Not long back a friend offered me an opportunity to acquire a Beaumont-Adams 1856 percussion revolver, one of the Navy issue examples with lanyard hole in the grip and War Dept markings. While waiting for it to arrive from interstate, another offer was accepted, this time an 1865 commercial breech-loading Adams with Northern Territory police provenance. How good is that!

All this Adams revolver attention prompted me to drag out the Adams breech-loader that had been hiding forgotten in the back of my gun-safe for a couple of decades, for a closer look. Acquired purely for interest, and a possible source of spare parts if ever needed, it had cost me virtually nothing on account of an after-market smooth-bore barrel that had been fitted by some amateur back-yard gunsmith in the distant past, presumably to fire some form of shotshell, and likely because the original bore was a write-off.

On closer inspection, all six chambers in the cylinder appear to have been sleeved, as it will not accept a .450 Boxer, .455 or .476 Eley, or a shortened .410. A .44-40 is a snug fit however, remembering there were a bunch of .44 WCF shotshell options available in days past. Here's an interesting link.

For the first time since owning it, I patched out the barrel to discover a beautiful shiny unblemished bore, with an inch of choke no less! On top of this, the Adams Patent stamp and John Adams "JA" trademark are crisp, the action locks up tight as a drum, and the barrel sleeving is actually quite well done, leading to a new appreciation for this Frankenstein revolver. Only down-side is the front sight, apparently made from a vertical length of brazing rod! (sigh)

So now I need to find the 1851 Deane, Adams & Deane revolver with missing trigger that's in my gunroom somewhere.
Damn!
Here I go down another rabbit-hole!