Premier with metal sticker

A place to discuss all things Webley. As this is probably the most collected airgun maker we felt it deserved a section of its own.
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_Axel_
Posts:3
Joined:Fri Feb 20, 2015 9:27 am
Premier with metal sticker

Post by _Axel_ » Sat Feb 21, 2015 8:15 am

I have just found this superb forum. Always been a fan of older guns in general. Webley all steel air pistols being one of my favourite! After reading many posts on this forum I have realised that the Premier I bought a year a go (not here with me atm) is a very late model. It has (had) epoxy finish and a metal sticker on the side like a MkII Preimer, but the gun is all steel.

Can anyone date it? Ballpark figure is ok, I do not have it with me here atm as I am traveling.

Certus
Sharpshooter
Sharpshooter
Posts:430
Joined:Sun May 12, 2013 9:34 am

Re: Premier with metal sticker

Post by Certus » Sat Feb 21, 2015 12:31 pm

_Axel_ wrote:I have just found this superb forum. Always been a fan of older guns in general. Webley all steel air pistols being one of my favourite! After reading many posts on this forum I have realised that the Premier I bought a year a go (not here with me atm) is a very late model. It has (had) epoxy finish and a metal sticker on the side like a MkII Preimer, but the gun is all steel.

Can anyone date it? Ballpark figure is ok, I do not have it with me here atm as I am traveling.
Hi Axel,

First of all welcome to the forum from which I hope you will gain lots of useful information and hopefully contribute yourself.

Your Premier sounds like it is a transitional model which saw a change of finish from the previous Suncorite finish used on the E Series (1968 -1971) and the briefly available blue finish used on the F Series (1971-1973). The transitional model produced between 1973 -1975 had a black epoxy enamel finish and was the last Mk1 Premier available before the arrival of the Mk2 in 1975. This model was also fitted with black rather than the usual brown plastic grips and was devoid of any body stampings carrying only a recess near the breach for a small label which read WEBLEY & SCOTT LTD THE WEBLEYTHE PREMIER MADE IN ENGLAND.

The Mk1 Premier was first introduced in 1964 to combine the the best features of the Mk1 and the Senior within one model. They were identified by Series from A to F with the earlier all steel variants being most sought after. Value is always dependent on condition, but a ballpark figure for any of the later models would be £70-£100 . Boxed examples would add another £30-£40 and any accessories would also add to the finally realised price.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Brian

_Axel_
Posts:3
Joined:Fri Feb 20, 2015 9:27 am

Re: Premier with metal sticker

Post by _Axel_ » Sat Feb 21, 2015 6:33 pm

Thanks Brian! Sounds like you know what uretalk about. I wish I was home to finish the refinishing i started. I want to have i blued with custom grips, so I started removing all the epoxy and started polishing the steel. The grips are indeed black plastic.

How I wish I was home to play with my guns!

BTW Any one in Belgium know anything airgun related I should go see around here? Any good shops? (Brussels area)

Certus
Sharpshooter
Sharpshooter
Posts:430
Joined:Sun May 12, 2013 9:34 am

Re: Premier with metal sticker

Post by Certus » Sun Feb 22, 2015 11:36 am

_Axel_ wrote:Thanks Brian! Sounds like you know what uretalk about. I wish I was home to finish the refinishing i started. I want to have i blued with custom grips, so I started removing all the epoxy and started polishing the steel. The grips are indeed black plastic.

How I wish I was home to play with my guns!

BTW Any one in Belgium know anything airgun related I should go see around here? Any good shops? (Brussels area)
Hi Axel,

Maybe you could post some pictures of your re-finished Premier once the work has been completed. I'm a big fan of early spring powered air pistols, particularly those from Webley, which were so well designed that they saw relatively few changes from their introduction in 1924 up until 1975 when the production process and materials changed significantly.

Here is a link to a gallery that I think you will like which contains some great pictures of collectable air guns A few of my own air pistols are featured here along with many other very rare examples of both rifles and pistols.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/681456/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Regards

Brian

_Axel_
Posts:3
Joined:Fri Feb 20, 2015 9:27 am

Re: Premier with metal sticker

Post by _Axel_ » Wed Feb 25, 2015 5:12 pm

I promise I will post pics once it is done! And I can't wait to shot it ;)

Thanks for the link, very nice!

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