.455 inch Revolver

The .476 inch Enfield revolver had not been received well by the Army or Royal Navy and despite a lighter mark II version being introduced it was still considered too heavy and cumbersome.

In 1886 the Adjutany General Lord Wolseley remarked to the Surveyor of Ordnance that the Enfield revolver compared unfavourably with the .442 inch Webley carried by the Royal Irish Constabulary or indeed to his own .450 inch Adams Bulldog.

As a result of this and further complaints from the Royal Navy a series of trial were held in 1886/87 which resulted in an order later in 1887 to P.Webley and Sons for 10,000 of a new pattern of revolver, the Webley Mark I.

This was the beginning of nearly sixty years of service for the six marks of .455 inch Webley revolver through to the end of WWII.

The Webley was a six chamber self-extracting revolver capable of being fired single or double action, and was one of the most endurable revolvers ever sesigned.

In addition to the Webley revolvers in British service, the .455 inch cartridge was chambered in Colt, Smith & Wesson and Spanish Old Pattern pistols, purchased to supplement the supply of Webleys during the First World War.