Webley MkVI in leather holster

[jmoore]

I think staight up lanolin might be a conservative route, but my leather knowledge is mighty shallow. I can make it (only deer and squirrel hides so far), but keeping it for ages is WAY out of my league.

[Amatikulu]

I believe black colored leather gear was associated with one or two British regiments, I can't recall which. Black leather was also used by the "Black and Tans" in Ireland.

[Patrick Chadwick]

I believe black colored leather gear was associated with one or two British regiments,

The Rifle Brigade (dark green uniforms and black facings and belts), now The Rifles Regiment. From it's inception right up to now. (Thanks to contributors on the British Militaria Forum for that information!)

Patrick

[saddler]

Leather Dressing

...was kindly PM'd about this thread by my namesake "jmoore" - there's a lot of us about!! - as I have not been on here recently due to family commitments, etc.

In no particular order.
As has already been mentioned the black leather was used by Rifle Regiments. Some British & Colonial Police also used black leather.

The surface flaking may be old polish that is falling off, or it may be the actual hide degrading.
IF the latter, use the item below then apply a plain black polish (KIWI brand if you can find it - has a very high wax content)


THE leather dressing I was told about by the saddler that trained me, who was told about it by the OLD saddler that trained me, is a product by Carr, Day & Martin KO-CHO-LINE

Looks like:



Send me your address & I will send you a tin free

Ignore the instructions about applying it with a cloth, as, unless you use the same piece of cloth every time, all you do then is apply more to the dry cloth than you apply to the leather. The tip I was given was to use ONE piece of cloth but keep it in a small plastic bag, attached to the tin with a rubber band (or IN the tin once space there is available)

Neatsfoot IS a natural product BUT it is just the shin fat from young calves. NOT very technical reasoning behind its use & it is a very low tech product that is too easy to do more harm than good with!
The saddler that trained me said AVOID ALL neatsfoot oil; not just the synthetic versions, ALL

I have passed on the same advice to several other users on many forums & not one has come back to say that KO-CHO-LINE didn't do exactly what I said it would....
By contrast, I HAVE had several very negative reports about Neatsfoot showing a temporary fix to a dry leather problem, then causing the leather to become more brittle & crack badly

IF you'd like a free tin please drop me a line

[Patrick Chadwick]

Thank you saddler for a very generous offer.

By contrast, I HAVE had several very negative reports about Neatsfoot showing a temporary fix to a dry leather problem, then causing the leather to become more brittle & crack badly

That is exactly the kind of clear statement I was looking for. Last time I was in the UK I bought a tin of neatsfoot oil, having given up trying to explain to Germans what the stuff is. (One might as well try and explain cricket! ) But I got cold feet about using it on the Webley holster.

As I shall be coming to the UK again in a few weeks, it would surely save postage if you sent the tin to the address in the UK.

PM is on its way as soon as I sign off here!

Patrick

[A square 10]

Picards makes a great leather treatment as well

[jmoore]

The surface flaking may be old polish that is falling off, or it may be the actual hide degrading. IF the latter, use the item below then apply a plain black polish (KIWI brand if you can find it - has a very high wax content)

A friend just purchased this at the local "po po sto" - i.e. the law enforcemnt supply store:

[Patrick Chadwick]

I tried out the Webley at 25 meters yesterday, using 265 gns RN-HB Silver Moly bullets from WM. The very first shot was a 10X. I hate that - you just know it can only go downhill from there - and it did. OK, all shots in the black, and the blackening on th eoutside of the cases indicates that my "chicken" load can be increased quite a bit.

Then I tried the 255 gn FN-HB bullets. I had expected that the cylindrical shape would help accuracy. Wrong. Shots were all over the paper, with no semblance of a group. I can only hope that increasing the quantity of powder will help.

The good news: as this was a "running-in" session, I cleaned the bore after every shot. It started off looking good, but at the end of the session it looked perfect! And the mechanism is a joy.

Back to the reloading bench. And if anyone out there has some experience of using these heavy bullets, I would be delighted to hear about it.

Patrick

[BlueTrain]

My first revolver was a Webley but it was a .38/200. I never owned a big one but I'd still like to have one. As regards the holster, about everything worth saying has already been mentioned. The holsters were made in a bewildering variety over the years, even though they were all essentially the same, intended to be worn on a Sam Browne belt. Some had straps and buckles on the back, others just loops and not all had the little hook. There were open top issue versions, too. I don't think any were made for the small frame Webleys.

A true collector would urge great caution with doing anything with old leather but something along the lines of conservation would probably be in order. I use both oil and leather dressing, both Obernauf, but I can't recommend it over anything else. It shouldn't harm the leather, however, and probably neatsfoot oil won't either. Leather boots and shoes that have had the army treatment, as apparently this holster has, eventually will crack. Both the Rifle Brigade and the King's Royal Rifle Corps, plus other regiments and corps with rifle traditions might have used black but the color may even be a very dark brown. In any event, since you have the revolver, you should look for a reproduction holster.

[Patrick Chadwick]

In any event, since you have the revolver, you should look for a reproduction holster.

Quite right. The original will not be used for everyday shooting. For transport to the range I have a locked handgun wallet that goes into a locked equipment case that is locked in the boot of my car. Nothing is foolproof, but any thieves will have to work hard to get at my revolver. Which is what the regulations require.

Patrick