An unmarked Webley Bull Dog in .450CF with strange crest engraving.
Although this revolver conforms exactly to Webley's British Bull Dog style and was certainly made by Webley it has no Webley markings whatsoever. Webley has a history of providing unmarked and partially marked revolvers to independent retailers who then engraved their own details on the barrel. What is particularly unusual is that this revolver has no retailer markings at all.
This revolver is nickel plated and chambered in .450CF with a 2 3/8" barrel. It features a long grip, a 5 shot smooth cylinder and a flat headed finial on the ejector rod. The top strap is marked "THE BRITISH BULL DOG". This exact revolver is pictured on page 121 of the book "Webley Solid Frame Revolvers: Nos 1, 1½ , 2, Bull Dogs and Pugs" by Black, Ficken & Michaels
The revolver is marked on the barrel with the caliber .450, and on left side with the serial number 4679. This indicates manufacture around 1881.
Research into Webley's British Bull Dog revolvers indicates that serial numbers were used in blocks rather than in a continuous sequence. The earliest examples from around 1872 - 1876 are in the 20,000 to 25,000 block. Then the serial range jumps to the 50,000 to 55,000 range from 1877 to 1880. From about 1881 the serial numbers became much smaller and it appears two ranges were used concurrently, one with serials from 600's through to 1600's, the other from 4000 to the 4600's. This continued through to mid 1884 when Bulldogs in the 60,000's appeared which continued through to the low 100,000's by 1914.
Perhaps the most interesting feature is the strange crest engraved on the left side. Despite ongoing research it has never been identified.
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