Webley Revolver
service pistol, United Kingdom & Empire, 1887-1963
The Webley Revolver (also known as the Webley Top-Break Revolver or Webley Self-Extracting Revolver) was, in various designations, a standard issue service revolver for the armed forces of the United Kingdom, and countries of the British Empire, from 1887 to 1963.
The Webley is a top-break revolver and breaking the revolver operates the extractor, which removes cartridges from the cylinder. The Webley Mk I service revolver was adopted in 1887, and the Mk IV rose to prominence during the Boer War of 1899–1902. The Mk VI was introduced in 1915, during wartime, and is the best-known model.
Firing large .455 Webley cartridges, Webley service revolvers are among the most powerful top-break revolvers produced. The .455 calibre Webley is no longer in military service. As of 1999, the .38/200 Webley Mk IV variant was still in use as a police sidearm in a number of countries.
History
Webley & Scott (P. Webley & Son before merger with W & C Scott in 1897) produced a range of revolvers from the mid 19th to late 20th centuries. As early as 1853, P. Webley and J. Webley began production of their first patented single action cap and ball revolvers. Later, under the trade name of P. Webley and Son, manufacturing included their own 0.44 in (11 mm) calibre rim-fire solid frame revolver as well as licensed copies of Smith & Wesson's tip up break action revolvers.
The public source identifies “Webley Revolver” as service pistol, United Kingdom & Empire, 1887-1963. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Webley, Revolver and service.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Webley Revolver”, the useful work is to connect “service pistol, United Kingdom & Empire, 1887-1963” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q589148. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1887, 1963, 1899 and 1902.
Institutional narratives can privilege the records that survived while minimizing voices that were never formally collected. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.
- Event chronology
- Institutional context
- Locating named record creators
Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Webley Revolver”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Webley Revolver primary sources, Webley Revolver archive and Webley research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Webley Revolver”?
- Which voices are present, absent or mediated by the institution?
- What chronology connects this entry to wider political or social change?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Webley Revolver” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.