Indians For Guns

Friends,
Today, one of my friends showed me his revolver.







It was brought in india by father or grand father of Mr. Sanjaysingh of Amethi in 1932.
He had three such pieces. It is solid gold (actually 18c), and weighs 703 gms.
As u see, its Webley and scott .32 Mark IV.
Comments please....

Ajay

yet another baably & eskaat... and it's yellow this time.

This seems to be an after market kind of job. The gold plating seems more middle eastern to me, plus the etching/engraving is definitely not British. Thankfully the proof marks are still visible.

What is commendable is the condition it is in. Just love those Mother of Pearl grips! Surely the owners value it.

ajayplahane,

With no intention of stepping on your or your friend's toes, I am afraid I would have to disagree on a few points here. The revolver seems to be gold plated rather than solid gold . I don't think pure gold would withstand the pressures generated.
It indeed is Mark IV , "A" Series . From what I can make out of the serial number it seems like A 239XX ( please correct me if I read it wrongly). Now as per Arms Research, Webley & Scott Archive, Mark IV revolvers bearing serial numbers A25000- A44999 were manufactured between 1949- 1951. All the proof marks are clearly present and very fine engraving has been done around them . Also the lanyard ring was put in service revolvers rather than civilian models , there might have been exceptions though. There should be more proof marks on the right side of the base of grip frame after you unscrew the mother of pearl/plastic grips, a picture of them would be nice.

HTH,

best,
Rp.

Hi,
The sr no. is A 23036.
But what u say, Doc, I must check again. How do I verify whether it is solid gold or gold 'plated'?
the parts not of gold or gold-plated,as u say, are different from remaining body. One nail is of iron while remaining
are looking like gold....
Will see if the owner allows me to open the grips
Still. it was a good experience for me... wanted to share. Am happy to learn, how to 'see' weapons.

Ajay

How do I verify whether it is solid gold or gold 'plated'?

There is no need to verify it since it is not technically feasible to build gun of solid gold. Gold is a soft and malleable metal with very little yield and tensile strength. Because of this it will not be able to withstand the violent explosive pressure generated by cartridge powders. Rather such a gun made of solid gold is bound to explode violently when fired. One may read about yield strength of various materials at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yield_%28engineering%29

would have looked better if it were to be silver plated ,(my opinion only) nevertheless thanks ajay for sharing it with us.
regards
vinay

nice nice but it cant be solid gold unless intended a a showcase/ wallhanger....

ajayplahane wrote:Hi,
How do I verify whether it is solid gold or gold 'plated'?
Ajay

As everybody correctly pointed out , It can be never be made of solid gold , if its a full functional webley and not a replica for display purpose. No need to open the grips , just look down through the barrel while pointing the barrel towards the light source , You will see the steel bore with rifling mark present on it , Even if the inside of the bore is also gold plated it will be off with the very first round fired through it . Also After using it for few shot the gold plating will be off from the Hammer Tip point , Cylinder Forward Lever, Cylinder Locking Notch and from many other areas

Looks like your friend havent fired a single shot till the time he gold plated it. No intention to hurt anyone , but this is not something to my taste. Nice revolver though and loved the MOP grip. and really thanks for sharing this .

No need to take the grips off. Just use a magnet. If the magnet sticks, it is a ferrous metal and just gold plated. Solid gold is diamagnetic.
As said earlier, Gold is too soft a metal to make a functional gun out of it.

xl_target wrote:No need to take the grips off. Just use a magnet. If the magnet sticks, it is a ferrous metal and just gold plated. Solid gold is diamagnetic.
As said earlier, Gold is too soft a metal to make a functional gun out of it.

Probably the best and simple way to satisfy your query . Sometimes I really wonder why a simple solution always come late in my mind

To_saptarshi,
,
I also dont get why I couldn't think on these lines while I was watching the revolver...
I fully agree with goodboy_mentor,captrakshitsharma &to_saptarshi...
xl_target, if it is a stainless steel, with high chromium %age, then also, the magnet may not work.
Anyway, my job tomorrow morning, is to run after the revolver with a magnet, unless the beholdetr of the gun
dissuades me from that...
Will be back again, after the race...
Thanks anyway, for this valuable input.

Ajay

Being that it is a Webley, I don't think you have to worry about it being stainless.

Wow, its beautiful.
solid gold will wt much more than mere 703 gm.

Reg,
TS

WOW! Good to see such a revolver... eye candy

... but... in the end, what's the use of having a weapon on licence if you can't fire it

regards

ssmickey.32