Webley & Scott Webley & Scott is an arms manufacturer founded in Birmingham , England . Webley produced handgun s and long gun s from 1834 to 1979 , when the company ceased to manufacture firearms and instead focused on producing air pistol s and air rifle s . In 2010 Webley & Scott restarted the production of shotgun s for commercial sale . Webley is famous for the revolver s and automatic pistol s it supplied to the British Empire ' s military , particularly the British Army , from 1887 through both World War I and World War II . History . The Webley company was founded in the early 18th century by William Davies , who made bullet moulds . It was taken over in 1834 by his son - in - law , Philip Webley , who began producing percussion sporting guns . The manufacture of revolvers , for which the firm became famous . At that time the company was named P . Webley & Son . In 1897 Webley amalgamated with W & C Scott and Sons to become The Webley and Scott Revolver and Arms Company Ltd of Birmingham . Webley ' s revolvers became the official British sidearm in 1887 , remaining in British service until 1964 . After 1921 , however , Webley service revolvers were manufactured by the government - owned Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield . In 1932 the Enfield No . 2 . 38 inch calibre revolver , based on the Webley Mark IV , became the standard British service revolver . However , wartime shortages ensured that all marks of the Webley , including models in . 455 and . 38 / 200 , remained in use through World War Two , and the pistol remained in service as a substitute standard weapon into the early 1960s . In 1920 the passing of the Firearms Act in the UK , which limited the availability of handguns to civilians , caused their sales to plummet . As a result the company began producing pneumatic guns , their first being the Mark I air pistol . Demand for air guns increased rapidly in the 1920s and Webley ' s business began to grow again , with an inevitable peak related to weapons supply for British military use during the Second World War . Declining sales led to the decision to give up firearms manufacture completely in 1979 , however air gun production at the Birmingham factory continued until 22 December 2005 , when the company closed down . Webley ' s dependent company - Venom Custom Shop - ceased trading as well . It was then bought by Wolverhampton - based company Airgunsport . At this time Airgunsport relocated the manufacture of all Webley guns to Turkey . Webley and Scott Ltd is majority owned by Fuller Brothers and run by Roger P Williams whose family acquired the Company in 2008 . Majority control passed to the Fuller Brothers in 2010 . Production . Until 1979 Webley and Scott manufactured shotgun s and revolver s for private use , as well as producing sidearms for military and police use . This came to include both revolvers and self - loading ( semi - automatic ) pistols . Webley ' s production originally consisted of hand - crafted firearms , although mass - production was later introduced to supply police and military buyers . The first Webley production revolver appeared in 1853 . Known as the Longspur it was a muzzle - loaded percussion cap and ball pistol . Some consider it to be the finest revolver of its day as it could shoot as fast as the contemporary Colt revolvers and was faster to load . However the hand - made Longspur could not compete in price with mass - produced revolvers such as the Colt , and production never equalled that of Webley ' s competitors Adams ( Deane , Adams & Deane ) or Tranter . Webley ' s first popular success came with its first double - action revolver , adopted by the Royal Irish Constabulary in 1867 . There is a well - known story that a pair of Webley RIC Model revolvers were presented to Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer by Lord Berkeley in 1869 , and it is believed that General Custer was using them at the time of his death in the Battle of the Little Bighorn . There is some question whether the gun or guns presented to George Armstrong Custer were Webley RIC ’ s . Other sources indicate that Lord Berkeley Paget presented Custer with a Galand & Sommerville 44 calibre revolver ( manufactured in England by the firm of Braendlin & Sommerville ) and gave another to Tom Custer . Of course , it is possible that Lord Berkeley Paget may have given Custer two revolvers , both a Galand & Sommerville and a Webley RIC or even given the Custer brothers , in some combination , a pair of Webley RICs and a pair of Galand & Sommervilles . A cased Galand & Sommerville revolver certainly formed part of Tom Custer ’ s estate . Galand & Sommerville 44 revolvers were made to use the same ammunition as the first Webley RIC ’ s , i . e . Webley ' s . 