Webley Mk VI

1. Lead

The Webley Mk VI was the standard service revolver of the British Army in the First World War, and one of the most recognisable handguns of the twentieth century. Introduced in 1915, at the height of the war in the trenches, the Mk VI was a large, heavy, top-break revolver chambered for the powerful .455 Webley cartridge, and it was issued to British and Commonwealth officers, to aircrews, to tank crews and to military police. It was a weapon built for the conditions of the Western Front: simple, robust, reliable in mud and rain, and capable of stopping a man at close range with a single heavy bullet. The Mk VI remained in British service through the Second World War, when it was issued alongside the newer Enfield No. 2 revolver, and it was still in use in some Commonwealth forces into the 1960s. Today it is one of the most collected military revolvers in the world, and its distinctive shape — the large frame, the six-inch barrel and the top-break action — is instantly recognisable to anyone who has seen a film or a photograph of a British officer of the First World War.

2. Key Facts

Type	Double-action / single-action top-break revolver
Origin	United Kingdom
Designer	Webley & Scott, Birmingham
Manufacturer	Webley & Scott, Birmingham
In service	1915–1960s (British and Commonwealth service)
Produced	1915–1923; about 300,000 Mk VI revolvers built (estimates vary)
Weight	About 1.1 kg (unloaded)
Length	About 286 mm
Barrel length	152 mm (6 inches)
Calibre	.455 Webley (11.6 mm)
Cartridge	.455 Webley Mk II (265-grain bullet)
Capacity	6 rounds
Muzzle velocity	About 190 m/s
Muzzle energy	About 340 joules (approximate)
Effective range	About 25–50 m
Sights	Fixed front blade and rear notch

3. Background and Development

The Webley Revolver Family

The Webley Mk VI was the last and largest of a family of service revolvers that the Webley company of Birmingham had supplied to the British Army since the 1880s. The British Army had adopted the Webley Mk I in 1887, and the revolvers that followed — the Mk II, Mk III, Mk IV and Mk V — were all top-break revolvers chambered for the .455 cartridge, each a little stronger and a little simpler than the one before. The top-break action, in which the barrel and cylinder hinge forward and down to expose the chambers, was the Webley’s defining feature: it allowed the revolver to be loaded and unloaded quickly, and a star extractor pushed all six empty cases out at once when the action was opened. By 1914 the British Army’s standard revolver was the Webley Mk V, but the Mk V’s frame was not strong enough for the new, more powerful .455 Mk II cartridge, and the Army asked Webley for a stronger revolver.

The Mk VI in the First World War

The Webley Mk VI was adopted in 1915, and it was put into production at once, because the British Army needed revolvers in enormous numbers for the war in France and Belgium. The Mk VI had a stronger frame than the Mk V, a six-inch barrel, a square butt that was easier to grip with cold or gloved hands, and a removable front sight. Production was shared between Webley & Scott and the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield, and about 300,000 Mk VI revolvers were built between 1915 and 1923, although the exact figure is disputed and some estimates are lower. The revolver was issued to officers, who bought their own pistols in peacetime but were issued them in wartime, and to the men who needed a handgun for close-range fighting: aircrews, tank crews, machine-gunners, signallers and military police. In the trenches, the revolver was a weapon of last resort, used when the enemy was in the trench and the rifle was too long to use.

From the Somme to the Second World War

The Mk VI served through the whole of the First World War, from the Somme in 1916 to the final offensives of 1918, and it remained the British Army’s standard revolver after the war. In the 1930s the Army began to look for a replacement, because the .455 cartridge was large and heavy and because the Mk VI itself was heavy, and in 1932 the Enfield No. 2 revolver, chambered for the smaller .38/200 cartridge, was adopted. The Mk VI was not withdrawn, however, and when the Second World War began in 1939, the British Army did not have enough Enfield revolvers to equip all its officers, so the Mk VI was issued again, alongside the Enfield, and it served through the war in North Africa, in Italy, in Normandy and in the Far East. The Mk VI was finally withdrawn from British service in the 1960s, when the Army adopted the Browning Hi-Power pistol, but it remained in use in some Commonwealth forces, and in the police forces of several countries, for many years after that.

