Webley pistol accuracy

What I put up on AGF.

I sometimes get asked by pm or with chatting to someone, about why a Webley pistol is inaccurate. Usually it is down to "pilot error" , but there are a few things you can do and or check.
Firstly, check if the breech seal is sealing by blowing down the barrel of an UNCOCKED AND UNLOADED gun. If air is escaping you can pack the breech seal.
If you have a chronograph, then check the gun. If you are getting consistant readings then you are looking for something else.
Ive found a lot of Webley pistols have really dirty barrels, so give the barrel a clean. If you don't have a cleaning rod, a bit of kitchen towel can be pushed through with a bamboo kebab skewer.
Try a different pellet. I've found that the old .22 Milbro Caledonians really suited the Webleys (Wish I could get hold of some of them now) but the 5.5 Marksmen are ok. I've found that 5.6 are too tight and shoot like crap------even on a Tempest that has 5.6 marked on the barrel pivot forging.
Those H+N excite plinking pellets in .177 seem to suit the .177 Webleys pretty well.

If you have an early pistol, it is worth taking the rearsight plate off and making a temporary one out of steel or plastic and opening the notch up.
On early pistols the foresight tends to fill up the rearsight notch. On the Tempest, there is a fair bit of daylight, either side of the foresight. With older eyes, the wider notch can make a big difference.
On the early pistols, I've found that any dings, marks or edges that are not straight will distract you , so try cleaning them up.
If the pistol is a plinker rather than a collector, and and you have wooden grips fitted, it an be worth sanding them down at any point that feels like it is uncomfortable. One bloke I know had been messing with an "Inaccurate" Hurricane and Tempest for about 2 years. I told him about me trying guns without grips when Ive tinkered. He now has an "accurate" pistols that he shoots without the grips on

You can do bits to some of the triggers to improve them a bit------------but I'd leave that until you have tried the other stuff.
Hopefully this might help someone.