Happy but Sad, but very Happy

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Paul R Zartman

Paul R Zartman

Contributing Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2020
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1,173
Location
Redington Shores Fl
Sold my Plum colored DW 44...Sad, but I havnt been able to shoot it for a few years because of a wrist problem.
Sold it because I stumbled across a Webley 455 (one of my GRAIL Guns) sitting in a display case at the LGS :what: never in all my years have I ever seen one at any LGS. Let alone at a price that is way sub market.
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Its pretty well perfect except for its shaved ( no big deal here, I can reload).
Someone else gets to enjoy the DW, I get to fondle one of my Grail guns, after a little waiting period.
More good news, I have a few DW accessories I will be selling here on THR, including a gorgeous set of original wood 44 grips Ill post in the FS section soon.
PAUL
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I don't even want to think about shooting more than .44spl in my DW 44 or S&W 629. My hands kill me when I do almost anything more than use a mouse, not my wrists, but I wouldn't be shocked if shooting magnum loads would make me regret it one way or another with wrist or elbow pain. Getting old isn't fun.
 
Will bring it home Thursday, drive by there doing my route, no sense spending extra gas these days. Leaning toward loading 45 auto rim, so I'm on the hunt for a Webley die set and a wack a mole set if they ever made one... "prepper here" i have a Lee Loader for all my calibers.
 
Paul R, Yours looks like a nice example. Always thought they were interesting looking guns, and have had one for a few years now. I load light .45 Auto Rim and .45ACP for mine. Also have one of those spacer rings that allows me to shoot the original .455 cartridge in the gun.

FWIW, when you start reloading for yours, the cylinder throats and bore may not be the .455" that most seem to take for granted. The cylinder throats of my gun are .450", and pin gauges indicate, that if rifling depth is about .004", barrel groove diameter is ~.450" too. Possibly why my .452" cast bullets and .451" plated bullets shoot so well in the old gun.

Anyway, they are an enjoyable old piece of shooting history. Enjoy yours.
Webley (2) - Copy.jpg
 
Paul R Zartman said:
Will bring it home Thursday, drive by there doing my route, no sense spending extra gas these days. Leaning toward loading 45 auto rim, so I'm on the hunt for a Webley die set and a wack a mole set if they ever made one... "prepper here" i have a Lee Loader for all my calibers.
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The .45ACP LL set works great for .45AR but you'll probably find it undersizes the cases quite a bit. Not a big deal but FWIW I bought a set of .455 dies for sizing and seating/crimping to avoid having my .45AR brass overworked. Matt's Bullets sells the correct 260gr. HBRN sized to .455" if you want to be "authentic." Otherwise, just about any .452" cast bullet "should" work just fine. Slug the bore and throats like @Rock185 says just in case. I'd worry more about leading than pressure. The Webleys are tough guns.
 
tallpaul said:
What do you mean by "shaved"? Front sight lowered?
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From what I can gather and understand, "most", not all, the Webleys that got sold or transfered to the private sector were Shaved, ( about .60 off the back of cylinder) to accommodate the use of the plentiful. 45 acp ammo using 1/2 moon clips, the .455 Webley ammo was very hard to come by in those years just after the war, ( all or the lions share was still being sent or kept by the war armory for their still in service Webleys) The normal .45 acp round is to strong for all Webley mk pistols, but some shoot them alot with no issues, others have shot them loose or blew a cylinder. Best to reload. 45 acp to much lower pressures.. The Webleys are capable of shooting the .45 auto rim, which has a thicker and wider rim, without any moon clips. The pressures are only a little higher than the old .455 Webley round. Alot of people use those. There will probably be more informed members coming along to explain it properly.
Paul
 
Bought the ACP/AUTO RIM Dies, also have a set of Lee .455 webley dies coming to size the auto rim brass after firing... Also ordered proper bullets from Matt's, my cylinders and bore are pushing the 452 limits, also found some 454 soft lead bullets meant for my 45 cowboy loads, but ill load the Matt's bullets first, gonna use HS-6 at around 7 grains to start, probably never go over 7.8...cant wait
 
hemiram said:
I don't even want to think about shooting more than .44spl in my DW 44 or S&W 629. My hands kill me when I do almost anything more than use a mouse, not my wrists, but I wouldn't be shocked if shooting magnum loads would make me regret it one way or another with wrist or elbow pain. Getting old isn't fun.
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I’m a mechanical contractor with 35 years in the business.
It’s fair to say that I have my share of hand issues.
I’ve been purchasing bigger and bigger revolvers recently due to Canada’s upcoming ban on the transfer of handguns.
I bought a DW 44 last month and I’m waiting on a Magnum Research BFR in 45/70 and a S&W 460V.

I’ve shot all of them before with the exception of the 45-70 but I’ve also shot a S&W 500 and the recoil doesn’t seem to bother me.
 
Last night I was working on an RC truck with a pair of pliers, and my right hand just decided, "Nope, you're done for a while!", and started cramping up to the point I couldn't even type with it. 15 minutes of not doing anything and it was OK again. I learned from experience that trying to continue working after it starts cramping is a mistake.
 
hemiram said:
I don't even want to think about shooting more than .44spl in my DW 44 or S&W 629. My hands kill me when I do almost anything more than use a mouse, not my wrists, but I wouldn't be shocked if shooting magnum loads would make me regret it one way or another with wrist or elbow pain. Getting old isn't fun.
Click to expand...
LOL!!! Getting old was a riot! I had a ball!
It's this being old crap that isn't any fun. :(
 
That’s a lovely piece. When I got mine, also shaved, I found that several of the chambers were bulged enough to make it hard to extract cases. Fortunately I was able to acquire another cylinder and get it timed.

I think you are smart to use AutoRim cases, if nothing else because you are less likely to accidentally fire full-power .45 ACP loads and risk damage. While the Webley looks strong, metallurgy back then was less advanced.

A load I am comfortable with is 4.9 gr Unique and a 260 gr HB Lead bullet. My regular supplier died (Bill Benny) but Bear Creek has a decent replacement. Look on the bottom of their bullet page -

https://www.bearcreeksupplybullets.com/

On mine the double-action pull was off the charts so I bought a replacement main spring and started filing it down. After several sessions of filing and polishing I have it down to about 12# - still heavy but not bad. Didn’t want to risk modifying the original spring.

With it in a full-flap holster and my Ishapore Enfield, I’m tempted to get some British web gear.

Have fun with it!

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