BEAUMONT-ADAMS REVOLVER

Subject: BEAUMONT-ADAMS REVOLVER Tue Aug 24, 2010 9:38 am

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ORIGINAL, PROTECTED BY PATENT. ADAMS REVOLVER WAS IMPROVED BY FREDERICK BEAUMONT IN 1845
FIRST DOUBLE-ACTION REVOLVER
NEW VERSION BECAME SO POPULAR IN THOSE DAYS THAT SAMUEL COLT WAS MADE TO CLOSE HIS FACTORY IN LONDON
IN 1847 REVOLVER BECAME OFFICIAL BRITISH MILITARY WEAPON
ENGRAVED
5 SHOTS
VERY GOOD CONDITION

SERVICE HISTORY
IN SERVICE 1842-1860
USED BY UNITED KINGDOM & COLONIES, BRITISH COMMONWEALTH
WARS ANGLO-ZULU WAR, FIRST BOER WAR, NUMEROUS BRITISH COLONIAL CONFLICTS

PRODUCTION HISTORY
DESIGNER ROBERT ADAMS, LT. BEAUMONT (ROYAL ENGINEERS).
DESIGNED 1842
MANUFACTURER ROBERT ADAMS OF LONDON
PRODUCED 1842-1860
NUMBER BUILT APPROX 250,000

SPECIFICATIONS
WEIGHT 2.4LB (1.1KG), UNLOADED
LENGTH 11.25IN. (286MM)
CARTRIDGE CAP & BALL
CALIBRE .450
ACTION DOUBLE ACTION REVOLVER
RATE OF FIRE 12 ROUNDS/MINUTE
MUZZLE VELOCITY 620FT/S (190M/S)
EFFECTIVE RANGE 35YDS
MAXIMUM RANGE 100YDS
FEED SYSTEM 5-ROUND CYLINDER
SIGHTS FIXED FRONT POST AND REAR NOTCH

Posts : 1261 Join date : 2010-04-12

Thanks Littlehand. Nice Photo's.

Subject: Re: BEAUMONT-ADAMS REVOLVER Tue Aug 24, 2010 4:32 pm

That is one nice piece of kit to own!

U

Posts : 600 Join date : 2010-01-07 Location : UK

Hi Littlehand, is that your revolver?

Great Pics

thanks joe

Subject: Re: BEAUMONT-ADAMS REVOLVER Sun Aug 29, 2010 9:01 pm

Sorry Joe. Just seen this post. Unfortunally no. (Wished it was)

Posts : 553 Join date : 2009-10-14 Location : Loughborough

Littlehand

The model in the picture is actually incorrect for the AZW as it is a percussion revolver, the model used by the British army was the B - A Mk3 of 1871 and adopted in 1872 which fired a .449" cartridge. By 1879 most percussion revolvers, certainly in army use had been declared obsolete, however a few Colts may have been scattered, this was a percussion peice, but rather than loose powder the bullet had a pig gut cocoon of powder, affxed to the bullet via a fine twine wrap.(self consuming)

The Mk1 Adams Bullet was 225 grains of pure lead, the brass case was crimped with four indentation which held the bullet over the cannelures and had a steel base, albeit by 1877 a Mk2 bullet had been issued with a brass base. Charge was 13 grains of RFG 3 (pistol powder). Effective range <120 yards.

The bullets were packed into brown paper packets, containing 12 rounds weighing just over 8oz

Chards actual revolver can be seen at the Royal Engineers Museum in Chatham, sometimes it is on display, have had the good fortune to actually hold it......

Posts : 600 Join date : 2010-01-07 Location : UK

Hello,
Does anyone have a picture of a spent bullet fired from the adams revolver?

thanks joe

Posts : 1862 Join date : 2009-03-25

Joe. Here's a large collection of spent bullets. The Adams revolver spent bullet is there. Ref: B14

http://www.rothchildeantiques.com/CivilWarBullets.html

Posts : 600 Join date : 2010-01-07 Location : UK

Hi
Thanks 24th, thats just cleared up a whole lot of unknown bullets Idea

thanks joe

Posts : 600 Join date : 2010-01-07 Location : UK

Hi all,
If anyone gets any information on the sale of a BEAUMONT-ADAMS MK3 revolver (preferably deactivated-as I dont know the laws on revovers) can they please send a P.M. as I am looking for one

Thanks Joe

Posts : 53 Join date : 2010-09-24

R. Adams

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Cheers, Jeff

Guest

I managed to get a book Adams' Revolvers. by WHJ Chamberlain & AWF Taylerson. It was the only book about them I could find.

Subject: Re: BEAUMONT-ADAMS REVOLVER Wed Jul 27, 2011 7:52 pm

"British Service Revolvers

Cartridge Revolvers

.450 Adams Revolver
ca. 1867~1882

Between 1865 and 1867, the British War Office adopted the .450 Adams Revolver, the first cartridge revolver to be issued to the British Army. Based on the patent of Robert Adams, the .450 was developed from the Beaumont-Adams percussion revolver. This gun was a solid frame, double action, six-shot revolver. Loading was through a gated loading port on the right side of the revolver's frame. The loading gate was opened and cartridges were loaded one at a time, while manually indexing the cylinder to bring the chambers in line with the loading port. A rod ejector was on the right underside of the barrel, in line with the loading gate. The ejector rod was not spring loaded, nor was it enclosed in a housing, such as was the Colt Single Action Army.

