Originally Posted by
Bigslug
It is indeed a part of the Webley picture I find puzzling. As I recall, both of my MKVI's gauged .452" on the throats, but larger on the bore (.455" IIRC). The scary issue of full-power .45ACP in these of course would be from the added pressure of the rounds, not the diameter. The moral of the story of course is to know the gun and load along the lines of what it was designed for, not what some profit-hungry importer said you could do with it.
Absolutely agree. In fact, why not duplicate the .38/200 performance with the .38 Short Colt case, which uses the same body diameter and rim dimensions of the currently-far-more-common .38 Special and .357 Magnum? This would allow for shorter, lighter frames and cylinders that could still use existing extractors. No, Roy Weatherby wouldn't like is as it wouldn't be super fast or have a laser-like trajectory, but let's not lose sight of what these British service cartridges were FOR: they're for plugging an enemy in the face from 20 feet, not replacing an XP-100.