I thought I was out, they brought me back in
Its worth prefacing this story by telling you I didn't start shooting until a long time after the pistol ban, so part from some youthful plinking with cheap air pistols my experience was entirely limited to a trip to Northern Ireland to shoot, Taurus, Glock, and Berreta one afternoon.
When the pistol ban came in there was an exemption for Muzzle Loading Pistols - like Flintlocks and the Ruger Old Army.
Alan Westlake - former head of the UK Army pistol team read the legislation and realised the letter, and the intent of the legislation had a sizeable gap between them. Some say he drove a coach and horses though that gap, some people call him a genius. You can read a history of his battles with the government here
Its not legal to convert a gun into another form. You cant get a semi-auto and modify it to a single shot, you cant make a fully functional revolver into a flintlock.
His early efforts were single shot target pistols, then came his first revolver the Taurus and then theArmscor which was made in the Philippines, they are pretty crude with each cylinder hand fitted to each gun. Things really got going when he teamed up with Alfa-Proj a division of CZ.
By ordering an unfinished pistol; frame, trigger, grips - but no load-bearing parts he could import the pistols, fit them with a cylinder and hammer of his own devising, send them to proof as a brand new Muzzle Loading Pistol. Having the cylinders made on a CNC massively increased reliability and compatibility.
From the first day I stumbled upon his website I really longed for one, they're the nearest thing to a modern revolver you can have on your regular UK licence. I had the 4" version.
But enough history what's it really like owning one? Our time together wasn't without episode.
Mine came with two sets of grips, the wooden and the plastic. The plastic look way cool, but I never got on with them, the foresight is rubbish, a replacement is £12.
They are pretty fussy about which wadcutters you feed them on. I had a stash of unbranded bullets it loved, the Hornady are pretty good, Westlake's own bullets are awful and come massively over sized. several times they had to be drilled out. ALWAYS RESIZE TO .356.
I know a very nice man who has two Westies, both with aftermarket springs which transform the double action, after the end snapped off my spring I tired one. The first two trigger pulls were sublime. It never worked again. I couldn't for the life of me get the factory replacement to work. I gave the pistol to a gunsmith who made it work like a slippery thing, slipping into a slippery place. I got the impression the job had been quite frustrating because as he handed it back to me he said "Sell it, I'm not fixing it again"
I did. Just to rub salt into the wound, the man I sold it to still rings me up to thank me, and tell me about the competitions he's won shooting it.
But you know how it is. The Itch.
If I ever attend the small bore events I always find myself in the next lane to someone basting away with their Westie, with its flawless reliability putting a massive grin across their face.
The Itch.
This time its a 6" [yep they write themselves] having entered the age group where your children will refer to you as a Spawny-Eyed-Wuzzock I thought I'd thumb my nose at convention, and the captain of my club's MLP team and fit a Red Dot.
There's a lively community of 3D print aficionados making loaders for the Westie, and one of them published an STL that makes the interface. At some point I'll have it machined in Aluminium
A lube-re-sizer, either the Lyman or the RCBS is a great idea. Both sell heater units at ridicules prices and with poor availability, I ordered a heat mat from China for £5.
Lee make a sizing die which is a must have. The alternative is to relive your cylinder(s) which is a lot more work, and then they need to be re submitted to proof. The Lee die is sub £40.
Let's see how I get on with this one?
Your pal
SBW.
