louisvanhovell Posted December 31, 2017 Report Share Posted December 31, 2017 For Christmas I treated myself to a lovely Webley Service Rifle MkII .22. I first saw the gun a few weeks ago when I was visiting my former landlord in Okehampton; he used it to hunt when he was a farmer in Derbyshire. Unfortunately it wasn't for sale. So I went and looked on the internet. Soon I found one back in the Netherlands, in pretty good condition seen its age; S6313, which makes it a series 3. According to the Mr Thrales Webley book, it was manufactured in Webley's factory in Birmingham in 1935 or 1936. Unfortunately the barrel serial no. does not match, but that's ok. The barrel is in fantastic condition and very accurate. Surprisingly, it shoots very well with JSB Exact's 5.52. The fit is loose, as the barrels is actually 5.6mm. They fly out at 440-450 ft/s, giving about 7fpe. Enough to go straight through old bean cans at 30m. And when using my gun rest, I can hit them easily. There's lots of info to be found on this beautiful piece of engineering. The main features are: interchangeable barrels (in a few seconds you could change to a .177 or .25 barrel - that is, if you have one. MkII with 3 barrels are very rare and very expensive. They often come in a case, but not many cases are original ones). In .25, it was called the Rook and Rabbit Rifle. Open sights, with also a flip-up aperture sight for longer shots. Bolt to close the barrel and push it against the leather breech seal (the seal on my gun has been replaced and is not made from leather). The Service Rifle was used for military training, as airgun pellets are so much cheaper than bullets. It was also a loved poacher's gun, as it would fit under a jacket when the barrel is off. For me it's a lot of fun to own and shoot one, and to find out more about the history of the gun. In the next years (or longer) I will try to find extra barrels, a box, original instruction manuals... Happy new year. A few more pictures. The 2nd and 3rd are of my gun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getthegat Posted December 31, 2017 Report Share Posted December 31, 2017 Wow that's a cool bit of nostalgia. There's something about old weapons, the craftsmanship and skill. Great. Good on you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruno22rf Posted December 31, 2017 Report Share Posted December 31, 2017 What a joy to behold - I met an elderly gent about 6 months ago who had brought one into our local dealer as it needed a new breach seal , he had owned it from new and bought it just before the war with his first wage. I did not want to put it down and fell in love with the gun as he recalled his memories of shooting Rabbits for the pot during the War - got to be my dream gun, look after her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrcunnie Posted December 31, 2017 Report Share Posted December 31, 2017 Now that brings back a few memories, as a young lad i remember my dad taking me to see his friend, Pat. Well Pat was an old soldier who used to take us fishing and i loved going to see him because he would tell you about his time in the war and all sorts of tall story's but the best thing of going to see Pat was that he had a webley service air rifle, well i fell in love with that rifle so much that the fishing was put on the back burner and my dad bought me a BSA meteor and my life in shooting began. Thanks for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rimfireboy Posted December 31, 2017 Report Share Posted December 31, 2017 That’s a great post, thanks for sharing. I have a couple of mk3’s, but they’re fairly common. Last time I was in C.H.Westons, they had a couple of Webley service air rifles in. One was mint. Might be worth giving Ivan a call if you want barrels etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louisvanhovell Posted December 31, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2017 Many thanks for the replies, bruno22rf, mrcunnie, Rimfireboy. It's nice to read that there are so many stories/memories that feature the Service Rifle. 6 hours ago, Rimfireboy said: That’s a great post, thanks for sharing. I have a couple of mk3’s, but they’re fairly common. Last time I was in C.H.Westons, they had a couple of Webley service air rifles in. One was mint. Might be worth giving Ivan a call if you want barrels etc? Rimfireboy thank you for the tip. I will contact C.H. Westons to find out if they have any spare barrels for sale for the gun. I know that John Knibbs makes new barrels, but they are a bit expensive at 250 GBP. What are the MK3's like? I'm thinking of buying one in .22. They look nice. Are they accurate and nice to shoot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mice! Posted December 31, 2017 Report Share Posted December 31, 2017 Really nice that, lovely wood work and I like the old pictures. Being a machinist myself seeing them all working away making quality guns by hand is really nice to see, and I like the flick up rear site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerCat Posted December 31, 2017 Report Share