The .450 Revolver cartridge was of .45 caliber, having a 225 gr. lead bullet ahead of 13.0 grs. or black powder. Muzzle velocity was a stated 650 f.p.s., even then a very low powered round for a military cartridge.

The Adams revolver was unpopular with the British Army from the beginning, and frequent failures were cited during the Egyptian Campaign. These failures were not specified, but may have resulted from the exposed ejector rod. Declared obsolete in 1882, these revolvers continued in service for over a year until replacements could be produced and issued.

.455 Enfield Revolver
.455/476 Enfield Revolver
1882~1887

As a result of complaints concerning the Adams revolver, the British War Office turned to the Enfield Revolver as a replacement, officially adopted in 1882. The Enfield was designed by Owen Jones, an American designer working at the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield. The Enfield Revolver was a six-shot, double action revolver of an unusal break-open design. The barrel was unlatched and hinged down, while the cylinder slid forward on its axis. This forward movement pulled the cylinder away from the cartridges, which were held in place by a fixed extractor that held the cartridges by their rims. The forward travel of the cylinder was limited so that only empty (fired) cases were completely extracted and fell away by their own weight. Remaining loaded rounds were retained by their bullets remaining in the chamber. After emptying the revolver of fired cases, the barrel was closed and latched. Single cartridges were then loaded one at a time through an open loading gate, much the same as the Adams revolver. It will be noted the extraction system removes only fired cases, loaded rounds remaining. The only way to clear loaded rounds was to open the loading gate, point the muzzle upward and manually rotate the cylinder, allowing loaded rounds to fall out of their own weight. Sticking rounds, from oil or fouling, required finger nail extraction.

The Enfield Revolver was not too well received, the Webley and Smith & Wesson revolvers having superior extraction systems. Added to this was the problem that the revolver was issued to Army units before the .455 Enfield ammunition was put into production. Stores of .450 Adams ammunition had to be re-issued until the newer cartridges became available. The .455 Enfield cartridge had a 265 gr. lead bullet over 18.0 grs. of black powder, a somewhat more potent round than the previous .450 Revolver round.

Even with correct ammunition, problems continued. The rifling in the Enfield permitted considerable gas blow-by, robbing the revolver of both power and accuracy. In order to correct this, the .455 Mk. II round was issued. This round had a hollow base bullet with a clay expanding plug in its base. The expanding powder gas was to drive the plug deeper and expand the heel of the bullet for a better gas seal. That this didn't acheive its purpose is evidenced by the .476 Mk III cartridge introduce in 1885. This round used the same cartridge case, but had the diameter of the bullet increased just ahead of the case mouth, hence the .476" designation. In 1887 the British War Office gave up trying to fix a bad situation and declared the Enfield obsolete."

Source: Bob Wright "Fire Arms Talks"

Posts : 6 Join date : 2011-08-02

A very interesting site! I found it while searching for info on the Beaumont-Adams revolver. I recently managed to get my hands on one, and being licenced legally, I wanted it checked for possible use. It fires well altho I don't have enough powder to do a complete check yet, but it chrono'd at 570 fps today. I'll back off the load a bit because I will only use it for 25m matches. It needs repairs tho, it only does double action as a spring is broken or missing, and the cylinder might need re-timing to match the barrell. More news as it happens. I live in the bush in Australia, and it might have come from the Victorian goldfields. That's also why I am having trouble getting black powder. It can not be freighted. 12 shots per minute would be a challenge tho, even if starting with a full cylinder already loaded!

Posts : 1604 Join date : 2009-09-21

BAshooter. Welcome to the forum. Great first post. Yes please keep us posted
With you testing. Any chance of posting some photo's.

Posts : 6 Join date : 2011-08-02

I have finally prepared some video clips of this pistol. Bad health has been a factor, but I am on the mend :) I will put up some pics too, but my story is here......

http://www.ratherbeflying.net/adrian/BlackPowder/BA.htm

Regards to all.

Posts : 2558 Join date : 2009-04-06 Age : 60 Location : UK

Glad your on the mend. Having problems opening links. The long version says can't download. The short version shows error 404 Page doesn't exist. agree

Posts : 6 Join date : 2011-08-02

OK John, I will look into it. Anyone else having problems, or anything to report?
Adrian

Guest

What i did was just right click on the link
itself, the long version works fine, iv'e just
watched it, man, the revolver is HUGE, it
took me by surprise how big it is. great
demo. finely presented. cheers for that!.

Posts : 6 Join date : 2011-08-02

Both links should be working now. An upper case problem. Sorry Sad

Adrian

Posts : 2558 Join date : 2009-04-06 Age : 60 Location : UK

Thanks BA. Possibly works on a PC, but not an iPad.

Posts : 6 Join date : 2011-08-02

Ah, OK John. I will get my son to check it with his device. Thanks & watch this space! Sorry about the hassle.

Posts : 2558 Join date : 2009-04-06 Age : 60 Location : UK

Thanks BA!

Subject: Re: BEAUMONT-ADAMS REVOLVER Thu May 08, 2014 10:42 pm

Thanks for posting the film links. fantastic video's.

Posts : 2594 Join date : 2009-04-24

Great video BA. agree

Posts : 6 Join date : 2011-08-02

OK John, and iPad users, try those links now. Thanks for patience.

Adrian

http://www.ratherbeflying.net/adrian/BlackPowder/BA.htm

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