Webley vs. IOF Revolver - Please advise

[saahil]

i just give my example and hope you get the idea.i bought an iof pistol ,2008 make from a guy in jodhpur.the only thing he did is that he put up his application to sell his gun to DM with a request that his daughter is getting married and he is running short of cash and he also attached an invitation card of the marraige along with his application as a proof. and he got the permission to sell.that is how it goes.take care.

[The Doc]

FEEDBACK considering performance, reliablity,rugedness is requested. James...

Last month I had an opportunity to fire both Webley ( B series NIB) and IOF .32 at the range. Here are my two cents.......

1. Webley B series (pocket revolver) has small grips and that might be problematic for shooters with large hands . One can augment the grips though. On the other hand IOF grips are more comfortable.

2. I would definitely consider Webley more rugged, reliable and durable. Looks and workmanship are far superior than the IOF. By the way Webley is slightly heavier .

3. Both go bang when you pull the trigger but I have been told by the experienced shooters that the barrel grooves of the IOF revolver wear out with time and usage .

4. In past, regarding IOF .32, there had been complains about sparks / blow back gases on the shooting hand which have been taken care of by now, I should think.

An acquaintance had an accident with a mal-aligned cylinder of the IOF .32 and almost lost an eye.

A senior member of IFG when went to collect his IOF .32 revolver from the factory found to his utter dismay that the barrel was NOT rifled . The factory people made him wait and rifled the barrel with in 2-3 hours !!!! How ? I have no clue .

Another member posted a real life incident here , where the firing pin of the IOF .32 broke while the owner was engaged in an encounter with the bad guys and almost lost his life.

I am sure there will be some bad reports about the Webleys too .

My personal choice would be a Webley in excellent condition. Grips can be augmented if desired .

At the end of the day , it is your money , your gun , your safety and your life .

best,

RP.

[nm]

At the end of the day , it is your money , your gun , your safety and your life .

best,

RP.

Very well said Doc......

Nishant

[james]

Hi DOC, I am convinced with your feedback , just wanted to share some facts,

under ideal condiction all webley are atleast 40 years old and iof brand new, with improvent in quality as explained by one the known person working with ordinance factory ,all the revolvers are tested with double the capacity of .32 bullet for avoiding any structural failure resulting in accident , nodoubt issues were there in the past but arrested now.
The dull black coating on IOF Revolver is long lasting and antirust ideal for India condictions, Webley needs more maintanence , oiling ect for rust prevention though IOF not good looking but practical.

Webley or fosay any 40 years old revolver is selling on dealer story and you have no option but to trust it and i have seen the worst bashed revolver getting new in many dealer reparing centre , atleast IOF Revolver is forsure new.

IOF mark 3 is safer than webley as it has transfer bar safety . webley can fire if dropped .

Grip as you mentioned is better in IOF .

Buying IOF you save at least 2 lac that can be very well used for training .

This is purely my thinking and it may or maynot be correct.
cheers,
James..

[jaz]

dear bro,
Now if we go for quality IOF mark III is of fine quality,it's far better buy than webly ( I , mean spending 2-3 lac on 40 year old junk is useless).

The only thing lacing in iof mark III is depth of rifeling (it is very less ) as compared to imported stuff.
I have seen IOF mark III with a retired defence person in which hardly any rifeling can be seen after he fired about 200 rounds.

All my seniors are requested to put some light on this issue.

[james]

Hi JAZ ,
The issues are there but what i undestand is that some improvement is observed , Not only barrel rifelling but lots of internal parts tend to wear in revolver and some times it really becomes difficult to setup right .This hold true for all imported stuff. Lets digest the fact that anything with dealer is above 40 years but some lucky guys really get hold of direct import first sale.
Overall i feel IOF NOT to be best OPTON but BEST avaliable option in INDIA.
James...