4. Design

The Top-Break Action

The Webley Mk VI’s most distinctive feature was its top-break action. To load the revolver, the shooter pressed a lever on the left side of the frame, and the barrel and cylinder hinged forward and down, pivoting on a pin at the front of the frame. As the action opened, a star-shaped extractor rose from the centre of the cylinder and pushed all six empty cartridge cases out at once, so that the revolver could be reloaded in seconds. The action was locked by a stirrup-shaped catch that engaged a lug on the barrel, and the lock was strong enough to handle the powerful .455 cartridge. The top-break design was faster to reload than the solid-frame revolvers used by most other armies, but it was also weaker than a solid frame, and the Webley’s designers had to make the frame and the locking catch as strong as possible to compensate. The Mk VI’s frame was the strongest of any Webley, and it was the only one that could safely fire the full-power .455 Mk II cartridge.

The .455 Cartridge

The .455 Webley cartridge was one of the largest revolver cartridges ever adopted by a major army. Its bullet weighed 265 grains (about 17 grams) and travelled at only about 190 metres per second, which gave it a muzzle energy of about 340 joules — less than a modern 9 mm pistol cartridge, but delivered by a bullet almost 12 mm in diameter. The .455’s stopping power came not from its speed but from its size: the heavy, slow bullet made a large hole and transferred its energy to the target, and British officers trusted it to stop a man at close range with a single hit. The cartridge’s low velocity also meant that it had a pronounced trajectory and a short effective range — about 25 to 50 metres — and the revolver’s fixed sights were regulated for that range. The .455 Mk II cartridge, with its cordite propellant and its lead bullet, was the standard British service cartridge from 1915 until the 1930s, and it was manufactured in Britain, in Canada, in Australia and in India.

Handling and Reliability

The Mk VI was a large and heavy revolver, and it was not a weapon for a small hand. Its square butt, which was larger than the rounded butt of the earlier Webleys, gave the shooter a firm grip, and its weight — about 1.1 kg unloaded — absorbed the recoil of the .455 cartridge, so that the revolver was comfortable to shoot despite its power. The double-action trigger, which both cocked and released the hammer, was heavy but smooth, and the single-action trigger, used when the hammer was cocked by hand, was light and crisp. The revolver’s reliability was legendary: it would function in mud, in rain and in cold, and it could be stripped and cleaned with no tools. The Mk VI’s only serious weakness was its size and weight, which made it uncomfortable to carry on a long march, and its low muzzle velocity, which limited its range. But for the close-range fighting for which it was designed, it was an excellent weapon, and British officers trusted it with their lives.

5. Variants

The Mk VI and Its Relatives

Variant	Years	Key features	Production
Webley Mk I–Mk V	1887–1914	Earlier .455 top-break revolvers; progressively stronger frames	About 100,000 (all marks combined, approximate)
Webley Mk VI	1915–1923	Strongest frame; 6-inch barrel; square butt; standard WWI revolver	About 300,000
Webley Mk VI (shaved)	1945–1960s	Cylinders machined to accept .45 ACP cartridges in half-moon clips (post-war commercial conversion)	Many thousands converted
Enfield No. 2 Mk I	1932–1957	Replacement revolver; .38/200 cartridge; similar top-break action	About 270,000
Webley .455 (commercial)	1915–1930s	Commercial versions of the Mk VI sold to civilians and police	Small numbers

The Mk VI was the last of the .455 Webleys, and it was produced in only one military variant, although the revolvers made during the war differ in small details — in the markings on the frame, in the shape of the front sight and in the finish. The most common variation seen today is the “shaved” Mk VI: after the Second World War, large numbers of surplus Mk VI revolvers were sold on the civilian market, and many had their cylinders machined — “shaved” — so that they could fire the American .45 ACP cartridge, which was cheaper and more widely available than the .455 Webley. The shaved revolvers are recognisable by the recess cut into the rear of the cylinder, and they are less valuable to collectors than the unmodified revolvers, because the modification is irreversible and because the .45 ACP cartridge, which operates at a higher pressure, is not ideal for the old revolver.

The Enfield Successor

The Enfield No. 2, adopted in 1932, was the Mk VI’s successor, and it was in many ways a copy of the Webley, with the same top-break action and a similar shape, but chambered for the smaller .38/200 cartridge. The Enfield was lighter and easier to shoot, and its ammunition was lighter to carry, but many British officers preferred the Mk VI, because they trusted the stopping power of the big .455 bullet, and the Mk VI remained in service alongside the Enfield throughout the Second World War. The two revolvers are often confused, because they look similar, but they can be distinguished by their calibre markings and by the shape of the butt: the Enfield’s butt is smaller and more rounded than the Mk VI’s square butt. The Enfield remained in British service until the 1960s, when it, like the Mk VI, was replaced by the Browning Hi-Power. The Enfield’s story is closely tied to the Webley’s, because the two revolvers served together for more than thirty years, and because the Enfield was, in essence, a Webley made lighter and chambered for a smaller cartridge.