442 centre - fire cartridge . Almost all of Webley ' s subsequent revolvers were of a top - break design . A pivoting lever on the side of the gun ' s upper receiver was pressed to release the barrel and cylinder assembly , which then tilts up and forward on a bottom - front pivot . After loading , the assembly is tilted back into firing position and locked closed . Webley went on to produce more revolvers for the civilian market . Webley ' s popular pocket revolver , The British Bull Dog , was developed in 1872 , available in . 44 Short Rimfire , . 442 and . 450 calibers , and widely exported and copied . Smaller scale versions in . 320 and . 380 calibers were added later . Although often attributed to Webley , Webley only produced some of the revolvers now commonly referred to as Webley . 577 Boxer Revolvers , which used the most powerful handgun cartridge of the day , the . 577 Boxer . It was produced by Webley under licence from the firm of William Tranter of Birmingham , whose design it actually was . Webley was just one of several firms licensed to use Tranter ' s double - action lock and particularly Tranter ' s patented revolving recoil shield , which was a key feature of the early . 577 calibre revolvers . In 1879 Webley developed & sold commercially a rugged and powerful revolver intended for the British military , the WG or Webley Government in . 455 / . 476 , the WG ' s cylinder was long enough for . 44 Russian & . 45 Colt length rounds [ Jim Farmer has seen . 45 Colt chambered WG models , but is unsure if they were converted . 455s - further research is needed for WG chamberings - he has seen Belgian WG copies made in . 44 - 40 ] . The WG frame & cylinder were then shortened for the . 455 & the variant was adopted in the 1880s as the Webley Mk 1 . Nicknamed " the British Peacemaker " in the United States , the Mk 1 was manufactured in . 450 , . 455 Webley , and . 476 calibre and founded a family of revolvers that were the standard handguns of the British Army , Royal Navy , and British police constabularies from 1887 to 1918 . The Mark VI ( known as the Webley Revolver No . 1 Mark VI after 1927 ) was the last standard service pistol made by Webley ; the most widely - produced of their revolvers , 300 , 000 were made for service during World War I . Webley began experimenting with semi - automatic action in 1900 and in 1909 they began producing a series of semi - automatic pistols for civilian and police use . Their . 32 Automatic Pistol was adopted by London ' s Metropolitan Police in 1911 . The same weapon in . 38 calibre was used by the Royal Navy as a substitute standard weapon during World War II . The Ordnance Factory Board of India still manufactures . 380 Revolver Mk IIz cartridges , as well as a . 32 caliber revolver ( also known as IOF Mk1 ) with barrel that is clearly based on the Webley Mk IV . 38 service pistol . In 1924 Webley produced its first air pistol , the Mark I . In 1929 Webley introduced its Mark II air rifle . During World War II Webley air rifles were used for rifle training as well as civilian target shooting and hunting . The Mark II , known as the service air rifle because of its use by the UK military , used break - action with a superimposed barrel locked by bolt action . The detachable barrel was easily interchangeable with others of the three calibres available . The Mark II was discontinued in 1946 and replaced by the Mark III , in production until 1975 . The Mark III was a top - loaded air rifle with a fixed barrel and used underlever cocking . It was only made in . 177 and . 22 calibres . Webley continues to manufacture air pistols in . 22 ( 5 . 5 mm ) and . 177 ( 4 . 5 mm ) calibre , and air rifles in . 22 , . 177 and . 25 ( 6 . 