Yeah, I know; another gun question. :rolleyes:
Since I’ve recently added a Webley to my collection, I thought I should get more information on them. So I picked up Howdah To High Power: A Century of British Breechloading Service Pistols (1867 - 1967). One thing that struck me is the British propensity for bird’s head grips (top photo, and photos 3-6). All but one of my revolvers (a snubnosed .38) have ‘square’ butts. Square butts were used in U.S. service revolvers since about 1847. By contrast, the British revolvers have grips that are essentially curved cylinders (the earlier ones), or curved and rounded at the bottom (later ones).
A square butt seems to fit my hand better, which means more control. A round butt (as on my snubby) makes the revolver easier to conceal, but the British revolvers weren’t really designed to be concealed. Single-shot muzzle loaders (e.g., Kentucky pistol) tended to have the round butts, which I assume was preferred for ease of manufacture and because the mechanisms are different from revolvers.
So why did the British stick to this design for so long?