Revolver Webley & Scott Mark IV Cal. .38 “War Finish” WW2 s/n 141xxx

At the end of WW1, the British Army decided that the .455 pistol and cartridge were too large for military use.

After extensive testing and trials, it was decided that a .38 caliber pistol firing a 200-grain bullet would be just as effective as the .455 in stopping an enemy.

Webley & Scott immediately introduced the .38/200 Webley Mk IV, which, as well as being almost identical in appearance to the .455 Mk VI revolver (albeit scaled down for the smaller cartridge), was based on their .38 Webley Mk III pistol, designed for police and civilian markets.

Webley put the .38 Mk IV into production for commercial sale.

The expansion of the armed forces during WW2 resulted in a shortage of pistols.

As a result, some 126,000 Webley Mk IV .38 revolvers were purchased by the Ministry of Supply from 1940 onwards.

To speed up wartime manufacturing, the The quality polished finish on these revolvers was discontinued.

This example bears the “War Finish” mark, which was intended to alert those who saw it to the fact that they could expect a higher level of finish on Webley products in peacetime.