35 mm ) calibre . A variety of actions are available in several different models , including the Nemesis , Stinger , and Tempest air pistols and Raider , Venom , and Vulcan air rifles . In early 2007 Webley broke away from its traditional ' barrel overlever ' design to launch the revised Typhoon model , a ' break - barrel ' design with a recoil - reduction system . Webley and Scott has also returned to shotgun production with alliances with European manufacturers , and now markets a number of sporting and competition shotguns . In 2008 , Webley sold to Webley ( International ) Limited but still produces products under the Webley name In January 2011 Webley ( international ) Limited held a creditors meeting Under Section 98 Insolvency Act 1986 . On the 3 February 2011 Liquidators were appointed to Wiind Up the affairs of the company . According to the Statement of Affairs produced by the Liquidators , Webley ( international ) owed their unsecured creditors a sum of £164 , 595 . 76 . They also owed money to one Secured Creditor , Webley Limited ( in Liquidation ) a sum of £140 , 000 . Webley & Scott automatic pistols . Webley ' s first autoloading pistol was an experimental pistol in . 45 caliber produced in 1903 ; mass production began in 1906 with the . 32 ACP ( 7 . 65 mm ) model . This pistol had a 3 . 5 " barrel and an 8 - round magazine . A . 25 ( 6 . 35 mm ) version had a 3 - inch barrel and a 6 - round magazine . Ultimately pistols were produced in a range of bores from . 22 inch to . 455 inch , and included 9 mm models . Webley self - loaders were simple , single - action blowback pistols , designed by William Whiting . Production ceased in 1940 . In 1905 , Webley had presented an auto - loading pistol for testing by the Small Arms Committee ( SAC ) , a British military group charged with organizing trials and making recommendations of arms to the War Office . The SAC , which had begun testing automatics in 1900 , was unimpressed by Webley ' s offering , preferring foreign automatics including the Colt . However no automatic was recommended over contemporary service revolver s , which were all Webleys at the time , and trials would continue until 1913 . In 1910 Webley offered a new automatic for testing , and in 1911 the Webley Self - Loading . 455 " Mark I was recommended by both the SAC and the Chief Inspector of Small Arms ( CISA . ) This pistol was adopted by the Royal Navy in early 1912 as the first automatic pistol officially in British service . Later the pistol was also adopted by the Royal Horse Artillery and was issued to members of the Royal Flying Corps . The Webley & Scott pistol self - loading . 455 " had a 7 - round magazine . It was a no small pistol , rugged and accurate at short range , but also heavy with an awkward grip angle . It was prone to jamming throughout most of its service career , owing largely to its cordite ammunition , which left residue that fouled the close tolerances of its diagonally locking breech . The problem was officially resolved in 1941 with the introduction of the Mark Iz ( nitrocellulose ) cartridge . The first examples of the pistol had the safety on left side of the hammer , but later models moved the safety to the left side of the frame , where it could also lock the slide . A grip safety was provided on the military models . The pistol had dual ejectors . The slide stop was activated by the absence of a cartridge in the feedway , not by the magazine follower as in most automatics . A drift - adjustable rear sight had range - hashmarks in micrometer s . Although never officially adopted by the British Army , Webley self - loaders were widely used as a substitute - standard or personal weapons by British and Commonwealth forces in both World Wars . Versions were also marketed to colonial military and police forces and were widely adopted . The M1906 Webley & Scott . 32 ACP Self Loading Pistol was adopted by the London Metropolitan Police in 1911 , and is sometimes referred to as the Webley MP for this reason . It officially replaced the bulldog revolvers then in use following the infamous Siege of Sidney Street in 1911 . Webley & Scott flare pistols . Webley & Scott produced a number of single - shot , break open signal flare gun devices used by Commonwealth Military Forces during the First and Second World Wars . Perhaps the most prolific of these was the No . 1 MkIII , produced in 1918 at the company ' s Birmingham facility . A variant , differing only in its use of black plastic grip panels instead of the earlier wood , was produced by Colonial Sugar Refinery in Sydney , Australia in 1942 . The pistol s can often be seen in films , notably " Lawrence of Arabia " , where the title character discharges one to signal the beginning of an attack on a disabled enemy train , and " The Empire Strikes Back " where bounty hunter Boba Fett is seen carrying one as a rifle .