From the 20th to the 21st Century

In the early 20th Century many forces came to bear on the company such as the 1920 Firearms Act that virtually barred individuals from owning handguns, the compulsory purchase of the Weaman Street factory for a road widening scheme and a general increase in competition from aboard.

Two major decisions were taken, firstly to expand into general engineering, making parts for cars etc and secondly to take-up full scale manufacturing of airguns.

The company had patented an air pistol as early as 1911 but this weapon had not been pursued since as it had been felt that only a very limited market existed – the Firearm Act changed all that and in 1924 the Mark I Air Pistol, in .177 and .22 calibres, was introduced.

Development proceeded resulting in the Mark II Model which is turn was superseded by the Senior which incorporated several improvements such as fully adjustable back sight and a lighter pull-off. Today these early pistols are much prized and sought after by collectors.

In 1926 the company introduced the Mark I Air Rifle but due to high costs did not prove popular. In 1929 the Mark II Service Air Rifle was launched, acclaimed as one of the finest air rifles ever produced. It was a breakdown type with a superimposed, detachable barrel, the barrel being securely closed by a bolt action. It was possible to have all three calibres (.177,.22, .25) with the one rifle.

Because of the heavy cost of manufacture the Mark III replaced the Mark II in 1946.This model had a fixed barrel with top loading and stayed in production until 1975. Many models followed over the years such as the 1957 Ranger, 1962 Falcon, then later the Jaguar, Hawk, Osprey and Xocet.

The company went through several changes of ownership over the last 100 years and unfortunately in November 2005 were forced to call in the receivers. In March 2006 Airgunpsort, the UK leading airgun supplier, bought the Webley & Scott brand, stock, debtors and the right to manufacture in a £1 million deal.

Today's state of the art range of spring rifles includes the Xocet, Xocet XS, Longbow and Patriot and advanced precharged rifles like the Raider I, II and X.

Webley have long built up a reputation for well-engineered, high quality, high performance, value for money air rifles and that tradition continues today and will do so for many years to come.