.455 inch Ball

Although the first order for the Webley Mark I revolver had been placed in 1887, the first .455 inch ball round was not approved until 1891. Small pilot production had taken place at Royal Laboratory in the two previous years and a small order had been placed with Eley Brothers in 1890.

Powder Ball Mark I

"Cartridge S.A. Ball Pistol Webley Mark I (Also Enfield)" was approved in July 1891 and shown in LoC Paragraph 6844 dated October 1892. The title was later changed to "Cartridge S.A. Ball Revolver .455 inch Powder Mark I".

The case was solid drawn and retained the same case length as the .476 inch Enfield Mark III. A larger Boxer primer was fitted and the case was varnished inside except for the part in contact with the bullet. The headstamp included the numeral "I".

The bullet was made of an alloy of lead and tin in a 12:1 ratio and weighed 265 grains. It was of more conventional round nosed shape than the .476 inch Enfield Mark III and was hollow based with three cannelures. It was secured in the case by three pin stabs with the case coned into the top cannelure. Early production at RL before 1892 did not have the case coned and so was withdrawn from service The propellant charge was 18 grains of Rifle Pistol Powder (blackpowder) and muzzle velocity was 700 feet per second.The .455 inch Powder Mark I was widely manufactured in Great Briatin and also in India at Kirkee and Dum Dum. As well as Royal Laboratory it was made by Kynoch, Greenwood & Batley, Grenfell & Accles and Eley Brothers..455 inch Powder Mark I

Cordite Ball Mark I

Cordite had been approved for service with the ,303 inch round in 1891so it was only a matter of time before Cordite was introduced for the .455 inch revolver.

"Cartridge S.A. Ball Pistol Webley Cordite Mark I (Also Enfield)" was approved in September 1892 to design RL 8292 and shown in LoC Paragraph 7608 dated November 1894. In 1917 the title was changed to "Cartridge S.A. Ball Revolver .455 inch Mark I".

The case was identical to the Powder Mark I with Boxer primer but the cap contained 0.4 grains of composition as opposed to the 0.2 grains of the Powder Mark I. The headstamp included the numeral "I" and ht eletter "C" for Cordite.

The propellant charge was 6.5 grains of Cordite size 3 3/4 which was later changed to 7 grains of Cordite size 1. Muzzle velocity was 700 feet per second.

The Cordite Mark I was only manufactured by Royal Laboratory.

Cordite Ball Mark II

Although the Cordite Ball Mark I served for five years it was not satisfactory due to misfires and pierced caps. Despite this later being found to be due mainly to the heavier hammer blow of the Mark II Webley revolver it was decided to change the design to incorporate a berdan primer. Since the introduction of Cordite had reduced the space needed for the charge a new shorter cartridge was introduced in 1897.

"Cartridge S.A. Ball Pistol Webley Cordite Mark II (Also Enfield)" was approved in July 1897 to design Rl 9274 and shown in LoC Paragraph 9159 dated August 1898. Along with other rounds the "Cordite" was dropped from the title in 1912 and in 1917 the title was changed to "Cartridge S.A. Ball Revolver .455 inch Mark II". It was declared obsolescent in March 1940 and obsolete in October 1946.

The .455 inch Ball Mark II had a drawn brass case about 2.5mm shorter than the Mark I and with a wide 6mm Berdan primer. It had one neck cannelure to seat the bullet. The headstamp included the numeral "II" and up to 1907 the letter "C" for Cordite.The round nosed bullet was an alloy of lead and tin in a 12:1 ratio, but after 1914 this was changed to one of lead and antimony in a 99;1 alloy. It weighed 265 grains and was hollow based with three cannelures, the base being lubricated with beeswax.The Propellant charge was between 5.5 and 6.5 grains of Mark I chopped Cordite to give a muzzle velocity of 600 feet per second. in a six inch barrel..455 inch Ball Mark II

The .455 inch Mark II was widely manufactured by all the British contractors as well as at Royal Laboratory. It was also made in Canada, Australia and in India at Kirkee and Dum Dum.

Soon after the introduction of the Mark II questions were raised about its "man-stopping" ability. Trials were held between two in house designs of hollow point bullet and a Webley patent man-stopping bullet with a large forward nose cavity, of which the Webley bullet proved easily the best. It was therefore recommended for adoption.

An anomoly is that despite the date being introduced into the headstamp of British military SAA in 1907 this was not done for the .455 inch Mark II and all production until after WWI was undated.

