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Fairly new to the forum but as one of my first posts I thought I'd post up some information on the official issue revolver made available to the Met in the 1880s.
The revolver issued for use by the Metropolitan Police from 1884 was a snub-nosed gate-loading model sold commercially as the 'Webley British Constabulary' and the 'Webley Metropolitan Police' chambered in .450 which was in fact roughly interchangeable with the later Webley .455 round. These revolvers were still in use and found to be very much wanting in the Siege of Sidney street in 1911 as there was no real maintenance or cleaning schedule for them!
There's a good little video here which shows the details rather well.
Two excerpts from 'Armed Burglars - The 1880s' by Mike Waldren QPM.
"On 16 October Harcourt gave Henderson authority to purchase 931 Webley .450 calibre gate-load revolvers (all with the initials M.P. together with a number between 1 and 931 inclusive stamped on the frame) with the Adams revolvers first supplied in 1868 (see Early Police Firearms) being disposed of in exchange."
"The changes to Met regulations were eventually agreed by the Home Secretary on 24 June 1884 (see Rules and Regulations) and published in force orders six days later at which time it was officially announced that: 'The following regulations relating to the issue to, and the use by Police of revolvers, having been approved, the Superintendents are to see that they are strictly adhered to. ... Revolvers are only to be issued to men who desire to have them when employed on night duty, and who can, in the opinion of the Divisional Officer, be trusted to use them with discretion ...’. Although the measure was originally intended for uniform officers on patrol in the suburbs, it is worth noting that it now applied to any officer on night duty anywhere in the Met and on 9 December it was made clear that the regulations covered CID officers at night as well. The ‘experiment’ allowing the carrying of firearms at night in the Met remained in force for the next 52 years (until July 1936)."
The rest of the article can be read here.
The revolver issued for use by the Metropolitan Police from 1884 was a snub-nosed gate-loading model sold commercially as the 'Webley British Constabulary' and the 'Webley Metropolitan Police' chambered in .450 which was in fact roughly interchangeable with the later Webley .455 round. These revolvers were still in use and found to be very much wanting in the Siege of Sidney street in 1911 as there was no real maintenance or cleaning schedule for them!
There's a good little video here which shows the details rather well.
Two excerpts from 'Armed Burglars - The 1880s' by Mike Waldren QPM.
"On 16 October Harcourt gave Henderson authority to purchase 931 Webley .450 calibre gate-load revolvers (all with the initials M.P. together with a number between 1 and 931 inclusive stamped on the frame) with the Adams revolvers first supplied in 1868 (see Early Police Firearms) being disposed of in exchange."
"The changes to Met regulations were eventually agreed by the Home Secretary on 24 June 1884 (see Rules and Regulations) and published in force orders six days later at which time it was officially announced that: 'The following regulations relating to the issue to, and the use by Police of revolvers, having been approved, the Superintendents are to see that they are strictly adhered to. ... Revolvers are only to be issued to men who desire to have them when employed on night duty, and who can, in the opinion of the Divisional Officer, be trusted to use them with discretion ...’. Although the measure was originally intended for uniform officers on patrol in the suburbs, it is worth noting that it now applied to any officer on night duty anywhere in the Met and on 9 December it was made clear that the regulations covered CID officers at night as well. The ‘experiment’ allowing the carrying of firearms at night in the Met remained in force for the next 52 years (until July 1936)."
The rest of the article can be read here.
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