Forehand and Wadsworth Brit Bulldog. 45 cylinder and cone. 40 muzzle?

[Kaiser Mike]

Got this the other day from my inlaw. Pretty rusty. Trigger spring busted (will order new one from wolf).
She had been hanging on a nail in his "man cave" /shed for who knows how many years. I know at least 15.
Now that I have it in near "shooting condition"...I'm a bit perplexed.
Muzzle is .40cal, everything else says .45. (455 webley or 45 Adams?) Is it due to dead soft lead bullets being used?
Muzzle, .40. Forcing cone (best I can measure) is .46. The cylinder is .455. Cylinder and frame do match.
Serial 9135x.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Of course, I'll be loading BP.

[curator]

Some of these were made in .442 Webley or .44 Bulldog cartridge as well as .455 Webley. A .442 Webley chamber is .455" diameter, a .455 Webley or .450 Adams chamber is about .475". Have a knowledgeable gunsmith take a look at it before buying ammo.

[Outpost75]

Answered this in another thread, but worth repeating. These are black powder guns! Only safe load is a pure lead, dead soft bullet and a compressed case full of 3Fg black. A Speer .433" lead round ball seated flush over a compressed case full of black, with Crisco smeared over and between the case mouth and the ball is easy to load and fun to shoot. Use Starline .44 Russian brass trimmed to 0.80", and thin the rims as needed off the front edge, NOT off the base!

[Kaiser Mike]

curator
Fantastic!!! This is what i needed! Thank you so much!

Outpost,
I've seen folks mention thinning the rim from the front. How is this done?

[RED BEAR]

Sorry i know nothing about it but what a nice gun. I just love any of the old guns.

[Larry Gibson]

Answered this in another thread, but worth repeating. These are black powder guns! Only safe load is a pure lead, dead soft bullet and a compressed case full of 3Fg black. A Speer .433" lead round ball seated flush over a compressed case full of black, with Crisco smeared over and between the case mouth and the ball is easy to load and fun to shoot. Use Starline .44 Russian brass trimmed to 0.80", and thin the rims as needed off the front edge, NOT off the base!

^^^^^^^^ what outpost said......

[Drydock]

This may have an odd number of lands and grooves, and if you are measuring the muzzle with a caliper you may get a false reading. Best to slug the bore and measure that way.