1911 MkIII*

[Sarchet]

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The crown jewel of my flare pistols. Introduced with LoC §15424 (23 August 1910 for Naval service, 9 February 1911 for Land service) the Pistol, Signal, Very's Cartridge Mark III was a minor update to the Mark II in which the trigger spring was improved and associated components altered. This example is the earliest that I know of, at serial #437 and dated 1911. The barrel has a smooth contour, like the only known MkII, rather than the common stepped contour which shows up as early as 1912.

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This example unfortunately did receive a full set of alterations including the addition of a lanyard ring (LoC §17165, 3 Feb 1915) and the MkIII* belled muzzle and latch safety, with the * being added to the Mark at that point.

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Assembly number 7 is present on the frame, barrel, and trigger guard; a full or partial serial is present on those components plus the grip panels, ejector cam, ejector, latch, trigger, and hammer. The springs and the latch spring screw bear Broad Arrows. Interestingly, the last digit of the serial on the frame exterior appears to be stamped over a faint 8 - a factory mistake?

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This signal pistol was badly neglected under the grips, and severe rust had taken hold on some steel components including the grip screw, which failed at both ends. A replacement screw was made, which required tracking down a 7-36 die (very close to the original 0.150-36 thread) and making a spacer ring so it could be used in a standard die handle.

[signalman]

My crown jewel is the Mk II, however, on the Mk III you have me beat. My earliest is a 1912 dated example, that was reissued to Denmark and has the Danish Proofs. I believe I have that one for sale on Gunbroker now. I also have a couple of 1913 examples. I was looking for a 1911 for many years. Any Webley Mk III manufactured before 1915 is difficult to find....Good Collecting, Howard

[Sarchet]

Thanks Howard, perhaps someday I'll find a MkII, or an unaltered 1911 MkIII - I imagine that may take a little looking though! I've been considering your 1912 actually, it's on my watch list on GB, and I believe my Greener, Cogswell & Harrison, and my 1915 Webley are out of your collection as well through one of the auction houses (Centurion, I think?).

I got very lucky with this one - the seller didn't list the year, and I picked it up for about the same price as a wartime example. The barrel profile stood out to me right away.
Cheers,
Will

[AlanD]

Thanks for posting , a very desirable pistol.

Regards

Alan