Tag Archives: Webley & Scott revolver

The Most Popular New Gun in India is a 1911 .45 ACP with a Familiar Name

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John Moses Browning’s most famed and enduring design is now available in domestic production to a potential 1.4 billion new fans. 

As I previously covered, Webley & Scott India spun up in early 2020 with a new manufacturing facility near Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. Operating via a 2017 partnership with the famed English firm that dates back to 1790, the company started with traditional designs such as a reboot of the classic W&S Mark IV top-break revolver in .32 S&W Long for the commercial market – essentially a more polished answer to the overpriced Nirbheek revolver sold by the country’s state-owned Indian Ordnance Factory at Kanpur. 

However, they are now making something much more, well, Red White & Blue. 

Webley & Scott India’s 1911, dubbed the catchy WP4523 by the company, is an all-steel gun made in-house. It uses 70 Series internals, is chambered in .45 ACP, runs a skeletonized trigger, Novak-style combat sights, a rounded A1 style mainspring housing, and a round spur Commander-style hammer. 

Webley is offering their 1911 in a few different variants, including one with a matte finish, ambi safety lever, and Houge grips. Others carry a more traditional deep-blued finish and double-diamond wood grips. (Photo: W&SI)

First teased in March 2022, the pistol hit the market earlier this year and the company says sales are brisk. 

“The Webley 1911 WP4523 .45 Auto is getting rave reviews across the country,” says the company. “Production is in full swing and we are working tirelessly to fulfill demand.” 

Win won for Mr. Browning.

Reports of the final demise of Webley revolvers have been premature

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The Birmingham-based Webley of old dated from 1790 and had been involved in the revolver business as far back as 1853. This ad, from my 1914 edition of Janes Fighting Ships, is during the company’s heydey and W&S, at least in England, stopped making handguns in 1979.

Webley & Scott, formerly of Birmingham, England, has been rebooted in India this month, with a new plant in Lucknow making shotguns, handguns and airguns. 

The first offering from the reborn company will be a line of .32 S&W-chambered top-break double-action revolvers with the first batch hitting dealer shelves on the subcontinent in April.

Similar to the storied WWII-era Webley Mk IV .38/200 service revolver used across the British Commonwealth from the 1930s through the 1960s, the new revolvers are also dubbed Mk IVs, although they have a noticeably shorter profile.

Isn’t it cute? The new Indian-made Webley Mk IV Pocket Revolver. Coming to the U.S. soon? (Photo: Webley & Scott) 

The original WWII-era Mk IV was 10.25-inches long overall with a 5-inch barrel. Chambered in .38/200, they are commonly used in the U.S. with .38 S&W ammo. The guns were based on the British maker’s medium-framed .38 caliber Webley Mk III revolver.

Besides the Indian-made guns, an upgraded Webley, closer to the Great War-era .455 Mk VI, is being made in the UK, although to comply with strict anti-gun laws in the British Isles, it is just for export.

Meet the Anderson Wheeler Mark VII

The Anderson Wheeler “Mark VII” revolver is a seven-shot top-break, chambered in the very modern .357 Magnum.

It is reportedly the result of four years of development, working from original War Office drawings for the iconic Mark VI.

Of course, rumint is that these run about $10K, which may make the Indian revolvers, should they be imported to the States, more viable for someone wanting a new Webley wheel gun.