Webley & Scott DT Pro review: budget trap gun with high-end features

Founded in the late 18th century, Webley & Scott is one of the grand old names in English gunmaking. Known primarily for its revolvers, the firm supplied the British military with sidearms from 1887 until 1964, when the by then venerable MKIV .38 was superseded by the Browning HP.

A grand old name in English gunmaking

Webley did dally with innovation over the many years the revolver was in service, at one point producing a self-reciprocating revolver design – the Fosbery – that used inertia to rotate the cylinder via a camming groove and cock the hammer. While interesting, the design was prone to being unreliable if not well maintained. Webley also produced a self-loading pistol that drew limited adoption from military and police units in the UK. The firm had by then diversified into pneumatic guns, which I am sure will be where many of our readers cut their teeth, emulating the classic poster with a Hurricane or Tempest.

The company fell into something of a decline in later years and was acquired by the Highland Outdoors group, which has sought to revive the brand’s fortunes by producing aggressively priced budget guns in a number of markets worldwide. Working with companies in Turkey has allowed Highland to work at a pace that most European manufacturers cannot match, rapidly prototyping and producing models in much the same way as China is currently disrupting the European car market.

The Webley & Scott DT Pro in depth

This approach has led to some novel designs, to exploit a market that is not being well catered to by European gunmakers – namely, guns under £2,000. The latest release of such a gun is what brings you this review.

The DT Pro rather shamelessly emulates the style of the Perazzi MX2003 with its seesaw rib, to bring a fully adjustable trap gun to market well under the £2,000 you would have to spend for a base-model Sporter from Browning, Beretta or Miroku. Aimed at younger and budget shooters, specifically in the US where the Trap and Skeet disciplines dominate, the DT Pro brings a raft of features to the table that you would struggle to find on guns three or even four times the cost, and it is available in limited numbers in the UK.

Weighing around 8½lb, this gun is very much in the sweet spot for clay shooting and balances well despite the metalwork fore and aft. Available in 30in and 32in, the barrels are multichoked – using a Mobil-pattern design, so aftermarket chokes from the likes of Muller can be bought off the shelf to fit – and are chambered for 2¾in cartridges.

Steel proofed as a matter of course, despite the lack of proofing in the US, the barrels are blued, with a ventilated mid rib and topped with an 11mm aluminium non-tapered high rib. The rib is adjustable front and back and pivots at the centre, giving users three options for position and sight picture.

In the US, the gun will be available in both the normal configuration and offered as a two-barrel set with an over-and-under and an unsingle, for the sort of people who like to save ammo shooting a single barrel.

The trigger is the removable trigger-plate type, with no barrel selector, and has genuinely nice trigger-pulls that are both light and crisp – surprising for a gun at this price. The trigger drops out by extending the safety past a small button on the top tang to reveal a coil-spring-based system that is simple and well finished, with engine turning on the flats. In the UK this will be a decent security feature, and in the US it will be a selling point for high-volume shooters who like to have a spare unit available for competitions should a failure occur.

The forend is a chunky beavertail design, which suits the intent of the gun perfectly, and is laser chequered featuring the W&S logo. The action is finished in satin and polished steel, with a simple engraving of the gun’s name and company logo. It looks very reminiscent of Perazzi in the execution of the fences, although internally the lock-up is a much simpler affair, as befits the price.

An unintended consequence of the unadorned action is, according to Craig Toft, business development manager at Highland Outdoors, that the gun is a blank canvas for aftermarket engraving, which is somewhat popular in the US, although less so in the UK.

The grip features a slightly tighter radius than I would normally like, so as to cater to the younger or smaller shooter. However, I can’t say I found it cramped for my big mitts, and the reach to the trigger was just fine. The palm swell is subtle but noticeable and, as with the forend, the laser chequering is neat and well enough executed. One criticism is that I found the neck of the grip – where the palm scoop runs into the nose of the comb – a little thick, and felt it would benefit from a little more time with a rasp to give the shooter more options for thumb placement and a more comfortable grip position overall.

Speaking of the comb, it’s a parallel adjustable type, although not a Monte Carlo, the need for which is made unnecessary by the Jones-style adjuster at the rear of the butt. The fully adjustable pad gives a good range of positions and allows the length of pull to be adjusted a good 2in, which will suit a growing shooter. As well as the LOP, the pitch, cast, toe angle and butt height can all be tinkered with to suit more or less any shooter’s style. Working in concert with the high rib, this gives a solid basis for a variety of shooting styles and mounts. Overall the gun promotes a trappy style, with a head-up position that many will like, although your mileage may vary.

Webley & Scott DT Pro specifications

Prices are RRP at the time of publication and may since have changed.

Webley & Scott DT Pro field test

Obviously this is a trap gun, but I have had success in the past using trap guns for all sorts of things they aren’t intended for, and this outing was no exception. I started with Sporting and, honestly, once I had dialled in the pattern, which out of the box was 70/30, the DT handled most targets with aplomb.

The gun is handy, balances well and is no chore to swing. It’s no racehorse, of course, but if you are used to pushing a clay gun around that will be no surprise. The aforementioned grip issue was more noticeable here, as Sporting targets require a bit more versatility, but this is not what the gun is intended for.

Skeet proved no problem, as you would expect. The head-up position works well for a clear view of the targets. This is as far from a traditional Skeet gun as it’s possible to get, but I shoot most things with most things, and rarely find a clay gun that can’t turn its hand to more than one discipline.

It will also shock nobody that a dedicated trap gun is a dab hand for Trap, and I can confirm the DT Pro shoots the discipline very well. Both DTL and ABT were no issue for the gun, with the nice, light trigger really shining here.

I find that shooting Trap will tend to show recoil issues in a gun if it has any, due to the mechanics of the mount and the repetitive nature of the shot. I can tell you that I noticed no problem with recoil at all, even with the gun in vanilla form out of the box. That said, I am a pretty average shape when it comes to guns, and any gun can be ruined by injudicious use of an Allen key. So if you are going to fit a gun, make sure you know how to do it.

Verdict: is the Webley & Scott DT Pro worth buying?

The gun is currently only offered in 12-bore, with 76mm chambers, so those of you who were mad keen on lugging one down the foreshore or into a duck blind will be disappointed. I am told a 20-bore might be on the cards depending on demand, but I think the 12-bore will be the big seller.