.455 Webley
| .455 Webley | ||
|---|---|---|
 A variety of .455 Webley cartridges |
||
| Type | Revolver | |
| Place of origin |  United Kingdom |
|
| Production history | ||
| Manufacturer | Royal Laboratory Woolwich Arsenal, Birmingham Small Arms Company, Eley Brothers, Kynoch Limited, and Grenfell & Accles. | |
| Specifications | ||
| Case type | Straight rimmed | |
| Bullet diameter | .454 in (11.5 mm) | |
| Neck diameter | .476 in (12.1 mm) | |
| Base diameter | .480 in (12.2 mm) | |
| Rim diameter | .535 in (13.6 mm) | |
| Case length | .770 in (19.6 mm) | |
| Overall length | 1.230 in (31.2 mm) | |
| Primer type | Large pistol (Small pistol in modern Fiocchi loadings) | |
| Ballistic performance | ||
| Bullet weight/type | Velocity | Energy |
| 265[1] FMJ | 700 ft/s (210 m/s) | 289 ft·lbf (392 J) |
| 265 gr (17.2 g) | 600 ft/s (180 m/s) | 212 ft·lbf (287 J) |
| 265 gr (17.2 g) | 757 ft/s (231 m/s) | 337 ft·lbf (457 J) |
| 265 gr (17.2 g) | 600 ft/s (180 m/s)[2] | 220 ft·lbf (300 J) |
.455 Webley is a British handgun cartridge, most commonly used in the Webley top break revolvers Marks I through VI.
The .455 cartridge was a service revolver cartridge, featuring a rimmed cartridge firing a .45 bullet at the relatively low velocity of 650 ft/s (190 m/s). The result was a cartridge and handgun combination with relatively mild recoil, but with good penetration and excellent stopping power. It was rated superior to the .45 Colt in stopping power in the disputed United States Thompson-LaGarde Tests of 1904 that resulted in the adoption by the U.S. of the .45 ACP cartridge.
The .455 Webley cartridge remained in service with British and Commonwealth forces until the end of the Second World War. Six main types of .455 ammunition were produced:
- .455 Webley Mk I: 265 grain (17.2 g) solid lead round-nosed bullet propelled by black powder, dating from the late 19th Century. All subsequent .455 designs used cordite propellant.
- .455 Webley Mk II: 265 grain (17.2 g) solid lead round-nosed bullet propelled by 6.5 gr (0.42 g)[2] cordite. There are minor differences between the Mk I and II bullet shape, though these concern the internal dimensions and so are not immediately apparent.
- .455 Webley Mk III: the famous "Manstopper" bullet intended for police, civilian and colonial use. Essentially, the Mk III was a 218 grain lead "hollowpoint" design, propelled by cordite. The cylindrical bullet had hemispherical hollows at each end—one to seal the barrel, the other to deform on impact. This bullet was soon prohibited for use by the military because it was not compliant with the Hague Convention of 1899.
- .455 Webley Mk IV: 220 grain, flat-nosed wadcutter with cordite propellant.
- .455 Webley Mk V: identical to the Mk IV bullet, but cast from a harder lead-alloy containing more antimony with cordite propellant.
- .455 Webley Mk VI: a 265 grain full metal jacketed bullet intended for military purposes, designed to comply with the Hague Convention. This bullet was used during World War I and World War II. The propellant was 5.5–7.5 gr (0.36–0.49 g) cordite or 5.5 gr (0.36 g) nitro-cellulose.[2]
- .455 Webley Auto Mk I: Produced from 1913 to about the middle of WWII. This is a semi-rimmed cartridge for the Webley & Scott Self Loading pistols, along with some M1911 pistols purchased by the Royal Navy. The cartridge headspaces on the rim and was loaded with a 224 grain cupro-nickel jacketed bullet with a muzzle velocity of 700 feet per second.[3]
In addition to the Webley revolvers, the British and Canadian armies also ordered several thousand Smith & Wesson .44 Hand Ejector revolvers, chambered in .455 Webley, in a rush to equip their troops for the Great War. The urgency was such that the earliest of these were converted from revolvers already completed and chambered for .44 Special. Approximately 60,000 Colt New Service revolvers were also purchased, in .455.
The Italian firm Fiocchi and American firm Hornady are currently the only commercial manufacturers of the .455 Webley cartridge (in Mk II). Hornady, RCBS and Lee produce equipment for reloading .455 Webley cartridges.
Despite the apparent difference in caliber name, .476 Enfield was quite similar to the .455 Webley. The .476 had a 0.05 mm (0.002 in) shorter case than the .455 Mark I and could be fired in weapons regulated and marked as safe for the caliber, such as the Webley 'WG Army' model. This had a cylinder that was long enough to accommodate the significantly longer cartridge in which the bullet swelled out to .476" beyond the case. It would not chamber in any government-issue .455 Webley Marks I-VI.[4][2] The .450 Adams (1868), .476 Enfield (1881), and .455 Webley (1887) British service cartridges all featured a case diameter of .476 inch.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Mark I factory load, Kynoch black powder. Barnes, Frank C., ed. Amber, John T. Cartridges of the World (DBI, 1972), p. 174, ".455 Revolver MK-1/.455 Colt".
- ^ a b c d Barnes, p. 175, ".476 Ely/.476 Enfield Mk-3".
- ^ Wilson (1943) p.228
- ^ Maze, Robert J. Howdah to High Power (Tucson, AZ: Excalibur Publications, 2002), p. 32.
[edit] References
- Barnes, Frank C., ed. by John T. Amber. ".476 Eley/.476 Enfield Mk-3", in Cartridges of the World, pp. 175 & 178. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. ISBN 978-0-695-80326-1.
- Maze, Robert J. Howdah to High Power. Tucson, AZ: Excalibur Publications, 2002. ISBN 978-1-880677-17-9.
- Wilson, R. K. Textbook of Automatic Pistols, p. 228. Plantersville, SC: Small Arms Technical Publishing Company, 1943.
[edit] External links
- "Those Confusing .455s" by Chris Punnett—Additional information on the .455 Webley cartridge
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: .455 Webley |
