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| .450 Adams | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 .450 Adams cartridge | ||||||||||||
| Type | Revolver | |||||||||||
| Place of origin | United Kingdom | |||||||||||
| Service history | ||||||||||||
| In service | 1868–1880 | |||||||||||
| Used by | British military,North-West Mounted Police, colonial military, police forces | |||||||||||
| Production history | ||||||||||||
| Designed | 1868 | |||||||||||
| Specifications | ||||||||||||
| Case type | rimmed straight | |||||||||||
| Bullet diameter | .455 in (11.6 mm) | |||||||||||
| Neck diameter | .475 in (12.1 mm) | |||||||||||
| Base diameter | .477 in (12.1 mm) | |||||||||||
| Rim diameter | .510 in (13.0 mm) | |||||||||||
| Case length | .69 in (18 mm) | |||||||||||
| Overall length | 1.10 in (28 mm) | |||||||||||
| Rifling twist | 1:16 in (410 mm) | |||||||||||
| Primer type | boxer | |||||||||||
| Ballistic performance | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| Source(s): Barnes & Amber 1972 | ||||||||||||
The.450 Adams was a Britishblack powdercentrefirerevolvercartridge, initially used in convertedBeaumont–Adams revolvers, in the late 1860s.[1] 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,[2] it was theBritish Army's first centrefire revolver round.[2]
The .450 was adopted for the Adams revolver in November 1868,[2] and served until it was replaced in service in 1880[2] by the.476 Enfield (in theEnfield Mark 1 and 2),[2] which was in turn supplanted by the.455 Webley cartridge in 1887.
Originally loaded with 13 grains (0.84 g) of black powder under a 225-grain (14.6 g)bullet,[2] it was later also offered in asmokeless powder loading.[2] Despite the different designations, the .450 may be fired in any weapon chambered for .455 Webley,[2][3].455 Colt, or .476 Enfield.[4]
While not considered a suitable military round,[2] the .450 Mark III cartridges did serve in reserve for the British armed forces as late as theFirst World War.[2] The .450 Adams also proved popular among civilian users ofWebley RIC andBritish Bulldog revolvers, being loaded in Europe, and persisting in the United States until around 1940. BothColt andSmith & Wesson offered revolvers in .450 Adams.[2]
It was roughly similar in power to the contemporary.38 S&W,[5].41 Colt,[6] and.44 S&W American.[7]
Handloaded ammunition can be made from shortened .455 Webleybrass.