6. Operational History

The Western Front, 1915–1918

The Mk VI’s first and most important war was the First World War, where it was carried by British and Commonwealth officers in the trenches of the Western Front. The revolver was a status symbol as much as a weapon: in the British Army, officers carried a revolver and a sword, while other ranks carried a rifle, and the revolver marked its bearer as an officer. In combat, the revolver was used in the close fighting of trench raids and of the great offensives — at the Somme in 1916, at Passchendaele in 1917 and in the final offensives of 1918 — where officers led their men over the top and into the enemy trench, and where the revolver was often the first weapon fired. The revolver’s reliability in the mud of Flanders was legendary, and its heavy bullet was trusted to stop a German soldier at the ranges of trench fighting. The Mk VI was also carried by the crews of the first tanks, who needed a handgun that could be used inside the cramped interior of a tank, and by the Royal Flying Corps, whose pilots carried it as a personal weapon.

Between the Wars

Between the wars, the Mk VI remained the British Army’s standard revolver, and it was carried by British officers in the colonies and in the small wars of the 1920s and 1930s — in Ireland, in Palestine, in India and on the North-West Frontier. The revolver’s reputation was such that it was also adopted by the police forces of several countries, and by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who carried it for many years. The Mk VI was also a popular civilian weapon, and Webley sold commercial versions to sportsmen, to travellers and to anyone who wanted a powerful and reliable revolver. The revolver’s fame was spread by literature and by film: the Webley was the revolver of the British officer in the novels of the period, and it appeared in countless films about the First World War, where its distinctive shape became a visual shorthand for the British officer.

The Second World War and After

The Mk VI’s second war was the Second World War, in which it served alongside the Enfield No. 2 that had been meant to replace it. The revolver’s service in the Second World War was less famous than its service in the First, because the war was fought by different weapons and because the revolver was no longer the officer’s primary weapon, but it was no less real: the Mk VI was carried in North Africa, in Italy, in Normandy and in the Far East, and it was trusted by the officers who carried it, many of whom had carried it in the First World War as well. The two sections below describe the revolver’s service in the main theatres of the Second World War, and its long retirement after it.

The Mk VI’s service in the Second World War was different from its service in the First, because the war was different: it was a war of movement, of tanks and of aircraft, and the revolver was no longer the officer’s primary weapon. But the revolver was still carried, and it was still used, in the close fighting in which a pistol was the only weapon that could be used, and its reliability in the desert and in the jungle was valued by the officers who carried it.

North Africa, Italy and Normandy

In the Second World War, the Mk VI was issued again, alongside the Enfield No. 2, because the British Army did not have enough Enfield revolvers for all its officers. The Mk VI served in North Africa, where it was carried by officers of the Eighth Army in the desert fighting, and in Italy, where it was carried in the mountain fighting of 1943–45. In Normandy, after the landings of June 1944, the Mk VI was carried by officers of the British and Canadian armies, and it was used in the close fighting in the bocage and in the towns of Normandy. The revolver’s age showed in the Second World War: its .455 ammunition was heavy, its range was short, and its six rounds were few beside the 8 rounds of the German Luger or the 7 rounds of the American M1911. But British officers who had carried the Mk VI in the First World War trusted it, and many preferred it to the Enfield, because they believed — rightly or wrongly — that the big .455 bullet was more likely to stop a man with a single hit.

The Far East and the End of Service

The Mk VI also served in the Far East, where it was carried by British and Commonwealth officers in Burma and Malaya, and where its reliability in jungle conditions was valued. After the war, the Mk VI remained in service in some Commonwealth forces, and in the police forces of several countries, into the 1950s and 1960s. The revolver was finally withdrawn from British service in the 1960s, when the Army adopted the Browning Hi-Power, a semi-automatic pistol with a 13-round magazine that was lighter, flatter and easier to carry than the big Webley. The Mk VI’s retirement marked the end of the .455 revolver in British service, after almost 80 years, and the end of the Webley as a service weapon. Today the Mk VI is a collector’s item, and unmodified examples in good condition are highly valued, above all those with wartime markings and with a documented history.

