WEBLEY & SCOTT: MAKERS TO THE TRADE
One of the finest makers of all time who catered to a whole empire.
One of the finest makers of all time who catered to a whole empire.
JOHAN VAN WYK
Ithink it is fair to say that the most unsung British gunmaker of all time must be Webley & Scott. Although primarily known as a maker to the trade, implying that they made guns and rifles of all sorts on behalf of various other makers, an estimated 10% of their total production prior to World War II was sold bearing their own name. A look through the Webley & Scott ledgers will no doubt read like a who’s who of the British gun trade during its heyday. There is probably not a single British gunmaker who did not deal with them at least once at some point.
THE BEGINNING
Webley & Scott Ltd resulted from a merger between Philip Webley & Son and W&C Scott & Son in 1897. Philip Webley & Son was famously known for the Webley service revolver, which saw the British through countless conflicts and two world wars as their standard service sidearm. They also made guns and rifles for sporting purposes, especially target rifles.
On the other hand, W&C Scott & Son were primarily shotgun makers. They specialised in high-end shotguns for the game and pigeon shooting scenes and enjoyed a fine reputation in the United States as well. They also made a great many guns and rifles for Holland & Holland.
With the birth of Webley & Scott Ltd in 1906, all of this was consolidated under one roof. The new company set about making guns under their own name as well as the names of P Webley & Son and W&C Scott & Son. In addition, Webley quickly gained a reputation as a maker that catered to the British gun trade as a whole. I have mentioned before that only about 10% of their total production was sold under their own name. The rest can be encountered bearing the name of just about anyone who was active in the British trade, including some of the most famous names.
MAKERS TO THE TRADE
As makers to the trade, Webley & Scott could offer their customers a bewildering variety of guns. A glance at their 1914 trade catalogue reveals that they manufactured no less than 37 different models of shotguns, with a host of custom options to choose from as well.
On offer was just about anything from a single-barrel keeper’s gun to a best-quality, hammerless sidelock ejector with all the usual embellishments such as engraving, and the finest wood associated with such firearms. Another maker could literally order whatever a customer desired from Webley & Scott, where the gun would be made up and shipped after completion. If another maker wanted a barrelled action to finish and regulate himself, then it so happened. In this manner, Webley & Scott guns can be found with the names of an incredible variety of makers’ names, or even just stores who wanted to sell them to their own customers.»
» A prime example of a wellknown English name who, in fact, never made their own guns is that of William Evans. As legend would have it, the founder of the firm was a salesman for James Purdey. When he left Purdey’s employment, he was fond of having the words “…from Purdey’s” engraved on the guns he sold. This raised the ire of Purdey no end. Although Purdey allowed some of his former apprentices, such as Frederick Beesley and Henry Aitken, to use his name, they were highly skilled gunmakers in their own right and not just salesmen intending to cash in on Purdey’s exceptional reputation.
What Evans did, was to simply order everything he sold from Webley & Scott, who in turn delivered completed guns to Evans. Evans then sold them on to unsuspecting but presumably very happy customers. William Evans guns and rifles have a well-deserved reputation for quality and are on par with any of their competitors of days gone by.
THE WEBLEY PATENT TOP SCREW-GRIP
The feature for which Webley & Scott double guns and rifles are perhaps best known is what we refer to as a screw-grip action. The original patent specifications for the screw-grip will put even the most ardent gun nut to sleep in short order but suffice to say that it consists of a topfastener cammed into place by a threaded spindle inside the action. Webley & Scott used this system on a great many shotguns and double rifles. If you are looking for a design that has successfully withstood the test of time, look no further than the screw-grip. The screw-grip’s origins can be traced back to an 1882 patent, and the system was fitted to both boxlocks and sidelocks as time went by.
Designing a first-class topfastener is one thing, but Webley & Scott guns and rifles are renowned for their reliability over time. This was accomplished in two ways. Firstly, they were very well made. Even though Webley & Scott was primarily a maker to the trade with only a fraction of their production sold under their own name, their attention to detail, especially fit and finish, was excellent. Secondly, their double guns and rifles had another feature that set them apart from the others: a longer action bar.
