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.450 Adams

Revolver cartridge

Field	Value
name	.450 Adams
image	.450Adams.jpg	image_size = 150px
caption	.450 Adams cartridge
origin	United Kingdom
type	Revolver
service	1868–1880
used_by	British military, North-West Mounted Police, colonial military, police forces
design_date	1868
case_type	rimmed straight
bullet	.455
neck	.475
base	.477
rim_dia	.510
case_length	.69
length	1.10
rifling	1:16 in
primer	boxer
bw1	225
btype1	ball (Kynoch black powder)
vel1	650
en1	211
bw2	225
btype2	ball (Kynoch smokeless powder)
vel2	700
en2	245
balsrc	Barnes & Amber 1972

The .450 Adams was a British black powder centrefire revolver cartridge, initially used in converted Beaumont–Adams revolvers, 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, it was the British Army'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.

From left to right: .450 Adams, .455 Webley Mk I, .455 Webley Mk II cartridges

Originally loaded with 13 gr of black powder under a 225 gr bullet, it was later also offered in a smokeless powder 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. 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 offered revolvers in .450 Adams.

It was roughly similar in power to the contemporary .38 S&W, .41 Colt, and .44 S&W American.

Handloaded ammunition can be made from shortened .455 Webley brass.

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. .

References

Maze, Robert J.. (2002). "Howdah to High Power". Excalibur Publications.
Barnes, p.173, ".450 Revolver"
Maze, Robert J. ''Howdah to High Power'' (Tucson, AZ: Excalibur Publications, 2002), p.32.
Barnes, p.174, ".455 Revolver MK-1/.455 Colt".
Barnes, p.163, ".38 Smith & Wesson".
Barnes, p.165, ".41 Long Colt".
Barnes, p.167, ".44 Smith & Wesson American".

Info: Wikipedia Source

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