I’ve been searching for a Webley No.1½ revolver in .450CF for several years now. I already own an example chambered in .442CF and own several rare small frame examples in .380CF but a .450 had so far eluded me.  Then, scanning though the offerings at a recent auction I noticed one. Perfect, I thought, the .450 gap in my collection was about to be filled.

The No.1½ revolvers appear to have been made in small batches from the late 1860’s through early 1870’s and are among the earliest cartridge revolvers produced by the Birmingham firm of P. Webley & Son.  It’s thought they predate Webley’s famous Royal Irish Constabulary (R.I.C.) line of revolvers which were introduced around the same time although it’s possible they were sold concurrently as a simpler, more affordable option.

At this time P. Webley & Son wasn’t the gun making behemouth that it would one day become, there was no large mechanised factory, the firm comprised a small shopfront in Weaman Street perhaps with only a few gunsmiths. It was one of hundreds of small firms, workshops and tradesmen that made up the Birmingham Gun Quarter.  The revolvers Webley produced were likely the product of dozens of unknown tradesman each working on a separate component before being brought together for assembly and finishing. Much of this was quite probably outsourced. How else to explain the large variety of differing styles and frame shapes all in similar calibres that were produced around the period. These include varying sizes of angular framed revolvers, humped frame types that later became the aforementioned R.I.C. revolvers, small short-barreled pocket revolvers that would become the famous British Bull Dogs and rounded grip styles that were briefly marketed as the No.1 and No.1½. But why not call it a No.2? Good question, without a really satisfactory answer, but it seems the No.2 name was already reserved for the British Bull Dog revolvers.

In any case, the No.1½ along with the smaller framed No.1 appear to be one of Webley’s earliest attempts at standardization. Generally, the No.1 is a rounded grip revolver in the smaller calibres of .320CF and .380CF whereas the larger framed No.1½ has the same rounded grip but chambered in the larger .442CF and .450CF. The standardization didn’t last long though as angular frame types are known with No.1 markings and small framed revolvers in .380 are known with the No.1½ marking. The rule with Webley is ‘there are no rules’.

The No.1½ is a decidedly simple revolver. The 4¼” octagonal barrel is cast as one with the solid one-piece frame which is fitted with simple double action lockwork without any rebounding hammer, instead the hammer is held off the cylinder for loading with a large external spring screwed to the left frame.  The six shot cylinder itself is also quite simple in design with a large external ratchet surrounding the rear face. Cartridges are loaded individually through a side opening loading gate but there’s no complex extractor fitted, instead a short extractor rod is screwed into the grip and can be removed and used to push out each fired case. The cylinder itself rotates on a centre pin that can be easily withdrawn by unscrewing a thumbscrew on the left frame thus allowing the cylinder to be removed. Two piece, checkered walnut grips secured by a single screw complete the robust, no frills revolver.

My bid was successful. When inspecting my newly purchased revolver I was quite pleased. Although a little dirty, it was in decent condition and would clean up nicely. The extractor rod was missing from the grip but no matter, I had a spare one hiding in my parts drawer. The revolver functioned correctly, the trigger worked and the cylinder rotated and locked. I noted a retailer name on the top strap “James W Rosier, 66 Elizabeth St, Melbourne” perhaps colonial Australia’s biggest and most well known gun dealer. On the left frame in front of the cylinder was a stamping “WEBLEY’S No1½ .450CF” above Webley’s famous flying bullet trademark and the serial number 29492.

All good. I removed the cylinder and noted the serial number on the face 29429. What? The last two digits were reversed. It couldn’t be a mismatched cylinder, surely. What are the chances of mixing it up with a cylinder containing the same digits? Not one to believe in co-incidence, I figured it must be a stamping error. That’s okay. It happens. Then I glanced at the chambers. They looked a little small. I quickly got a .450 cartridge from my collection. Damn. There was no way a .450 was going to fit but I soon found six .442 cartridges slipped in perfectly. Perhaps it was a mismatched cylinder after all. It must have shot terribly through an oversized barrel. I retrieved another Webley No.1½ revolver from my safe, this one definitely in .442 and compared the barrels. They looked the same. I measured the bores. They were the same. Not happy. It seems whoever mucked up the cylinder serial numbering had also used the wrong stamp on the side of the frame. This revolver was a .442 masquerading as a .450. I gave a moment’s thought to the 155 years worth of frustration that error must have caused as confused owners found their newly purchased .450 cartridges refusing to chamber. Never mind, I reflected. You get this kind of thing with Webley collecting. Nothing’s ever quite as expected.

I’m still searching for a Webley No.1½ in .450CF

Further Reading:

The Webley Story, William Chipchase Dowell, Skyrac Press, 1962.

Webley Revolvers, Gordon Bruce & Christian Reinhart, Verlag Stocker-Schmid, 1988.

The English Revolver, George Prescott, Schiffer Publishing, 2014.