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, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...
centrefire
Two rounds of .357 Magnum, a centerfire cartridge; notice the circular primer in the center
A center-fire (or centerfire) is a type of metallic cartridge used in firearms, where the primer is located at the center of the base of its casing (i ...
revolver
A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...
cartridge, 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) E ...
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 Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
'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 (in the
Enfield Mark 1 and 2),
which was in turn supplanted by the
.455 Webley 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. They are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax; and are made in various shapes and constru ...
,
it was later also offered in a
smokeless powder
Finnish smokeless powder
Smokeless powder is a type of propellant used in firearms and artillery that produces less smoke and less fouling when fired compared to black powder. Because of their similar use, both the original black powder formula ...
loading.
Despite the different designations, the .450 may be fired in any weapon chambered for .455 Webley,
, 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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.
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 and
Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American Firearms manufacturer, firearm manufacturer headquartered in Maryville, Tennessee, United States.
Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith (inventor), Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the ...
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 manually assembling the individual components (metallic cartridge, metallic/polymer-cased ammunition, polymer case, primer (firearms), primer, propellant and projectile) ...
ammunition can be made from shortened .455 Webley
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...
.
Dimensions
See also
*
Table of handgun and rifle cartridges
This is a table of selected pistol/submachine gun and rifle/machine gun cartridges by common name. Data values are the highest found for the cartridge, and might not occur in the same load (e.g. the highest muzzle energy might not be in the same ...
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