A longer action bar has many
advantages, the foremost of which is increased strength as the force generated during discharge is dissipated over a larger area. Add to this slightly larger action lumps as well as a strong and effective third fastener, and the successful recipe is apparent. I make a habit of looking out for these things, and I must admit that I have never seen a screwgrip-actioned gun that has been shot off the face. It is an enduring design that has withstood the test of time.
THE PHV-1
While many of the shotguns and better-grade double rifles were made on screw-grip actions, Webley & Scott built another action especially for double rifles – the PHV-1 action (HV stands for “High Velocity”). This action was designed for use with Nitro-Express cartridges such as the .470 NE.
The PHV-1 did not make use of the expensive screw-grip third fastener but rather opted for a clover-shaped extension that slotted and bolted down into the action just in front of the toplever. The PHV-1 also had the longer action bar and slightly larger lumps. It, too, gained an excellent reputation for longevity and reliability. Rigby’s Class “C” double rifles were generally made on PHV-1 actions. Quite a few of them are still in constant use after more than a century – a testament to fine Webley & Scott quality and workmanship. They are generally known as long-bar Webley actions today. »
» FALLING-BLOCK SINGLE-SHOTS AND BOLT-ACTION RIFLES
To round off what they had to offer their clients, Webley & Scott also made a falling-block, single-shot rifle. I have only seen one Webley 1902-actioned rifle, made for Rigby in .400/350 NE. My impression is that they did not make a great many of them. They were available in a host of chamberings up to .600 NE.
Some years ago, I acquired a William Evans rifle in .404 Jeffery. It was a well-made rifle on an ex-military M98 Mauser action and had an extended magazine box that could take five .404 cartridges. The only thing that slightly irritated me about the rifle was the long 27” barrel, a slightly silly feature for a rifle meant for dangerous game.
A glance at the aforementioned catalogue from 1914 reveals that Webley & Scott made bolt-action rifles on Mauser actions in .275 (7x57), .318, .375 and .404, all with five-shot magazines. Mannlicher-actioned
rifles chambered for the .256 (6,5x53 R) were on offer as well. Again, these can be encountered with one of the names of a host of Webley & Scott customers engraved on the barrel.
Something else that I found in the 1914 catalogue that intrigued me no end was the mention of Webley & Scott’s own proprietary cartridge for dangerous game. It was a rimless cartridge intended for use in boltaction rifles and superficially looks a lot like a .404 cartridge, but with more horse-power: The .420 Magnum Express was designed to fire a 400-grain bullet at 2 425 fps with the help of 73 grains of Axite propellant. It would have been a particularly good match for the .416 Rigby, but I suspect that World War I killed off the .420 before it gained any traction.
THE END
World War II was a calamity for the British gun trade. Safari hunting was a shadow of what it used to be after the war. This, along with the rumblings of independence in many of Britain’s colonies, saw the demand for new guns and rifles plummet drastically. The screw-grip held on for a while but was eventually discontinued in 1947 because of rising production costs.
After World War I, Webley & Scott went into the airgun- and barrel-making business. By the mid-1960s, they were the only company making barrels in Britain and earned good money by supplying the rest of the trade with barrel tubes. In the 1960s and 1970s, they marketed a line of well-made and reasonably priced shotguns. This lasted until 1985 when declining sales forced them to sell the W&C Scott name to Holland & Holland. The latter set up a factory and started manufacturing a boxlock of their own. By 1991, however, sales were declining further still, and the whole operation was finally closed down.
The present-day Webley & Scott markets a line of shotguns made on their behalf – ironically – by another manufacturer.
THE WEBLEY & SCOTT LEGACY
The impact that Webley & Scott had on the British gun trade can hardly be overstated. They literally kept dozens of smaller operations in business by supplying quality guns and rifles to those who could not or did not want to make their own. At the same time, they managed to keep to such a high standard of quality that their guns are revered to this day.
Perhaps an Australian friend of mine, a renowned doublerifle expert, said it best. We were having coffee in a well-known Pretoria restaurant when the conversation turned to double rifles, especially new ones. My friend was adamant about the way forward: “Just copy a Webley. That’s the double rifle, perfected.” That’s praise enough, I reckon.