Sunday, October 20, 2013

Imported technology...


Our American Cousin...
H&R's safety-laden .32 is pictured here with its English progenitor, the Webley & Scott .32 automatic pistol.

In addition to adding a grip safety, magazine safety, and loaded chamber indicator, the H&R also replaced the "V" recoil spring under the right grip panel with a more conventional coil spring housed in the slide, and replaced the hammer with an internal striker.

8 comments:

Chuck Pergiel said...

H&R on top, Webley on the bottom, right? What is the little tab on the side of the Webely's trigger? And what is a "magazine safety"?

Anonymous said...

I have a reference book, "Famous Automatic Pistols and Revolvers," volume 2, that illustrates a Webley and Scott automatic pistol in .25 or .32 that is configured like the H&R pictured, with the exception of the grip safety. Not sure about magazine safety or loaded chamber indicator.

It has dual recoil springs located in the slide and has an internal hammer.

It appears to be a compact version with a much shorter grip and barrel. Front sight is on the slide.

No date is given for the pistol in the book.

The silver looking "tab" on the side of the Webley & Scott shown here is likely a transfer bar (extending rearward, under the grip panel) that releases the sear when the trigger is pulled. The safety lever, when on "safe" pushes the transfer bar down and disengages it from the sear mechanism.

Tam said...

Charles,

A magazine safety disconnects the trigger mechanism when the magazine is removed, preventing probably the most common form of ND amongst inexperienced autopistol operators.


tailwind,

From the description, that sounds like a .25.

Anonymous said...

Tam -
I looked again at the book I have and the Webley is indeed a .25 only, not .25 or .32. Good catch.

Old NFO said...

Looking forward to the rest of the story!

d said...

Homely, but interesting!

Any chance of something for scale? Are these really pocket-sized?

Tam said...

Well, I carried the Webley around the gun show in the pocket of my jacket. :D

The Webley measures about 6" long by 4.5" high.

Matt G said...

Like Old NFO, I too am looking forward to a full report.
How about a range report, too? I know that you usually don't right them up, but it might be fun.