7. Performance and Specifications

Specifications

Specification	Webley Mk VI
Calibre	.455 Webley (11.6 mm)
Cartridge	.455 Webley Mk II, 265-grain bullet
Capacity	6 rounds
Barrel length	152 mm (6 inches)
Overall length	About 286 mm
Weight (unloaded)	About 1.1 kg
Weight (loaded)	About 1.2 kg (approximate)
Muzzle velocity	About 190 m/s
Muzzle energy	About 340 joules
Effective range	About 25–50 m
Action	Double-action / single-action, top-break
Sights	Fixed front blade, rear notch
Number built	About 300,000 (1915–1923)

The table shows the Mk VI’s essential character: a large, heavy revolver firing a large, slow bullet at short range. Its muzzle energy of about 340 joules was modest by modern standards — a modern 9 mm pistol produces about 500 joules — but its bullet was almost 12 mm in diameter, and its stopping power at close range was respected by the men who carried it. The revolver’s effective range of about 25 to 50 metres was short, but it was enough for the close fighting for which the weapon was designed, and the fixed sights, regulated for that range, were simple and robust. The Mk VI’s greatest strength was not its ballistics but its reliability: it would fire in conditions that would stop a semi-automatic pistol, and it could be maintained by a soldier with no tools and no training. The figures in the table are the figures of the standard Mk VI, but individual revolvers varied: the wartime revolvers, which were made in haste, were often rougher in finish than the pre-war revolvers, and their markings varied with the factory that made them.

Comparison with Other Service Revolvers

Compared with the other service handguns of the First World War, the Mk VI was large and powerful, but it was also heavy and slow to reload by modern standards. The German Luger P08, the standard German pistol, held 8 rounds of 9 mm ammunition, was flatter and lighter, and could be reloaded with a detachable magazine, but its mechanism was complex and sensitive to dirt. The American M1911, the standard American pistol, held 7 rounds of .45 ACP, was a semi-automatic with a detachable magazine, and was in many ways a more modern weapon than the Webley, but it was not adopted by the British Army. The French Modele d’Ordonnance Mle 1892, the standard French revolver, was smaller and lighter than the Webley, but its 8 mm cartridge was far less powerful. The Webley’s advantage was its simplicity and its reliability, and its disadvantage was its size, its weight and its low capacity. In the conditions of the Western Front, reliability mattered more than capacity, and the Webley was the right weapon for the war it fought.

8. Operators

Britain and the Commonwealth

The Webley Mk VI was used principally by Britain and by the Commonwealth countries — Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India — whose officers carried it in both world wars. The revolver was manufactured in Britain, at Webley & Scott in Birmingham and at the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield, and it was also manufactured in Australia, where the Lithgow Small Arms Factory produced Webley revolvers for the Australian Army. The Mk VI was the standard revolver of the British Army from 1915 until the 1930s, and it remained in service alongside the Enfield No. 2 until the 1960s. It was also used by the Royal Navy, by the Royal Air Force and by the police forces of Britain and the Commonwealth, and it was carried by the officers of the British colonial administrations in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. The Mk VI’s service with the Commonwealth is one reason why it is so well known today: the revolver was carried by the officers of a dozen armies, in two world wars, and its image is fixed in the photographs and in the films of the British and Commonwealth forces.

Other Users

The Mk VI was also used by a number of other countries, either as a service weapon or as a police weapon. It was used by the Irish Free State after independence, by the police forces of several African and Asian countries, and by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who carried it for many years. Captured Mk VI revolvers were used by German forces in both world wars, and by the Japanese in the Far East, although the .455 ammunition was difficult to obtain and the captured revolvers were usually used only until their ammunition ran out. After the Second World War, surplus Mk VI revolvers were sold all over the world, and they were used by police forces, by security guards and by civilians in dozens of countries. The revolver’s wide distribution is one reason why it is so well known today, and why examples can be found in museums and in private collections on every continent.

9. Legacy and Influence

The Revolver of the British Officer

The Webley Mk VI’s legacy is above all cultural: it is the revolver of the British officer of the First World War, and its image is fixed in the public imagination by films, by novels and by photographs. The sight of a British officer with a Webley in his hand, leading his men over the top, is one of the most enduring images of the First World War, and the revolver has become a symbol of the war itself. The Mk VI’s distinctive shape — the large frame, the six-inch barrel, the top-break action and the square butt — is instantly recognisable, and it is one of the few weapons of the First World War that a non-specialist can identify on sight. The revolver’s fame has made it one of the most collected military handguns in the world, and unmodified examples with wartime markings command high prices at auction. The revolver’s fame has also made it a favourite of filmmakers, and the Webley has appeared in countless films about the First World War, from the silent films of the 1920s to the modern films of the twenty-first century, where its distinctive shape is instantly recognisable.

