Description
*IMAGE FOR REPRESENTATION PURPOSES ONLY – ACTUAL FINISH MAY VARY. PLEASE CONTACT FOR FURTHER DETAILS.*
The Webley Mk IV .38 revolver was initially developed during the early 1920s in response to a War Office requirement for a pistol which was lighter and easier to handle than the existing .455 service pistols. Unfortunately for Webley, the Enfield No 2 Mk 1 pistol (see FIR 385) was adopted for service instead. Notwithstanding, Webley put the Mk IV .38 into production for commercial sale. The expansion of the armed forces during the Second World War resulted in a shortage of pistols. As a consequence around 126,000 Webley Mk IV .38 revolvers were purchased by the Ministry of Supply from 1940 onwards. This example bears the mark ‘War Finish’, which was intended to alert those seeing it to the fact that they could expect a superior standard of finish on peacetime Webley products.
