My new squirrel gun.....P. Webley & Son in .577

[Brian H]

I was at a gun show yesterday and went way outside my comfort zone on a whim. I picked up this P Webley & Son in .577 Snider, 28" barrel, it's in fantastic shape with a few light pits in the right bore. The story I received was that the original owner was a Colonel in the British military who ordered it in the military calibre for ease of finding ammunition. It went to the 2nd generation and wound up for sale in Victoria as an estate item in the mid 90's. I bought it from that person. I have found out quite a bit about the calibre being the mainstay for the British military for years and was used around the world. It's having a bit of a resurgence with all the Enfield musket conversions and Martin's chambered in .577 Snider in the market. You can make the casing out of MagTech 24 gauge brass and Lee sells a die set. The load is ~500 grain bullet moving about 1250 fps. This one has a fixed site and 1 flip leaf, so the Tiger was in your sites at 25 and 50 yards. This vintage is around 1885 I believe so no loading data on the barrel flats.

I have looked at the Express forum but there picture posting is a pain in the @#%. If anyone has any good information on the proof marks and your thoughts I would love to hear from you. There are only a couple of examples of hunting rifles in this calibre on the net and no rifles from P Webley & Son in this vintage prior to joining Scott. I also posted at double gun.

Best regards!

[charlie cleveland]

mighty fine rifle...looks more like a elaphant gun than a squirl gun but heh if no elephants then squirls it is......charlie

[OH Osthaus]

just like the deer- squirrels are bigger the father north you get

[B. Dudley]

Any gun with a Jones underlever is just great!

[Kensal Rise]

This is a fantastic old Webley! I'd endeavor to discover as much about the original owner as possible. THAT is the superseding value of the gun... its history. I may be wrong, but I believe Webley & Scott records can sourced. The proofs are London.

[wayne goerres]

I have a P Webley 10ga. It is a very nice gun. Start by slugging your bores. You can use Magtech brass but you will have to anneal it. Check the British military sights. They may be of some help. By the way nice gun. I would not be uncomfortable with it.

[Elk Hunter]

Gorgeous! Love that wood.

I'll guess that it was made in the late 1870's or very early 1880's. No hammer blocking safety's so probably rebounding locks. Percussion fences and hammers. Wedge forend fastener.

I have a Snider in 577 and have done some loading for it. I'll just say they can be a bit difficult to get to shoot as the bore and groove diameters were generous. Here's hoping that your rifle shoots as good as it looks.

The Lee dies may or may not work for you. If you haven't loaded cast bullets before or haven't loaded for a double rifle a little research may be in order. You will need to reasonably match the bullet weight, diameter and velocity to the original load in order to get it to shoot together. Be sure to slug the bores to get an idea of the bullet diameter you will need.


This site may prove helpful. http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/

Hope I'm not "preaching to the choir", please forgive me if I am.

[Brian H]

I have found a couple options for casings, some make them specific. One guy anneal's, trims and polishes the Magtech brass. One thing is for certain I am gonna take it slow.

Thanks Wayne and Dennis!

[JJ Roberts]

Brian,Old Western Scrounger may be able to help you with ammo for your rifle,phone 304-274-0004 Martinsburg,W.V.ask for Val Forgett. J.J.

[KCordell]

Wow, that's neat!. Congrats on the addition.