.455 Webley
| .455 Webley | ||||||||||||||||||||
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A variety of .455 Webley cartridges
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| Type | Revolver | |||||||||||||||||||
| Place of origin |
 United Kingdom
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| Production history | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Manufacturer | Royal Laboratory Woolwich Arsenal, Birmingham Small Arms Company, Eley Brothers, Kynoch Limited, Grenfell & Accles, Kings Norton Metal Company, Dominion Cartridge Company. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Specifications | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Case type | Straight rimmed | |||||||||||||||||||
| Bullet diameter | .454 in (11.5 mm) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Neck diameter | .476 in (12.1 mm) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Base diameter | .480 in (12.2 mm) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Rim diameter | .535 in (13.6 mm) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Case length | .770 in (19.6 mm) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Overall length | 1.230 in (31.2 mm) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Primer type | Large pistol (Small pistol in modern Fiocchi loadings) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum pressure | 13,000 psi | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ballistic performance | ||||||||||||||||||||
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.455 Webley is a British handgun cartridge, most commonly used in the Webley top break revolvers Marks I through VI. It is also known as .455 Eley and .455 Colt.
The .455 cartridge was a service revolver cartridge, featuring a rimmed cartridge firing a .45 bullet at the relatively low velocity of 650 ft/s (190 m/s). The result was a cartridge and handgun combination with relatively mild recoil. The .455 was rated superior to the .45 Colt in stopping power in the disputed United States Thompson-LaGarde Tests of 1904 that resulted in the adoption by the U.S. of the .45 ACP cartridge.
The .455 Webley cartridge remained in service with British and Commonwealth forces until the end of the Second World War.
Six main types of .455 ammunition were produced:
In addition to the Webley revolvers, the British and Canadian armies also ordered several thousand Smith & Wesson .44 Hand Ejector revolvers, chambered in .455 Webley, in a rush to equip their troops for the Great War. The urgency was such that the earliest of these were converted from revolvers already completed and chambered for .44 Special. Approximately 60,000 Colt New Service revolvers were also purchased, in .455.
The Italian firm Fiocchi and American firm Hornady are currently the only commercial manufacturers of the .455 Webley cartridge (in Mk II). Hornady, RCBS and Lee produce equipment for reloading .455 Webley cartridges.
The .455 Webley Auto Mk I cartridge was produced from 1913 to about the middle of World War II. This is a semi-rimmed cartridge for the Webley & Scott Self Loading pistols.
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Wikipedia