History:
An interesting alternative to the calibre 6.35 mm external hammer model was offered by the Webley & Scott factory at the beginning of 1912. lt had been launched at in that time to compete with the Colt-Browning designs and became known as the Hammerless Model. In spite of its misleading title, the pistol was not striker-fired but actually possessed an internal hammer. Announcement of the Hammerless pistol happened together with the first appearance of a calibre.25 Harrington & Richardson version in the United States. Since both weapons owed their conception to the same designer, William Whiting, it was not surprising that they should have been similar in general appearance.
The very first experimental Hammerless model for calibre 6.35 mm, Serial No. 41004, was actually constructed in December 1909 - some considerable time, in fact, before regular manufacture began. Two more examples, Serial No. 41007 and 41306, appeared in ihe following month but no further assemblies of the new pattern took place until the end of 1911, when 91 pistols were completed in a single batch. Those weapons entered the market at the beginning of 1912 and, throughout that first year of production, more than 1.200 were manufactured.
At its introduction price of 45 shillings, the new model was just marginally more expensive than the external hammer version (42 shillings & sixpence). It was certainly the smallest and lightest of all Webley & Scott automatic pistols.
The Hammerless pistol did not prove to be so readily acceptable with the shooting public as had the external hammer version and, as a result, the new weapon sold in rather fewer numbers during the early years. Army & Navy C. S. L. records for the period 1912-1914 confirm that nearly four times as many Hammer Models were purchased in preference to the Hammerless version. But during 1914 the demand had suddenly increased due to the impending war. By that time, the price had risen to 50 shillings for the Hammerless Model.
One particular purchase order is worth recording in connection with the use of this small-calibre weapon by certain police forces in Britain. In 1914 the police of Accrington in Lancashire acquired twelve Hammerless pistols, in spite that many town and county police forces at that period had elected to adopt a calibre. 32 automatic pistol as a regulation weapon.
The little 6.35 mm Hammerless Model enjoyed a wide distribution throughout the European market with regular consignments being dispatched to the main centres of Paris, Hamburg, Rome and even as far afield as St. Petersburg in Russia. lt continued to be offered by Webley & Scott in the 1926 catalogue at 45 shillings the same price as on its introduction some 14 years previously. Spare magazines were also available at one shilling & ninepence each. By October 1939 however, the Harnmerless Model had been withdrawn from the catalogue. Manufacture was finally discontinued in the year 1938, after nearly 15.000 pistols of that type had been assembled. The last known batch of ten pistols was cornpleted on 17 December 1938 (Serials 161850 to 161859).
Some minor changes took place during production, but were rather insignificant.
Technical Datas:
SYSTEM: self-cocking pistol with mass system and internal hammer
CARTRIDGES : 6
CALIBRE : .25 ACP
BARREL LENGTH : 54 mm , 6 grooves right hand twisting
WEIGHT EMPTY : 300 g
TOTAL LENGTH : 110 mm
TOTAL HEIGHT : 82,5 mm
TOTAL WIDTH : 24 mm
TRIGGER : single action
SIGHT : fixed front- and rear sight
SAFETY : safety-lever
FINISH : blued
GRIPS : hard rubber