At the outbreak of the First World War, Westley Richards was a profitable public company. Then all hands were turned to the war effort. Government orders for the conversion and rebarrelling of thousands of rifles put great pressure on the firm, and a huge investment in new machinery and staff was necessary. No other factory of similar size in the country held a comparable record for such fine work and high output. In peacetime, however, it became impossible to maintain the large workforce, and by the time of the Second World War the company was forced into voluntary liquidation, although it continued to trade.

In 1946 Captain E.D. Barclay bought the firm from the liquidators and subsidised the gun-making business with profits made from whale harpoons and tool-making. Even these efforts did not prove satisfactory and in 1957 he disposed of his shareholding to the young and enthusiastic Walter Clode who remains Chairman of Westley Richards today.

Using information gleaned from the firm's comprehensive archives and a sharp entrepreneurial mind, Walter Clode made regular visits to India buying for resale classic weapons from the Indian Princes who had been such strong supporters of the firm in earlier days - this was to be the firm's salvation. He then turned his attention to building up a strong engineering base which was to serve well in the much needed modernisation of the gun business. Westley Richards was now back among the world's premier Gunmakers, building 'best' shotguns and rifles.