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.442 Webley
Revolver cartridge From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The .442 Webley (also known as the ".442 Revolver Centre Fire" in Great Britain, the .442 Rook long (kangaroo) in Australia,[1] the "10.5x17mmR" or ".442 Kurz" in Europe, and ".44 Webley" or ".442 R.I.C." in the United States)[2] is a British centrefire revolver cartridge.
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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[3] (RIC, hence the revolver's name), which were also chambered in (among others) .450 Adams and 476/.455.[4] Lt. Col. George Custer is believed to have carried a pair of RIC revolvers (presented to him in 1869 by Lord Berkley Paget)[5] at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.[6][7][8]
A black powder round, the .442 originally used a 15–19 grain (gr) (0.972–1.23 g) charge behind a 200–220 gr (13–14.3 g) bullet.[9] This loading was later joined by a smokeless variety.[9]
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.[10][11]
The cartridge was moderately effective,[12] being roughly similar in power to the contemporary .38 S&W,[13] .41 Colt,[14] or .44 S&W American,[15] and somewhat less potent than the later 7.65mm Parabellum,[16] .38 Special[17] or .45 ACP.[18] It was not very suitable at anything but close range.[3]
Smokeless .442 Webley loads continued to be commercially offered in the U.S. until 1940[9] and in the United Kingdom and Europe until the 1950s.
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