The .442 Webley (also known as the ".442 Revolver Centre Fire" in Great Britain, the .442 Rook long (kangaroo) in Australia, the "10.5x17mmR" or ".442 ''Kurz''" in Europe, and ".44 Webley" or ".442 R.I.C." in the United States) is a British

centrefire Two rounds of .357 Magnum, a centerfire cartridge; notice the circular primer in the center A center-fire (or centerfire) is a type of metallic cartridge used in firearms, where the primer is located at the center of the base of its casing (i ...

revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

cartridge.

History

Introduced in 1868, the .442 (11.2mm) Webley round was used in the Webley RIC revolver. This was the standard service weapon of the

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the island was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom. A sep ...

Barnes, p. 170, ".44 Webley/.44 R.I.C." (RIC, hence the revolver's name), which were also chambered in (among others) .450 Adams and 476/.455. Lt. Col.

George Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Poin ...

is believed to have carried a pair of RIC revolvers (presented to him in 1869 by Lord Berkley Paget) at the

Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota people, Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Si ...

. A

black powder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

round, the .442 originally used a 15–19

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

(gr) (0.972–1.23 g) charge behind a 200–220 gr (13–14.3 g)

bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. They are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax; and are made in various shapes and constru ...

.Barnes, p. 170, ".44 Webley/.44 R.I.C." This loading was later joined by a smokeless variety. At one time, the .442 Webley was a popular chambering in self-defence or "pocket" guns (so named for being designed to be carried in a pocket, what today might be a known as a snubnose or carry gun), such as the widely copied Webley British Bulldog pocket revolver.Dowell, p. 68. The cartridge was moderately effective, being roughly similar in power to the contemporary .38 S&W, .41 Colt, or .44 S&W American, and somewhat less potent than the later

7.65mm Parabellum 7.65mm may refer to the following firearms cartridges: * .32 ACP (7.65×17mm Browning) * 7.65mm Roth–Sauer * 7.65×20mm Longue * 7.65×21mm Parabellum * 7.65×21mm Mannlicher * 7.65×25mm Borchardt * 7.65×53mm Mauser {{DEFAULTSORT:7 ...

, .38 Special or

.45 ACP The .45 ACP ( Automatic Colt Pistol), also known as .45 Auto, .45 Automatic, or 11.43×23mm is a rimless straight-walled handgun cartridge designed by John Moses Browning in 1904, for use in his prototype Colt semi-automatic pistol. After su ...

.Barnes, p. 171, ".45 Automatic". It was not very suitable at anything but close range. Smokeless .442 Webley loads continued to be commercially offered in the U.S. until 1940 and in the United Kingdom and Europe until the 1950s. 44WEB

References

Sources

*Barnes, Frank C., ed. by John T. Amber. ".44 Webley/.44 R.I.C.", in ''Cartridges of the World'', pp. 170 & 177. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. . *______ and _____. ".30 (7.65mm) Parabellum", in ''Cartridges of the World'', p. 153. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. . *______ and _____. ".38 Smith & Wesson", in ''Cartridges of the World'', p. 163. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. . *______ and _____. ".38 Smith & Wesson Special", in ''Cartridges of the World'', p. 163. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. . *______ and _____. ".41 Long Colt", in ''Cartridges of the World'', p. 165. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. . *______ and _____. ".44 Smith & Wesson American", in ''Cartridges of the World'', p. 167. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. . *______ and _____. ".45 Automatic", in ''Cartridges of the World'', p. 171. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. . *Dowell, William Chipchase. ''The Webley Story''. Kirkland, WA: Commonwealth Heritage Foundation, 1987. *Elman, Robert. ''Fired in Anger: The Personal Handguns of American Heroes and Villains''. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1968. *Ficken, H. R.. ''Webley's The British Bull Dog Revolver, Serial Numbering and Variations''. Retrieved on 2006-08-03. {{DEFAULTSORT:444 Webley Pistol and rifle cartridges Rimmed cartridges British firearm cartridges Weapons of Ireland Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1868

History

See also

References

Sources