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Tonight's Saturday Night Gun Pron (tm) continue with a look at more flare gun oddities. It's amazing what $10-$20 buys you when a gun show is closing, and sellers would rather have the money than haul all that carp back home.

That brings us to this Webley No1. Mark "1" 1.5 inch (37mm) flare gun. As you can see compared to a dummy Glock 21, it's a dainty piece.

The flare gun was a rush project for the Royal Flying Corps in 1914-1918. Flares were very important in the days before radios, or even wireless telegraphs. The flare gun was based on Webley's large-frame break-action revolver. This made it easy to add a massive single-shot barrel, rather than a cylinder and barrel. An ingenious grip adapter allowed the adding of a walnut shoulder stock.

As usual with Webley products, it's massively over-engineered. It's built like a bank vault, and weighs almost as much (8 pounds). And though this one was made in 1916, when fine commercial finishing and bluing were cut back, it's a masterpiece of craftsmanship. One has to wait for the World War 2 Webley (and everyone else's) production to see the real sacrifices in cosmetic quality.

The lock-up is hugh, and since everything is solid steel, it could handle pressures much higher than generated by pyrotechnic rounds. When brought into the US as surplus, a lot of these Webleys were snapped up by police agencies for use as tear gas guns.

As usual, the flare gun is stamped with lots of British proof marks, along with matching serial numbers on all the major assemblies.

Still, it just can't quite compare with Serial Number 10, which is in a British museum. Apparently they had even greater things in mind, since it had even a longer barrel, and what looks like sights.

And if you're a movie fan, you might the Webley as the basis for Boba Fett's weapon, from The Empire Strikes back

To an upgraded version in Return of the Jedi

Of course, the movies used a lot of modified firearms as the basis for advanced weapons. A close look will reveal pieces of Mauser Broomhandles, MG34s, and, of course, the storm trooper's ever-popular Sterling SMG.

The Webley No. 1 Mark "1" seems to have gone from British airfields of WW1 all the way to a galaxy long ago, and far, far away.