Ask any airgun enthusiast born in the 1940s or 50s about Webley & Scott premium grade air rifles and the Webley Mk3 will be mentioned without hesitation, while the previous generation may instead recall the Webley Mk2 Service. Both were very fine air rifles, which will be examined in some detail within this two-part article, including their early history.
Whilst Webley were very much the UK market leaders in air pistols from the 1920s, BSA had dominated the air rifle scene from 1905 with their Lincoln Jeffries-inspired fixed-barrel underlever rifles.
“THE WALNUT STOCK WAS OF ADULT PROPORTIONS AND BALANCE WAS GOOD”
However, in 1925 Webley launched their Mark 1 air rifle, different to contemporary BSAs. A compact, exquisitely made little rifle weighing just 5¼ lb, it had a strong family resemblance to the
