by Bob Carswell

In the world of Webley collecting, collectors have been at somewhat of a disadvantage because the books written on them have been confusing. Do not get me wrong. I love the works of Dowell, Bruce, and Reinhart. I’ve spent hours looking at these great books. These books have, in fact, made me a collector of these fine revolvers. But while many people know about the famous Fosbery, the military .455 Marks 1-6, large WG, and the “War Time Finish” .38 Mk 4, the Kaufmann, and Pryce revolvers remain a mystery to many. It is easy to be a Monday morning quarterback with any such book written a decade or more ago. But this is not my intention. Another disadvantage is the fact that you just don’t see many Webleys. I think the way you learn is by having the pistols in your hand. That way, you get a “feel” for finish and markings that you don’t get from a book. Now I know it is hard to write a book, but the guns in your hand and the book make it much easier to figure out what is really going on. Now I’ll get to those little-known pistols. 

I’ll start with the Kaufmann, which is one of my favorite Webley pistols. This pistol is the work of a talented designer named Michael Kaufmann. Before he joined the Webley firm, he helped design the .476 Enfield revolver that was adopted by the British Armed Forces. He joined Webley in 1878. His claim to fame is his patented method of securing the barrel to the breech. This made loading and unloading much faster. A slow reload got you killed when Zulus or other fanatics were running at you with sharp objects. The reason the Kaufmann is virtually unknown is the fact that there are not many to see. Only about 1,600 of these guns were made. Since British officers were in service around the world in 1882 when the Kaufmann was introduced, many of these pistols went off to faraway, exotic places never to be seen again. These new revolvers were the newest wonder guns, and they were popular. At about serial number 1600, Webley started producing the famous WG or Webley Government Model, with the sad result that not many Kaufmanns will show up at your local gun store or gun show. 

There are three models of the Kaufmann revolver. All of the changes involve the latching system. The first model is the rarest, as only 125 or so were produced. It is so rare that it is seen in only the best collections. You pushed the two buttons at the top of the frame to open the barrel to load the cylinder. This did not prove to be a good system, so the first improvement was introduced. This second model had a latch you pushed forward as two pins moved outward, so the barrel could be opened for loading. The Kaufmann pictured is a second model (Figures 2 & 4 upper). It is blue, which makes it rare, as most Kaufmanns are nickel plated. This gun is also a deluxe model, as the hammer, trigger, and latch/spring are polished white metal. The last thing that makes this gun rare is the condition. Kaufmanns, if you are lucky enough to see one, almost always look bad. As I said before, they went to bad places, and when the nickel gets damaged, it makes the gun very unattractive. About 1200 of the second model were made. The third model may be as rare as the first, but at the end of the run, there were WGs mixed into the serial number range.

 

The WF is shown for information with the Kaufmann (Figure 4)]. This last model had a latch with a stirrup system like the incoming WG. This new third model afforded Webley much more strength and security in fastening the barrel to the breech. Almost all Kaufmann pistols have the initials MK (Michael Kaufmann) joined together in a triangle on the right side of the frame (Figure 3). There is a number under it, and this was the basis for the royalty payments to Mr. Kaufmann. The Webley number has nothing to do with the MK number, and is on the frame in front of the cylinder that has to be removed for it to be seen. ‘Webley Patents’ is stamped on the left frame. Kaufmanns waren in .455 caliber. 

While rarity made the Kaufmann almost unknown, the Pryce revolver is a mystery because of the number of people who manufactured this pistol. In addition, Pryce’s Patent No. 4421 of 1876 had nothing to do with the latching system with which Pryce revolvers are associated. This system was introduced before the Kaufmann types above. In the Pryce system, you press in on levers, and pins move outward, enabling you to open the breech to load. Interestingly, P. Counet of Liege, Belgium, is the one who gets the credit for Patent 28817 of May 1871 for the latching system on Pryce revolvers. Did I say we are not sure who made these revolvers? We also do not know how many countries they were made in. It is thought by collectors I talk to that those not made in England were made in Belgium. We know Augustine Francotte made some, if not many. In his famous book The Handgun, noted gun writer Geoffrey Boothroyd wrote that in the Pryce revolvers, there is “room for considerable conjecture” as to the true story of these guns. This makes them collectors’ dreams, and the statement above launched me decades ago into the study of these very English-looking pistols. 

One reason they are tough to figure out is that many have no maker’s names but may have retailer’s names. These retailers, for the most part, were storefronts that just sold the guns to people walking by. At first, Webley made some of these without their name. Belgian makers and other English manufacturers did the same. There are some that were made by Charles Pryce and had his name on them, but did someone make them for him? You can see where this is going, right?

 

Pictured are two Pryce Revolvers (Figure 1). The lower pistol is made by Webley, the upper pistol has “Gye & Moncrieff London” on the barrel. 

The other pistol made by Webley (Figure 1 below) is marked “York House Regent St London” (Figure 5). York House was a posh hotel of the time. You can just imagine a wealthy gentleman buying this fine revolver during his stay in London. The main thing to know is that the hotel obviously did not make this pistol. The guns marked Webley are easy to figure out. The gun in the picture is a .476 with the rare 4” barrel. The vast majority of this service-sized model had 6” barrels. Webley called this and all the six-shot revolvers the No. 4. They also had a No. 4 1⁄2, which was a five-shot model. These are hard to find. Webley made the Pryce in many calibers. They are made in .32, .380, .450, .455, and .476, like the one pictured. The most impressive is the .577, a 5-shot made by Bland, which is hard to find. 

In my mind, the York House marking and the possible scenario make Webley pistols even more collectable. They are often marked with retailer names from other countries. Some pistols have officer names and regimental markings. From a historical standpoint, this makes for great research projects. Those marked with Army Navy CSL can be traced to the original purchaser, as the records are available.