Webley WG internals/trigger assembly view

[u/567432Gains]

I am making this post because I decided to take apart and deep clean the inside of my 1892 Webley WG (Webley Government or to some people Webley Green) revolver.

After taking it apart, giving each piece my individual attention, I went to put it back together only to have more difficulty than I do with other firearms.

I began searching for pictures of the inside or instructions on how to reassemble it properly but I was shocked to find after extensive searching, that for the Webley WG, no pictures or videos exist (that I could find at least). So here are some pictures so the next person who does what I did today (take apart something without actually knowing how to reassemble it) does not have to spend 5 hours messing around only to call a gun smith and drive to his home on the spot. I did manage to figure everything out on my own till the last part as detailed below.

The most annoying part was the actual spring bars, because the amount of force required to get them into place does require tools. If you try to do it by hand, it will A) not work, and B) feel sooooo wrong given that it’s an antique. I hope this helps someone out one day. If the pictures are not good enough and you find yourself needing help, feel free to reach out to me on Reddit and if I see it in time I’ll send you more pictures closer to the inside. I honestly just don’t wanna disassemble it again after all the work that went into it over the last couple days from general cleaning to trying to reassemble it.

Cheers and I hope it helps someone.

Edit* I’ll add a video at someone point to this post that shows me doing a full re-assembly (and possibly a disassembly) just so that it’s clear to anyone that has one. There are a couple parts further in that are very small along with a special way of making stuff actually fit. Also, for the little cylinder latch thing that turns the cylinder, you will note a bit of bent sheet metal in my picture that pushes on it. I believe it is after market, you may have a little bit of metal that looks closer to paperclip configuration on yours.

[u/Vintage_Pieces_10]

I took apart my Webley MK1 and had a horrendous time putting it back together, and discovered that photos of the internals were also practically nonexistent. I have a few photos and videos of the process but haven’t published them yet, kudos to you for pioneering some for the WG!

Also, jealous you got the side plate off. The MK1’s side plate is pinned in, so getting the mainspring to line up with the trigger and hammer is literally blind haha

[u/567432Gains → u/Vintage_Pieces_10]

That’s insane that you can’t take the side plate off, how the hell do you properly clean and inspect those things?

[u/Vintage_Pieces_10 → u/567432Gains]

That’s the neat part, I can’t. Basically just oil and brush in there as best I can and hope I got everything (I use light load smokeless so much less caustic than black powder if heaven forbid residue built up in there)

[u/567432Gains → u/Vintage_Pieces_10]

See if you can find out if the metal and coatings inside can tolerate bore cleaner. If they can, then it might be a good idea to soak it for an hour in it, then give it a really good brushing, wash, dry it over an electric base board heater fast, then oil it back up.

Although bore cleaner is harsh, if you wash it off really good and then oil it really generously, it can get a lot of junk off.

Now if the metallurgy or the coating is not good for this protocol then definitely don’t.