Bulldog 44?? PIC

[Lizard333]

I have a friend that has a little pistol that he said was his grandfather's. I guess this pistol was carried in both world wars, and has a lot of sentimental value to him. The only problem is that he doesn't know anything about. HE picked up some ammo for it online, and it looked like someone took some 44 Russian brass and cut it down and stuffed some SWC's is the end. Problem is, they won't even go into the cylinder, too small!! The only info I has is it says 44 Bulldog on the top and i know that the cylinder is only 1.5 inches long. Is anyone familiar with this pistol?? I would love to load him up some light loads so that he can shoot it, but I don't know where to start. Any info at all would be a big help. THANKS!!

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_174634e03bb79a8af5.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=1280)

[Skipper]

Looks like a Webley Bulldog:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/WebleyBBD.JPG/300px-WebleyBBD.JPG


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Bulldog_revolver

[Lizard333]

I would have to agree.

Anyone have one of these that reloads for this?? Any idea the size of the Boolit??

[BCall]

Are you sure it's centerfire and not an older rimfire round? The heeled bullets used in the older rimfire rounds would make the chambers smaller.

Have you measured the chambers, throats and bore?

[429421Cowboy]

Could it .44 Ely? The old Webleys are a curiousity of mine bit I'm afraid i don't know enough to help.. I understand that there were copy-cat revolvers made of the real Webleys using the Bulldog name... Hope you can get it running, I agree with the the statement that it may use a heeled bullet.

[Lizard333]

When I saw this pistol the only measuring device I had with me was a tape measure. I will have to see if I can get him to take some measurements with a micrometer. So if this pistol uses rim-fire, does that mean you can't reload for this pistol?? With it loading and unloading like a Blackhawk, I didn't see the firing mechanism.

[Rocky Raab]

Cartridges of the World describes it very briefly, but is unclear about whether the round is rimfire or not. I suspect it is, being introduced in 1880. It appears to be a heel-type round as well. It supposedly fired its 170-gr lead bullet at a whopping 460 fps.

You have a conversation piece, but not a shootable gun. I doubt that I'd risk my body parts even trying.

[fourarmed]

If it doesn't actually say Webley, it is probably Belgian. Look for the ELG proofmark. There were lots of these made during the late Victorian period. I have a couple marked "British Bulldog."

[Dutchman]

The problem here is you have not identified this revolver.

Spanish, Belgian or English? There is some basic background information that you (or the owner) need to ascertain before anything further can be done.

The bore needs to be slugged. There's no other way to dimension the interior of the barrel. You need to know, have to know, the groove diameter and land diameter.

The cylinder needs to be measured via precision means, i.e. telescoping gage and depth micrometer. You can't estimate. Do the chambers have throats? As was said already the original ammo may have used a heeled bullet which would/could mean there are no chamber throats. The Colt Lightning in .38 Colt is an example of that kind of situation.

Once a dimensioned drawing is done of the chamber then you have to start looking for a modern cartridge case that can be used to fabricate cases for this revolver. That could be challenging. You can't guess and you can't ~try~ different things to see if they work.

I'll give you some hints.

Inspect the gun inside and out. Note all markings. If it was made in Belgium there are proof marks on the frame, barrel and cylinder. Most likely if it was made in Spain it also has some proof marks. Same with English made. Once you inspect it for country of origin then you can slug the bore and measure the chambers (all of them). Write down the diameter of the rear of the chamber. Measure the front of the cylinder where the bullet exists. Note any shoulder inside the chambers. Is it sharp or tapered? Measure the distance from the rear of the cylinder to the recoil shield of the frame. That is very important as it dictates the thickness of the cartridge rim, minus working tolerances for free movement.

Do each of the chambers line up with the barrel when the gun is cocked? And when the hammer is dropped all the way with the trigger fully pulled?

You gettin' the gist on what's involved here?

I doubt it's rimfire. But if it is you're SOL.

Dutch