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Webley
Length Overall Barrel Length Weight  Caliber Action Type Magazine capacity
.455 or 45acp DA Revolver 6
    Of all of the guns I have chosen for my collection, this one may not be the silliest, but it could very well be the most obscure. This was the sidearm used by the solders of Her Majesty, during the pinnacle of the British Empire. It was also their trusted companion during the Empire's fall, and withdrawal to the borders of the British Isles. These guns served the soldiers of the Raj, and the East India Company. They fought Zulus in South Africa, and then, years latter, fought Boers in the same place. This was the gun of the explorers, and adventurers of the middle and latter portions of the nineteenth century. When Sherlock Holmes instructed Dr. Watson to "take precautions" this was a coded message to the venerable doctor to arm himself with his trusty service revolver. This was very likely the old Webley. The classic Webley adorned the hips of soldiers, the frock coats of gentlemen, and the overcoats of detectives, and policemen, everywhere the Empire reached.
    In it's day, the Webley was a remarkable pistol. This was a double action, cartridge revolver. This gun is modern in every way, except appearance, even today. It was designed, and produced in the days of black powder, muzzle loading arms. The
    During the decline of the empire, the old Webly still soldered on. It fought the Kaiser's troops, and then the Fuhrur's, along with those of Hirohito, and Mussolini. In truth, both the Empire, and the Webley were somewhat beyond their time and beginning to look a bit old, worn, tired, and out of style. At the conclusion of the Second World War, neither the Webley, nor the Empire, continued to be a real presence in the world. Their time had ended. England is still a vital nation, but it is no longer the envy, power, and terror of the world as it had been in centuries past. In like manner, the Webley revolvers are still around, and are still sought out by some shooters, but their preeminence has been passed on to latter generations of firearms.
    Webly did make some rather odd looking automatic pistols, and even a recoil operated "automatic revolver" (the Webley Fossberry), but the company was mainly a producer of revolvers, and was known as such.