Posted December 31, 2017 Lovely gun. There's something about the old school webleys. I had a typhoon and it always had a solid purposeful feel too it and I bet this rifle does too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rimfireboy Posted December 31, 2017 Report Share Posted December 31, 2017 1 hour ago, louisvanhovell said: Many thanks for the replies, bruno22rf, mrcunnie, Rimfireboy. It's nice to read that there are so many stories/memories that feature the Service Rifle. Rimfireboy thank you for the tip. I will contact C.H. Westons to find out if they have any spare barrels for sale for the gun. I know that John Knibbs makes new barrels, but they are a bit expensive at 250 GBP. What are the MK3's like? I'm thinking of buying one in .22. They look nice. Are they accurate and nice to shoot? The mk3’s are nicely made and work well with the right pellets. In .22 they prefer the original eley wasps as they’re a tighter fit in the barrel. You can expect around 9.5 - 10.5 ft lbs from a .22 mk3 in good order. Some lovely walnut on some of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psycho Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 (edited) I dont have a mark 2 or 3.. But i like the look of then .well made and good solid rifles. Thanks for adding the old adverts and posters to the theat I am however fortunate enough to have a webley mark 1 rifle which i was given by an old bloke over the road..his dad used it in the sunderland shipyards to shoot rats..unfortunatly it had been kept in a shed so was a little worse for wear.would not cock and needed a new top brace manufacturing as well as screws etc..again ..its superbly engineered with a safety catch on a gun thats almost 100 years old the before scrap pics notice the manufactured by engraving bottom photo I then thought in for a penny in for a few hundred so i sent the gun to sean at isp who manufactured the brace replaced the screw and did a fine job on the woodwork...the gun then went tp v-mach and had the internals reworked the cylinder trued as it was ovel..the gun parts went to don blocksidge for a little engraving..then back to steve pope to be blacked and assembled tested and returned..it puts out 5.5 foot lb and is great for 6 yard target shooting ..were it is pellet on pellet My now fully restored Webley Mark 1 after a 5 month wait. From scrap to this..note manufactured by photo this time Edited January 1, 2018 by psycho Add photos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rimfireboy Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 Lovely piece that, thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amateur Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 Nicely done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louisvanhovell Posted January 1, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 12 hours ago, psycho said: I dont have a mark 2 or 3.. But i like the look of then .well made and good solid rifles. Thanks for adding the old adverts and posters to the theat I am however fortunate enough to have a webley mark 1 rifle which i was given by an old bloke over the road..his dad used it in the sunderland shipyards to shoot rats..unfortunatly it had been kept in a shed so was a little worse for wear.would not cock and needed a new top brace manufacturing as well as screws etc..again ..its superbly engineered with a safety catch on a gun thats almost 100 years old the before scrap pics notice the manufactured by engraving bottom photo I then thought in for a penny in for a few hundred so i sent the gun to sean at isp who manufactured the brace replaced the screw and did a fine job on the woodwork...the gun then went tp v-mach and had the internals reworked the cylinder trued as it was ovel..the gun parts went to don blocksidge for a little engraving..then back to steve pope to be blacked and assembled tested and returned..it puts out 5.5 foot lb and is great for 6 yard target shooting ..were it is pellet on pellet My now fully restored Webley Mark 1 after a 5 month wait. From scrap to this..note manufactured by photo this time That is beautiful, thank you for sharing. You have given the MK1 a second life. Very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robertt Posted January 2, 2018 Report Share Posted January 2, 2018 Bought some Defiant Vintage 22 , 5.6mm off ebay. Very well made pellets. By far the most accurate in my Mk3 and Airsporter . