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Webley Mk VI

• easy
• Shop tier 2
• medium confidence
• Revolver
• revolver
• top break
• surplus
• historic
• automatic ejection

field strip ~2 min · reassembly ~3 min · detail strip ~35 min

Specifications

Model-specific safety

• This is a top-break revolver. Releasing the barrel latch and opening the action automatically operates the star extractor and throws all six cases clear at once. That makes it fast to unload and unmistakably easy to verify — but keep your face out of the ejection path.
• Many Mk VI revolvers were converted to fire .45 ACP with moon clips by shaving the rear of the cylinder. A shaved cylinder is NOT safe with full-pressure modern .45 ACP — the .455 Webley cartridge it was built for operates at far lower pressure. If your revolver has been converted, use only ammunition loaded to .455 pressure levels.
• Do not fire modern .45 ACP service loads in a shaved Mk VI. This is the single most important safety point about this revolver.
• Top-break revolvers stretch at the hinge and latch over time. A revolver with perceptible play when latched needs attention.

Under spring tension

• Mainspring
• Extractor spring
• Cylinder cam spring

Easily lost parts

Cylinder cam · Barrel latch components · Extractor star

Tools

No tools required for the field strip.

Shop difficulty

Shop tier 2 Tier 2 — moderate among revolvers, for the full job: strip to the parts that get coated and put it back together working. Top-break with a V-mainspring that must be wired compressed before it comes off the stirrup, a barrel latch spring compressed with pliers while its screw is turned, a loose extractor cam at the hinge and the extractor retainer; around 49 key numbers. Several tensioned springs but each is handled on its own, so moderate (upper end).

Parts: 49 numbered parts (Highest key number cited in the American Rifleman disassembly text (49, trigger pivot screw); the exploded drawing itself was not readable, so the list may run higher), from The Webley Mk VI: Construction & Disassembly (reprint of May 2003 Exploded View) — American Rifleman (NRA) americanrifleman.org [3].

Bench time: about 35 min to strip, 55 min to rebuild (estimate). Estimated: cylinder and extractor, hinge pin and barrel, cylinder cam, mainspring (wired), latch, recoil plate, trigger guard, hammer, trigger, pawl and trigger catch, per the American Rifleman sequence. Rebuild longer for the mainspring and latch spring.

What comes off for coating

• Cylinder: cam lever lock screw and cam lever, cylinder, extractor rod retainer, spring and extractor/ratchet — punch or nail for the retainer, dowel or fired case
• Barrel: hinge pin screw and hinge pin; barrel off the frame, extractor lever cam, cylinder cam screws and cylinder cam, front sight blade and screw — fitted screwdrivers
• Frame and lockwork: stock screw and stocks, mainspring (wired compressed), barrel latch, latch spring and screw, recoil plate and screw, trigger guard and screws, hammer pivot screw and hammer with stirrup, trigger pivot screw and trigger, pawl/hand, trigger catch, spring and screw — wire and needle-nose pliers, padded pliers

Special tools

• Soft wire and needle-nose pliers — Holding the V-mainspring compressed
• Padded pliers — Compressing the barrel latch spring while the screw is turned
• Punch/nail and a dowel or fired case — Unscrewing the extractor rod retainer without damaging the ratchet pin

Known pain points

• The V-mainspring has to be wired in its compressed state before it can be unhooked from the hammer stirrup, and re-hooked the same way. (both)
  Source: The Webley Mk VI: Construction & Disassembly (reprint of May 2003 Exploded View) — American Rifleman (NRA) americanrifleman.org [3] — “Take a piece of wire and slide it through the forward portion of the mainspring. Using a pair of needle-nose pliers, twist the wire until the mainspring is held captive in the compressed state.”
• The barrel latch spring must be held compressed with padded pliers while the latch screw is turned out (and in). (both)
  Source: The Webley Mk VI: Construction & Disassembly (reprint of May 2003 Exploded View) — American Rifleman (NRA) americanrifleman.org [3] — “Compress the barrel latch spring (4) using padded pliers and unscrew the barrel latch screw (3) while the spring is compressed.”
• The extractor lever cam falls free when the barrel is separated from the frame at the hinge. (disassembly)
  Source: The Webley Mk VI: Construction & Disassembly (reprint of May 2003 Exploded View) — American Rifleman (NRA) americanrifleman.org [3] — “Separate the barrel from the frame taking care not to drop the extractor lever cam (12)”
• The extractor rod retainer needs a protected chamber and a punch to unscrew it. (disassembly)
  Source: The Webley Mk VI: Construction & Disassembly (reprint of May 2003 Exploded View) — American Rifleman (NRA) americanrifleman.org [3] — “Place a dowel or fired case in a chamber to protect the extractor/ratchet pin (18), insert a punch or nail into the disassembly hole in the extractor rod retainer (15) and turn it counter-clockwise”

Fit or check on rebuild

• Timing / carry-up: every chamber locks before the hammer falls, single and double action; cylinder gap and end shake — Standard revolver check after lockwork has been out; worn hand or cylinder stop gives the "does not lock up" fault under Common issues.
• Barrel latch fully engages and the hinge is tight — A top-break that is not latched is dangerous; hinge stretch is a known Webley wear point.
• Cylinder retained by the cam lever and lock screw — The cylinder slides off its axis if the cam is not back in its retaining position.

This is Pew-Takedown's rating, not the manufacturer's. How tiers are rated. Forum reports are owners' experience, not specifications.

Procedures

Torque specifications

No sourced torque values from the manufacturer are recorded for this firearm. Where a fastener has a specified torque — action screws, scope bases, muzzle devices, barrel nuts — get it from the manufacturer or a gunsmith rather than estimating it.

Function check

• Verify all six chambers are empty before each check.
• Close the action and confirm the barrel latch engages positively with no perceptible play.
• Cock the hammer slowly and confirm the cylinder indexes and locks at each chamber.
• Press the trigger in single action and confirm a clean hammer fall.
• Cycle the action in double action through all six chambers.
• Open the action and confirm the star extractor lifts and then snaps back under its spring.
• If the revolver has perceptible play at the hinge or latch when closed, stop and see a gunsmith.

Maintenance

Lubrication points

• Cylinder axis
• Hinge pin
• Barrel latch surfaces
• Extractor star and its cam
• Hammer and trigger pivots

Cleaning notes

The hinge and latch carry the firing stress on a top-break and are what wears out. Keep them clean and lightly oiled and watch for developing play. Surplus ammunition of this era is frequently corrosively primed. After shooting it, flush the bore, bolt face, and gas system with hot soapy water or a water-based solvent the same day, dry completely, then oil. Keep the firing pin channel clean and dry — a pin held forward by congealed cosmoline causes slam fires.

Suggested inspection interval: roughly every 500 rounds. This is a general guideline, not a manufacturer specification.

Wear parts to inspect

Hinge pin and latch (stretch and play) · Extractor star and spring · Cylinder stop · Mainspring · Firing pin

Common issues

Also covers

The procedures above are reported to apply to: Webley Mk IV, Mk V (similar top-break system) · Webley Mk IV .38 S&W. Verify against the manual for your specific model.

Similar manual of arms

• Smith & Wesson Model 10
• Colt Single Action Army

Sourcing