British Bull Dog revolver

British Bull Dog revolver
Webley .450 "The British Bull Dog" model - 1870s
Type	Pocket Revolver
Place of origin	British Empire
Production history
Designer	Philip Webley & Son
Designed	1872
Manufacturer	Webley and various manufacturers in Europe & USA
Produced	1872–1900s
Specifications
Barrel length	2.5 in (64 mm)
Cartridge	.44 Bull Dog, .442 Webley, .450 Adams
Action	Double Action revolver
Effective firing range	15 yd
Maximum firing range	20 yd
Feed system	5-round cylinder
Sights	Fixed front post and rear notch

The British Bull Dog was a popular type of solid-frame pocket revolver introduced by Philip Webley & Son of Birmingham, England in 1872 and subsequently copied by gunmakers in Continental Europe and the United States. It featured a 2.5-inch (64 mm) barrel and was chambered for .44 Short Rimfire, .442 Webley, or .450 Adams cartridges, with a five-round cylinder. Webley produced smaller scaled .320 Revolver and .380 calibre versions later, but did not mark them with the British Bull Dog name.

The design of the British Bull Dog revolver had been in existence since 1868, but Henry Webley registered the trademark in 1878. From that time to the present, the term has come to mean any short barrelled double-action revolver with a swing-out ejector rod and a short grip.

Intended to be carried in a coat pocket, many have survived to the present day in good condition, having seen little actual use. The design originated in 1868 for the Webley Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) model revolver and was manufactured as late as 1917.

Numerous copies and variants of this design (authorized and unauthorized) were made in Belfast, Belgium, Spain, Pakistan, France and the United States during the late 19th century. American copies were manufactured by the firms of Forehand & Wadsworth, Iver Johnson and Harrington & Richardson. Belgian and American versions were produced in smaller calibres, but most large calibre American copies were chambered for the .44 Webley (.442 British) cartridge.

A version made by Webley, but finished by Belfast-based gunmaker, Joseph Braddell, known as the Ulster Bull Dog used a longer grip frame than the standard, making the revolver easier to control and shoot.

The Bulldog was popular in Britain and America. US Army General George Armstrong Custer was said to have carried a pair at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. British Bull Dog revolvers were issued to employees of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company until 1895.