The .450 Adams was a British

black powder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...

centrefire Two rounds of .357 Magnum, a centerfire cartridge; notice the circular primer in the center A centerfire cartridge is a firearm metallic cartridge whose primer is located at the center of the base of its casing (i.e. "case head"). Unlike rimfi ...

revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

cartridge Cartridge may refer to: Objects * Cartridge (firearms), a type of modern ammunition * ROM cartridge, a removable component in an electronic device * Cartridge (respirator), a type of filter used in respirators Other uses * Cartridge (surname), a ...

, initially used in converted

Beaumont–Adams revolver The Beaumont–Adams revolver is a black powder, double-action, percussion revolver. Originally adopted by the British Army in .442 calibre (54-bore, 11.2 mm) in 1856, it was replaced in British service in 1880 by the .476 calibre (11.6 mm) En ...

s, in the late 1860s. Officially designated .450 Boxer Mk I, and also known variously as the .450 Revolver, .450 Colt, .450 Short, .450 Corto and .450 Mark III, and in America as the .45 Webley,Barnes, p.173, ".450 Revolver" it was the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

's first centrefire revolver round.

History

The .450 was adopted for the Adams revolver in November 1868, and served until it was replaced in service in 1880 by the

.476 Enfield The .476 Enfield, also known as the .476 Eley, .476 Revolver, and occasionally .455/476,Barnes, p.175, ".476 Ely/.476 Enfield Mk-3". is a British centrefire black powder revolver cartridge. The Enfield name derives from the location of the Roya ...

(in the

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

Mark 1 and 2), which was in turn supplanted by the

.455 Webley .455 Webley is a British handgun cartridge, most commonly used in the Webley top break revolvers Marks I through VI. It is also known as ".455 Eley" and ".455 Colt". The .455 cartridge was a service revolver cartridge, featuring a rimmed car ...

cartridge in 1887. Originally loaded with of black powder under a

bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. Bullets are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax. Bullets are made in various shapes and co ...

, it was later also offered in a

smokeless powder Finnish smokeless powderSmokeless powder is a type of propellant used in firearms and artillery that produces less smoke and less fouling when fired compared to gunpowder ("black powder"). The combustion products are mainly gaseous, compared to a ...

loading. Despite the different designations, the .450 may be fired in any weapon chambered for .455 Webley, .455 Colt, or .476 Enfield. While not considered a suitable military round, the .450 Mark III cartridges did serve in reserve for the British armed forces as late as the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The .450 Adams also proved popular among civilian users of Webley RIC and British Bulldog revolvers, being loaded in Europe, and persisting in the United States until around 1940. Both

Colt Colt(s) or COLT may refer to: *Colt (horse), an intact (uncastrated) male horse under four years of age People * Colt (given name) *Colt (surname) Places *Colt, Arkansas, United States *Colt, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United States ...

and

Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American firearm manufacturer headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the "Smith & Wesson Revolver Company" in 1856 ...

offered revolvers in .450 Adams. It was roughly similar in power to the contemporary .38 S&W, .41 Colt, and .44 S&W American.Barnes, p.167, ".44 Smith & Wesson American".

Handloaded Handloading, or reloading, is the practice of making firearm cartridges by assembling the individual components (case, primer, propellant, and projectile), rather than purchasing mass-assembled, factory-loaded ammunition. The term ''hand ...

ammunition can be made from shortened .455 Webley

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

Dimensions

Notes

Sources

*Barnes, Frank C., ed. by John T. Amber. ".450 Revolver", in ''Cartridges of the World'', pp. 170 & 177. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. . *Barnes, Frank C., ed. by John T. Amber. ".38 Smith & Wesson", in ''Cartridges of the World'', p. 163. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. . *Barnes, Frank C., ed. by John T. Amber.. ".41 Long Colt", in ''Cartridges of the World'', p. 165. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. . *Barnes, Frank C., ed. by John T. Amber. ".44 Smith & Wesson American", in ''Cartridges of the World'', p. 167. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. . *Barnes, Frank C., ed. by John T. Amber.. ".455 Revolver MK-1/.455 Colt", in ''Cartridges of the World'', p. 174. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972. . *Maze, Robert J. ''Howdah to High Power''. Tucson, AZ: Excalibur Publications, 2002. .

External links

Revive your antique English .450 (.455 - .460) black powder revolvers
{{DEFAULTSORT:450 Pistol and rifle cartridges World War I weapons of the United Kingdom British firearm cartridges

History

Dimensions

See also

Notes

Sources

External links