TOPIC:

I recently, through great luck and with immense joy, received a Webley MkIV in 455.caliber and Boer war diary of a soldier who fought on the British side, to whom it is said the revolver belonged. I have not yet examined the diary as I want to preserve it through the wearing of gloves while handling it (which i am yet to acquire).
However, the point if this topic is to determine whether this revolver dates back to, and was used during the 2nd ABW. The revolver has a union defence force stamp, which is why i wonder whether it saw use during the 2nd ABW. Other interesting features of the weapon are a diamond in a U stamp, uncommon wooden grips, and what I consider to be the best of all, what seems to be a presentation marking.

On the top of the frame, above the cylinder it is stamped: G.Hinton fore S.Z Taunton. (The addition of an e is not an error)

Sadly the serial number in the cylinder does not match the serial number on the reciever. The revolver otherwise has the common broad arrow stamps, and a rack number, 672, beneath the barrel.

Can anybody help me date this revolver, and identify the diamond in U stamp on it? Online sources have not yielded serial number year ranges for anything before the '20s.
I will share more about the diary as I study it.

Thank you;

J.I.W














..

Sometime after WWII a diamond makes it's appearance within the South African U. We surmise that this mark was used after 31st May, 1961, when the Union of South Africa left the British Commonwealth and became the Republic of South Africa. This mark has been seen on both rifles and oilers.

The diamond in U

KR, the diamond-in-U mark indicates "sold out of service"from the govt. of the Union of South Africa - it pre-dates the Republic, so between 1910 and 1961.

The engraving on the top of the revolver is the gun maker's / retailer's address. In this case, George Hinton, 5 Fore Street, Taunton, Somerset. This must have originally been a private purchase piece.

As can be seen below, the business moved to Fore Street in 1892. From what I can gather the Hinton family ceased making guns in 1939, but continued to retail from the same premises until at least 1958.

According to a post on the Shotgun World forum, the company was still in business up to the mid 1980's.




Taunton Courier, 10th August 1892




Taunton Courier, 8th February 1958

..

Interested Forum members
For quite a number of years before the ABW - and indeed until the 1920's - officers in the British army were required to provide their own sidearms. That is to say, sword and revolver. The only stipulation was that the revolver had to fire Government ammunition. It is quite possible that the illustrated revolver, retailed via a gunsmith in Somerset, was originally the property of a newly commissioned IY officer before it moved on to new owners and had its grips replaced.
Obviously, some officers during the ABW saw fit to arm themselves with fashionable sidearms such as the Mauser M96 in calibre 7.63mm; WSC and Col. Thorneycroft being examples. Some latitude was shown.
Having spent an interesting afternoon - many years ago - firing a W@S Mk.IV revolver with Kynoch .455" Mk.2 (lead projectiles), I can report that it was a pleasure to fire, soft recoil, quick to reload and -against hardwood tree trunks, the lead bullets expanded very nicely.
Regards
IL.

Thank you for everybody's valuable unput. Would this revolver originally have had different grips, like the black Webley grips? I would imagine that it is possible that the wooden grips are the original grips, seeing that the revolver is of commercial production. The reason why I thought the makers mark was a presentation script was because it looks quite crudely done. It is unlike the clean sharp stamps on the rest of the revolver. May I ask why you think it might have belonged to an IY member?

Thank you;

J.I.W