proved we could still make high quality and truly innovated rifles. Air Arms and a few others still prove we can.

[Arthur John Smithsplease]

Never had a chance to shoot one of these.

How were/are they?

Better than the BSA offerings of the same era?

[Muskett]

Very similar to a BSA Mercury. I think the BSA's have the better trigger and better sights, and point better too; though not quite the same power. Neither particularly inspiring bar the price ticket.
Shot my Vulcan MKI today. Packs a punch, shoots fine, but that trigger sure is a heavy one. I'm not going to play with it as thats how it should be. You get used to it and shoot it fast, shoot it fun. Have a Tasco Red Dot on mine

[Gareth W-B]

Excellent post Gareth

Brilliant history, thanks Gareth.

Thank you very much Gents, your comments are appreciated, as I 'aim' to please (did you see what I did there ??? )

Never had a chance to shoot one of these.

How were/are they?

Better than the BSA offerings of the same era?

The Vulcan is a lot more evenly balanced than the BSA Mercury, and so imho, is far more pick-up-and-pointable, and on average, the Vulcan was 1.5ft.lb more powerful (my experience was that back in the day, the Mercury struggled to cross the 10ft.lb mark straight from the box).

I also prefer the open sights that came as standard on the Webley Vulcan over the Mercury, too, but BSA had it pegged with the trigger, but only just though, as both were/are inferior to the HW35 triggers of the day (this was pre HW80 and HW77).

Notwithstanding the roll pin in place of a breech bolt as moaned about in my opening post, here, however, for me, the Vulcan was the complete package, as being a late teen at the time of its launch as I was, the visual aesthetics of the Vulcan gave it much more sex appeal than the other two, with only the later FWB 127 and 124 offering more trouser movement.

[Blackrider]

Great thread Gareth !
I've had two Mk. III K's in .22 Cal. And I really rated them. I used the first for general pest control in farms,
factories and industrial premises to good effect.
My Mate used a BSA Lightning at the time and as we shot together, we would "compete" for the best shot.
Fond and happy memories for a smashing British spring air rifle ! An illustrious member on here and good friend (Johnbaz) now owns my second Vulcan .22 k these days and he may show you a picture ?

[Gareth W-B]

Great thread Gareth.

Thank you good Sir.

[Roundshot]

Happy recollections indeed of the early Vulcan, particularly Paul SE's nice photos which remind me of the .177" I bought as a teenager in 1980, shot my first rabbit lamping on open sights in North Yorkshire.....then got rid in favour of Weihrauch.

The varnish wore off the stock fore end revealing blonde beechwood, the barrel wobbled side to side in the breech jaws, the trigger was quite awful.

As I recall it was skillfully marketed and certainly appealed to a patriotic boy like me who wanted a British gun. Cheaper than the HW35 and Original 45 as well.

But as a workhorse gun, an inferior offering I've always thought.

[Mach 1.5]

Nice thread Sir. Richard North used to use a Vulcan back in the day when we used to had speed shots at good old fashioned FT shoots. Yep showing my age. Mach 1.5

[hwtyger]

I still very much doubt the max total of 110 produced for the Vulcan SE.
You see them far too often for that. They were listed for sale from 1980 upto 1984. Thats way too long for 110 pieces.
It might be that the late Series 1 SE's were limited to 110 but I dont think the Series 2 were limited to 110.
Pitty its nowhere to trace exactly, as the webley bible isnt very clear about it either, the 110 sentence only speaks of the Series 1

[thisisdonald]

I've had loads of Vulcan of every variant.. Probably my most favourite all time gun... I now only have a mk3 left.
I would like to add that I think the 'open breech' design is superior to the closed design of most break barrels. It makes it easier to load, and easier to identify and replace damaged breech seals. The trigger on all Vulcan and Victor can easily be improved by using a weaker spring in the trigger - with a little searching, a simple click pen spring does the job. This improves the trigger no end. Also a note to anyone wanting to spruce up a Vulcan variant - get yourself an Aussie red parachute seal! These are a great improvement over the PTFE ring and give a much softer shot cycle.