THE RESTORATION

In previous articles we looked at why you might want a vintage Webley air pistol and then how you would go about finding a good one. This time, if your budget hasn’t stretched to buying the best, we consider what is involved in restoring a slightly tatty, post-War .22 Webley Mk1.

The pistol in question was bought from a private online seller and the photos in the advert showed that there were some cosmetic issues including one corner of the right-hand Bakelite grip being broken off, some minor corrosion pitting and some burred screw heads. A phone conversation with the seller confirmed these impressions, but indicated that there was very little mechanical wear, it functioned as it should and fired with “really good power”.

I’d have preferred to have bought it face-to-face, but it was a long way from home and the Covid-19 restrictions that were in place at the time