The Webley MkIV Target Revolver was a special version of Webley’s MkIV centerfire revolver. It featured adjustable target sights, a six inch barrel, and was chambered for the 22 long rifle cartridge.
Fast Facts
- The Webley MkIV Target Revolver was a specific model target pistol almost identical with the centerfire MkIV as used by Britain’s military and police.
- The MkIV Target Revolver was given fully adjustable sights, with the front sight providing elevation adjustment and the rear-sight providing lateral adjustment.
- This revolver was only chambered for the 22 long rifle cartridge as was the standard for many pistol target competitions. The standard barrel length was six inches.
Because I had my childhood in London, England in the 1950’s and 1960’s my early exposure to firearms was very much influenced by British gunmakers, and among the most prevalent at the time were the products of Webley & Scott; shotguns, pistols, and air-rifles.
Webley had been the maker of the British armed forces revolvers and automatic pistols for a large part of Britain’s history. Likewise they were also the maker of the revolvers used by Britain’s police during that era when British police were not routinely armed, and were known and trusted because of their politeness and professionalism.
During that post-war period the vast majority of British people had played their part during the war and so were familiar with firearms. For example, my father had served as a DEMS gunner on merchant ships while my mother had endured the Blitz and had worked making BREN guns at the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield Lock.
So given the service background of the vast majority of Britain’s people Webley also made a variety of target pistols. Back in the pre-war and immediate post-war periods shooting sports were popular in Britain and this maintained marksmanship training for the nation.
One of these target pistols, which was in production up through to 1967, was the MkIV revolver made chambered for the 22 long rifle cartridge.
This target pistol was a modified Webley MkIV: instead of being made in chambered for the service 38/200 (i.e. 38 Smith & Wesson, aka 38 Smith & Wesson Short), it was made chambered for the 22 long rifle, which was a standard target competition round.
This MkIV Target Model featured a rear sight adjustable for windage, and a front-sight adjustable for elevation.
The Webley MkIV was a top-break action revolver with a stirrup latch that locked over the top strap of the action – that stirrup latch being operated by a lever on the left-side of the action just above the pistol grip.
The rear-sight of the military and police MkIV 38 S&W revolvers was mounted on the stirrup latch that secured over the top strap of the revolver frame, which was fine for a service revolver that was made for the rough and tumble of practical combat use. But for the target pistol this was not the best arrangement because of the potential for the top strap stirrup to lock into a slightly different position when closed.
For the MkIV Target Model the rear-sight was relocated to the top-strap of the action which secured it onto the barrel and frame assembly, thus eliminating the potential for any accuracy damaging movement.
Other than that the MkIV Target Model was almost identical to the standard military and police MkIV. The military and police models were normally equipped with 4 inch barrels, while the Target Model was standard with a 6 inch barrel.
The firing pin was angled a little more downwards because it needed to strike on the bottom part of the rim of the rimfire cartridge, and the firing pin recess was also moved down for that purpose.
The revolver cylinder was bored for the 22lr cartridge, and the barrel was made specifically for the 22lr, not sleeved. The Webley extractor/ejector functioned in exactly the same way as it did on the centerfire revolvers.
The cylinder was left with the same external profile and flutes as the centerfire model, unlike earlier Webley 22lr target revolvers which tended to have stepped cylinders.
The quality and finish of these revolvers was to Webley commercial standards – they were beautifully made and finished.
These original Webley MkIV Target Model revolvers were not made in large quantities and so they are rather more scarce than the service revolvers, and thus rather prized by collectors.
These were a very desirable revolver when new, and they are perhaps even more desirable today.
Picture Credits: All pictures courtesy Guns International .Com except where otherwise noted.
Jon Branch is the founder and senior editor of Revivaler and has written a significant number of articles for various publications including official Buying Guides for eBay, classic car articles for Hagerty, magazine articles for both the Australian Shooters Journal and the Australian Shooter, and he’s a long time contributor to Silodrome.
Jon has done radio, television, magazine and newspaper interviews on various issues, and has traveled extensively, having lived in Britain, Australia, China and Hong Kong. His travels have taken him to Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan and a number of other countries. He has studied the Japanese sword arts and has a long history of involvement in the shooting sports, which has included authoring submissions to government on various firearms related issues and assisting in the design and establishment of shooting ranges.