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rimfireboy Posted January 2, 2018 Report Share Posted January 2, 2018 2 hours ago, Robertt said: Bought some Defiant Vintage 22 , 5.6mm off ebay. Very well made pellets. By far the most accurate in my Mk3 and Airsporter . I’m going to have a look at them. I’ve been meaning to try some in my old webleys. My old senior .22 works so much better with the old original eley wasps than any other pellets I’ve tried. Most are such a loose fit. It produces an astonishing (for a Webley air pistol) 5.1 ish ft lbs with the wasps, and around 3.8 - 4 ft lbs with most others. Trouble is, my stock of old wasps are running down now. Similar with the old Webley rifles, don’t work so well with modern pellets for 5.5mm barrels. Also my airsporters only really liked the old tight fitting pellets like eley wasp and champions that you can’t really source easily these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theshootist Posted January 4, 2018 Report Share Posted January 4, 2018 Absolutely stunning work there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theshootist Posted January 4, 2018 Report Share Posted January 4, 2018 (edited) On 02/01/2018 at 12:04, Rimfireboy said: I’m going to have a look at them. I’ve been meaning to try some in my old webleys. My old senior .22 works so much better with the old original eley wasps than any other pellets I’ve tried. Most are such a loose fit. It produces an astonishing (for a Webley air pistol) 5.1 ish ft lbs with th8e wasps, and around 3.8 - 4 ft lbs with most others. Trouble is, my stock of old wasps are running down now. Similar with the old Webley rifles, don’t work so well with modern pellets for 5.5mm barrels. Also my airsporters only really liked the old tight fitting pellets like eley wasp and champions that you can’t really source easily these days. Get onto eBay and search defiant vintage 5.6 Edited January 4, 2018 by theshootist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krugerandsmith Posted January 6, 2018 Report Share Posted January 6, 2018 On 01/01/2018 at 09:10, psycho said: I dont have a mark 2 or 3.. But i like the look of then .well made and good solid rifles. Thanks for adding the old adverts and posters to the theat I am however fortunate enough to have a webley mark 1 rifle which i was given by an old bloke over the road..his dad used it in the sunderland shipyards to shoot rats..unfortunatly it had been kept in a shed so was a little worse for wear.would not cock and needed a new top brace manufacturing as well as screws etc..again ..its superbly engineered with a safety catch on a gun thats almost 100 years old the before scrap pics notice the manufactured by engraving bottom photo I then thought in for a penny in for a few hundred so i sent the gun to sean at isp who manufactured the brace replaced the screw and did a fine job on the woodwork...the gun then went tp v-mach and had the internals reworked the cylinder trued as it was ovel..the gun parts went to don blocksidge for a little engraving..then back to steve pope to be blacked and assembled tested and returned..it puts out 5.5 foot lb and is great for 6 yard target shooting ..were it is pellet on pellet My now fully restored Webley Mark 1 after a 5 month wait. From scrap to this..note manufactured by photo this time Lovely job well done. As for Sunderland Shipyard ..... Happy memories .... the lads shouting across the river to the girls working at the fish factory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnbaz Posted January 6, 2018 Report Share Posted January 6, 2018 On 1/1/2018 at 09:10, psycho said: I dont have a mark 2 or 3.. But i like the look of then .well made and good solid rifles. Thanks for adding the old adverts and posters to the theat I am however fortunate enough to have a webley mark 1 rifle which i was given by an old bloke over the road..his dad used it in the sunderland shipyards to shoot rats..unfortunatly it had been kept in a shed so was a little worse for wear.would not cock and needed a new top brace manufacturing as well as screws etc..again ..its superbly engineered with a safety catch on a gun thats almost 100 years old the before scrap pics notice the manufactured by engraving bottom photo I then thought in for a penny in for a few hundred so i sent the gun to sean at isp who manufactured the brace replaced the screw and did a fine job on the woodwork...the gun then went tp v-mach and had the internals reworked the cylinder trued as it was ovel..the gun parts went to don blocksidge for a little engraving..then back to steve pope to be blacked and assembled tested and returned..it puts out 5.5 foot lb and is great for 6 yard target shooting ..were it is pellet on pellet My now fully restored Webley Mark 1 after a 5 month wait. From scrap to this..note manufactured by photo this time Have to say Psycho that I dribble every time I see your Venom mk1 mate John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark@mbb Posted January 31, 2018 Report Share Posted January 31, 2018 I have a couple of mk1's that are mentioned in Thrales book and a couple of mk11 series 1 rifles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mice! Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 spotted these today, just because there in Chorley near me, thought I'd stick up a link seeing as some of you like the old rifles. https://mypage.freeads.co.uk/jason-millar#.WpWCFWB2s0P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam cosier Posted April 15, 2023 Report Share Posted April 15, 2023 I’ve recently inherited a Webley .22 mark 2 air rifle. trying to find out it’s worth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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