Cordite Ball Mark III

"Cartridge S.A. Ball Pistol Webley Cordite Mark III (Also Enfield)" was approved in February 1898 to design RL 9982 and shown in LoC Paragraph 9159 dated August 1898.

Along with other rounds the "Cordite" was dropped from the title in 1912 and in 1917 the title was changed to "Cartridge S.A. Ball Revolver .455 inch Mark III". In 1900 it was ordered that no more should be made and existing stocks used up for practice.

The case was as for the Mark II and the headstamp included the numeral "III" and the letter "C" for Cordite, although Indian production

Ball Mark IV

Several designs were trialled in 1906/07 to find a replacement for the .455 inch Ball Mark III that still offered effective man-stopping power. "Cartridge S.A. Ball Pistol Webley Mark IV" was approved in May 1912 to design RL 16626.A(I) and shown in LoC Paragraph 16286 dated March 1913. In 1917 the title was changed to "Cartridge S.A. Ball Revolver .455 inch Mark IV". Since it was introduced after "Cordite" had been dropped from nomenclature this did not appear in the title nor was there a letter "C" in the headstamp..455 inch Ball Mark IV headstamped "R/|\L IV"The bullet was an alloy of lead and tin in a 12:1 ratio and weighed 220 grains. It was completely flat fronted and had three cannelures and a hollow base.

The propellant charge was 5.5 grains of Cordite and muzzle velocity was about 600 feet per second.

Despite having been introduced to overcome possible objections to the Mark III, there were still fears about the legality of the Mark IV and so it was not widely issued. It never replaced the Mark II in general service and was ordered withdrawn in 1914 to be used up for practice.

The .455 inch Mark IV was manufactured by Woolwich and trade contractors Eley and Birmingham Metals and Munitions Co. It was also made in India at Dum Dum and Kirkee.

It was declared obsolete in October 1946.

Ball Mark V

"Cartridge S.A. Ball Pistol Webley Mark V" was approved in April 1914 to design RL 16626.A(I) and shown in LoC Paragraph 16907 dated September 1914. In 1917 the title was changed to "Cartridge S.A. Ball Revolver .455 inch Mark V".

The principal difference to the preceding Mark IV was that instead of the bullet being an alloy of lead and tin, the bullet of the Mark V was an alloy of lead and antimony in a 12:1 ratio. The charge was also slightly increased to 6.5 grains of Cordite, but in all other respects it was similar.

The .455 inch Ball Mark V was introduced primarily as a competition and target cartridge and did not replace the Ball Mark II for general issue.The headstamp included the numeral "V" but some Mark IV cases were used which had the "IV" struck out and "V" added. Only RL appears to have made the .455 inch Ball Mark V.It was declared obsolete in October 1946. .455 inch Ball Mark V headstamped "R/|\L V"

View showing bullet profile of ball Marks III, IV and V.

Ball Mark VI and VIz

With war drawing close in the late 1930s, attention was once drawn to the legality of the lead bulleted .455 inch Ball Mark II. The Germans had formally objected to it in WWI and so it was decided to introduce a jacketed version of the bullet.

"Cartridge S.A. Ball Revolver Mark VI" was approved to design DD/L/9513 in September 1939 and shown in LoC Paragraph B.3313 dated March 1940. The nitrocellulose loaded version was approved as "Cartridge S.A. Ball Revolver Mark VIz" in April 1941 to design DD/L/9613 and shown in LoC Paragraph B.5974 dated April 1942. Both were superseded by design DD/SAA/149 in January 1945.

The case was as for the Mark II but did not have the bullet seating cannelure. The headstamp included the numeral "VI" or "VIZ" depending on the propellant, and the primer had a purple annulus.

The bullet had the same profile as the Mark II and had a lead core with a cupro-nickel or gilding metal envelope. It weighed 265 grains and was secured in the case by three neck indents.

The propellant charge was between 5.5 and 7.5 grains depending on whether the charge was Cordite or nitrocellulose, and muxxle velocity in a Mark VI revolver was 620 feet per second.The .455 inch Ball Mark VI and VIz was made by Kynoch in the UK and also in Canada and Australia. Canadian production utilised a Boxer primer.Although obsolescent at the end of WW2, the Ball Mark VI continued to be made into the late 1960s by Kynoch but these were export contracts for Pakistan and other customers. Some of this late production had small primers fitted..455 inch Ball Mark VI headstamped "K40 VI"