Webley Mk VI Trigger Pull

[MoscowMike]

I have a Webley Mk VI dated 1916. It's been shaved for 45 ACP, so I use 45 AR cases for low-pressure handloads that are suitable for it's capability.

The DA trigger pull was really stiff, so I bought another V spring and figured I would see about lightening it up. Clamping the gun in a vice and hanging some weights off the trigger showed the stock spring yielding a bit over 25# pull. Good exercise, but not much fun.

I filed down the upper and lower arms of the replacement spring and took it down to first 21# and then 19#. Also polished all of the surfaces using a rubber wheel on the grinder and rubber points on the Dremel. It seems to be a lot smoother, but is still heavy.

Next step is to do some shooting to make sure that it still smacks the primers with authority. Apparently some of the commercial Webleys had DA pulls near 10#, but that's probably too much to hope for.

Anyone else gone down this road? I would be curious to hear what's worked for other people.

Here's a thread from the British Militaria forum which talks about it a bit, but I haven't found too much else while digging around.

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/bri...bley-revolver-trigger-pull-weight-t20978.html

 

[RevolvingGarbage]

I have an undated Mk.VI that seems to have been refurbished after some use that left some pitting scars here and there. I believe it was done early in its life, maybe by Webley themselves sometime in the 20’s or early 30’s based on how perfectly it was done. Anyway, when I got the gun the trigger was definitely pretty stiff as you always hear about and I was concerned it might take some serious reworking to improve much. Well after I took it all the way apart and cleaned some ancient grime out of a a few areas ( especially the cylinder and the center pin it rotates on which I can’t think of the exact right name of at the moment) it improved immensely with no need for changing springs or even polishing or shimming. I would guess it’s not more than a 12 pound pull, maybe even less and extremely smooth. I would recommend really doing the best you can to make sure you’ve got it slicked up in every way that isn’t a permanent change before you go modifying original parts or even messing with spring strengths, and even just shooting/ responsibly dry firing the old girl to try to smooth it out while getting more used to the feel of it at the same time.

 

[MoscowMike]

Glad to hear your trigger pull is good. I have had mine for a few years. The cylinder needed to be replaced, hand rebuilt, timing re-set, etc. so it's been completely gone through. I'm sure you are right that some internal polishing would help, but it's not a matter of grit and grime.
The fact that yours is working OK with maybe a 12# pull makes me feel better about thinning the new spring a bit more. It's a replacement, so it's not like I am messing with history.
First, though, I'll get out to the range and see how it's working with the current level. The next week is supposed to be low-20s, so I think I'll wimp out until it warms up a bit.

 

[792mauser]

I've a mark 2. Not entirely sure how old.
It was also shaved for 45acp. I found a goodly supply of 45AR brass that'll let me fire it for a lifetime.
Pyrodex/APP powder/Black are fun to shoot in it.

The double action is somewhere around 12# now. Smooth but heavy. I just disassembled it and soaked it in a ultrasonic cleaner and oiled her up. Dropped the DA weight from around 20# to ~12#. She was dirty when I got her.

 

[MoscowMike]

I thinned the spring a bit more to 15.5# and the primers are still being thoroughly smacked, so I have gone down to 12.5# and will test that. It's much more comfortable to shoot at this point. I guess it's just a question of whether I want to keep pushing until I lose reliability, but it would be a lot of work to start over with another spring. At least now it's more fun going out to the range than it was in February!

 

[MikeInOr]

Any ideas on where to find a .454 Webley Mark IV spring. The double action pull weight on mine is very atrocious even after a complete dissasemble and cleaning with a little polishing. I would love to find a replacement main spring to tinker with and try to get the DA trigger manageable. When anyone BUT me tries to fire mine double action they think it is broken because the trigger is so stiff.

 

[MoscowMike]

I see that Numrich and Apex both show them as out of stock. I certainly understand why you would prefer to tinker with a reproduction rather than the original. You might consider joining the British Militaria forum.

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/britishmilitariaforums/british-military-handguns-f5/index-s50.html

It’s not really active, but after doing some poking around you will find a lot of information on the various Webleys. If research on the site doesn’t point you in a good direction, it’s worth posting a question.

A good gunsmith could certainly make a new spring, but - I suspect that would be expensive.

I’m much happier with mine since I started filing and polishing on the spring. Hope you can find a solution.