The End of the Service Revolver

The Mk VI’s retirement in the 1960s marked the end of the service revolver in the British Army, and the end of an era in which the officer’s weapon was a revolver rather than a semi-automatic pistol. The Browning Hi-Power that replaced it was lighter, flatter, held 13 rounds and could be reloaded with a detachable magazine, and it was in every technical respect a more modern weapon. But the Hi-Power did not have the Webley’s reputation for reliability, and it did not have the Webley’s stopping power, and many older officers regretted the change. The Webley’s story is therefore the story of a weapon that was overtaken by technology but never disgraced: it served for almost 50 years, in two world wars, and it was still trusted by the men who carried it at the end of its service. The top-break revolver, which the Webley had made famous, is now a historical curiosity, but the Mk VI itself is still remembered as one of the great service revolvers of the twentieth century.

10. Surviving Examples

Museums

Many thousands of Webley Mk VI revolvers survive, in museums, in private collections and in the hands of shooters, because about 300,000 were built and because the revolver was sold all over the world after the wars. The best museum collections are in Britain — at the Imperial War Museum in London, the National Army Museum in London and the Royal Armouries in Leeds — where Mk VI revolvers with wartime markings and with documented histories are displayed alongside the uniforms and equipment of the officers who carried them. The Imperial War Museum’s collection includes Mk VI revolvers carried at the Somme, at Passchendaele and in the Second World War, and the Royal Armouries holds one of the largest collections of Webley revolvers in the world. Other examples are held in the museums of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and in the United States, where the National Firearms Museum in Virginia holds several Mk VI revolvers.

Collectors and Shooters

The Mk VI is one of the most popular collector’s revolvers in the world, and unmodified examples in good condition, with matching serial numbers and with wartime markings, are highly valued. The most desirable examples are those made in 1915–1918, with the broad arrow marking of the British Army and with the date stamped on the frame, and those with a documented history — a revolver that can be traced to a particular officer or a particular battle is worth far more than an anonymous example. Many Mk VI revolvers are still shot today, by collectors and by target shooters, although the .455 cartridge is expensive and difficult to obtain, and many shooters use hand-loaded ammunition. The “shaved” revolvers, converted to fire .45 ACP, are less valuable but more practical to shoot, because .45 ACP ammunition is widely available. For most visitors, the easiest way to see a Webley Mk VI is at the Imperial War Museum in London or the Royal Armouries in Leeds, where the revolver is displayed as part of the story of the British officer in the First World War.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Webley Mk VI?
The Webley Mk VI was the standard service revolver of the British Army in the First World War. It was a large top-break revolver chambered for the .455 Webley cartridge, introduced in 1915.

How many Webley Mk VI revolvers were built?
About 300,000 Mk VI revolvers were built between 1915 and 1923, although the exact figure is disputed and some estimates are lower.

What cartridge did the Webley Mk VI use?
The .455 Webley Mk II cartridge, with a 265-grain bullet travelling at about 190 metres per second. The cartridge was large and slow, but its heavy bullet was trusted to stop a man at close range.

What is a top-break revolver?
A revolver in which the barrel and cylinder hinge forward and down to expose the chambers, so that the empty cases are ejected all at once and the revolver can be reloaded quickly.

Did the Webley Mk VI serve in the Second World War?
Yes. Although the Enfield No. 2 had replaced it as the standard revolver in 1932, the Mk VI was issued again in 1939 because there were not enough Enfields, and it served in North Africa, Italy, Normandy and the Far East.

Where can I see a Webley Mk VI today?
At the Imperial War Museum in London, the National Army Museum in London, and the Royal Armouries in Leeds, among other museums. Many thousands also survive in private collections.

Sources

1. Wikipedia, “Webley Revolver” — the Mk VI, production of about 300,000, specifications.
2. Ian V. Hogg, The Webley Story (Greenhill Books, 1993) — the Webley family and the Mk VI.
3. Imperial War Museum, “Webley Mk VI Revolver” — the revolver in the museum’s collection and its service in the First World War.
4. Royal Armouries, “Webley Mk VI” — the revolver in the Leeds collection.
5. W. H. B. Smith, Small Arms of the World (Stackpole Books, 1969) — the .455 cartridge and the Mk VI’s specifications.
6. Gordon L. Rottman, The Webley Revolver (Osprey Publishing, 2011) — service history and the Enfield successor.