[sandeep29]

i have a webley .32 bore a series .it dont miss catrises i have fired lot of time.many of my friends hv iof rev. So i hv tested iof revolver also.rearly it fire 6round in a row. Finishing of iof is also not good.i think webley is much better than iof rev. If u r true gun lover go for a webley if u get in good condition.and if u wana buy just for the sack of revolver u can go for iof.

[to_saptarshi]

So i hv tested iof revolver also.rearly it fire 6round in a row.

Why ??? Can you please explain ? if the Ammo is Okay and the firing pin strikes it , there is no reason why it cant go bang . Did you tried same ammo on both webley and IOF ?

[rover12]

I use a Beretta, a Mauser and a Webley... My choice in a crunch situation...
the Webley...

[xl_target]

under ideal condiction all webley are atleast 40 years old and iof brand new, with improvent in quality as explained by one the known person working with ordinance factory ,all the revolvers are tested with double the capacity of .32 bullet for avoiding any structural failure resulting in accident ,

Now if we go for quality IOF mark III is of fine quality,it's far better buy than webly ( I , mean spending 2-3 lac on 40 year old junk is useless).

I hear this all the time on this forum and I have a hard time understanding it. It doesn't matter if a handgun is 50 years old. It is not a perishable product, it doesn't go bad like a vegetable. The Webley design has fought numerous wars, including two world wars, without issue. They were built tough.
It is a testament to the futility of protectionism that today in the year 2011, the IOF handguns are some of the worst in the world. Substandard materials, substandard fit and finish and non-existent quality control and a totally obsolete design. Darra built guns seem to have better fit and finish than IOF products. It says something about a protected industry when it can't even produce a decent copy of a 50+ year old gun.
As Doc says, a 50 year old Webley in good condition is much more desirable than a freshly produced IOF handgun.

The issues are there but what i undestand is that some improvement is observed , Not only barrel rifelling but lots of internal parts tend to wear in revolver and some times it really becomes difficult to setup right .This hold true for all imported stuff.

Webley's were very rugged revolvers, overbuilt for the cartridge that they fired. Even if a Webley revolver is 50 years old and has fired the 50 round quota every year of its life, its still got a huge amount of life left. Unless it has been neglected and is scabrous with rust, it should still be able to do the job more reliably than its rip-off desi cousin. Parts? Yes it is possible for any mechanical device to need replacement parts but when was the last time you heard of someone looking for Webley parts? In any case these are simple parts and any gunsmith worth the name should be able to fabricate the parts for you. While modern revolvers like a Smith or a Ruger seem almost light years ahead in materials and design compared the the two we are talking about, if I was offered the choice between a Webley and an IOF offering, I would take the Webley, especially if my life depended on it.

[sandeep29]

one of my friends iof revolver's barrel is damaged when he fire.it can be seen from outside that size of the barrel has changed.it can ne dangers it could not noticed and fired more.webley is much better than iof revolver and of price is the issue iof pistol is a good choice.it is more reliable.

[winnie_the_pooh]

one of my friends iof revolver's barrel is damaged when he fire.it can be seen from outside that size of the barrel has changed.it can ne dangers it could not noticed and fired more.webley is much better than iof revolver and of price is the issue iof pistol is a good choice.it is more reliable.

I have seen more than my share of Webley revolvers with bulged barrels.The culprit here is the ammo and not the revolver.

[hks2056]

My suggestion is to buy A series Webley.They were made to military specifications. They are far more rugged than B series of Webley available in second hand market. Their production was stopped in 1950`s.

[winnie_the_pooh]

My suggestion is to buy A series Webley.They were made to military specifications. They are far more rugged than B series of Webley available in second hand market. Their production was stopped in 1950`s.

On what basis are you making this statement? They are both Mark IV revolvers BTW.

[dr.jayakumar]

webley'''''''''''''iof'''''''''''''''''''''''''''webley''''''''''''''iof.if a DUPLICATE is as good as the original,then why to buy the original.i stand by webley any day.have handled both. try it you will know the difference.