Webley arrived today! First impressons: It's a beauty, a genuine work of art! The weight and feel of the replica is nearly identical to my vintage MK6, except the new gun has a matte finish rather than the shiny blued finish of vintage British steel. The brass bullets lend a truly authentic feel to the gun, and they load in a snap. The ratcheting action of the cylinder is notably less solid than the real Webley, and the extractor mechanism doesn't eject the bullets clear of the cylinder because of the casing weight & length. Basically, they lift free and you can tip the gun into your palm to collect the spent rounds for re-loading.
I burned through an entire CO2 cartridge in an hour of continuous shooting. But it's a drag to completely reload the gun after only six shots. I can see why they invented the Prideaux speed loader for quick, non-tedious arming on the battlefield (I would've carried a dozen of those suckers, fully-loaded at all times!). In fact, the only real downside to the gun is that the rear backstrap sight is too high, which throws off the accuracy. Basically, it's necessary to tip the barrel slightly upwards in order to properly align the front sight in the groove, which causes the shots to go high. An added consequence of the elevated rear sight is that the gun doesn't nest properly in the flap holster, and in fact the edges of the backstrap catch on the sides, causing the gun to inadvertently break open while being holstered; the safety catch isn't the same square block that so solidly locks the original gun frame together. However, the velocity is great, as evidenced by pellets ricocheting back from the metal safety plate on my target stand! I had to quickly sidestep after each shot to avoid returning projectiles!
Overall, I give the new Webley a solid 10-star rating! It's a quality firearm, and a heckuva lot of fun to shoot!
![TOH :TOH:](./images/smilies/Indy-Hat-Tip.gif)