Schematic of the Benét internal center-fire primer.
Derived from the .50-60-400 Joslyn, the cartridge was developed after the unsatisfactory results of the .58 rimfire cartridge for the Springfield Model 1865 rifle. The .50-70 Government cartridge used the Benét internal center-fire primer design and became the official cartridge of the U.S. military in 1866 until being replaced by the .45-70 Government in 1873. The .50-70 cartridge has a pressure limit of 22,500 psi (155 MPa)[1]
The official designation of this cartridge at the time of introduction was "US center-fire metallic cartridge", and the commercial designation .50-70-450, standing for:
The U.S. Navy purchased Remington Rolling Block rifles chambered for the .50-70 cartridge. The U.S. Navy also contracted with Remington to produce several thousand rolling-blockcarbines chambered for a reduced load version which was officially produced for use only in carbines, using a shortened .50-70 with a 430-grain (28 g) bullet and 45 grains (2.9 g) of black powder.
The U.S. Army ordered both rolling-block rifles and carbines in .50-70 and made some rolling blocks at their Springfield Armory facility in this caliber.[5] The U.S. Army also had a large supply of percussion-fired Sharps carbines at the close of the Civil War and had the Sharps Rifle Company convert about 31,000 of the rolling-block rifles and carbines in .50-70 for cavalry use. Meanwhile, the Army, which had exited the Civil War with an inventory of almost a million percussion-fired muzzleloaders, converted Springfield Model 1863 and Model 1864 muskets to metallic cartridge ammunition using the Allin conversion (trapdoor) method, as well as cadet rifles. The first of the .50-70 conversions was the Springfield Model 1866. In 1867, these rifles played a pivotal role in holding off an attacking force of 300-1,000 LakotaSioux Indians during the Wagon Box Fight.[6]
Around 1871, the Sioux captured a number of Springfield 1866 rifles that use these cartridges. Deemed single-use and not reloadable, soldiers would simply discard them which the Sioux collected and reloaded.[7] Despite a strict ban of fixed ammunition sales to Native Americans, they were not restricted from acquiring lead (for bullets), black powder and percussion caps for their "obsolete" muskets. Here's how they reloaded these cartridges:
Taking one of their ordinary percussion caps for their muzzle-loaders, they inserted in the open end of it a small piece of gravel. They then forced the cap into a hole punched in the center of the [base of the] cartridge shell with a round nail or other pointed instrument. The piece of gravel served as an anvil under the firing pin to explode the fulminate…[7]
This was dramatized on Death Valley Days, season 7, episode 15 titled "A Bullet for the Captain"[8]
Newer improved versions were made and used by the Army until 1873. After 1873, with the advent of the .45-70 cartridge, the Army declared the .50-70 to be surplus, and while some rifles and carbines in .50-70 were issued to Indian Scouts, the bulk were simply sold off as surplus. In the U.S. Navy, however, the .50-70 cartridge and the guns associated with it remained in use until the late 1880s.
As Army General Philip Sheridan had embarked on a plan to eliminate the bison during the course of the American Indian Wars, the .50-70 rifles were also issued or purchased by buffalo hunters for use in eliminating the vast bison herds. Sharps began manufacturing sporterized rifles in .50-70 (including .50-90 Sharps, .50-110 Sharps, etc.), with improved sights for longer range shots for use by the buffalo hunters.
Modern-made functional replicas of caliber .50-70 historical rifles have been imported into the US by such firms as Davide Pedersoli and A. Uberti, Srl. (a Beretta subsidiary). The .50-70 cartridge, still enjoys some use and popularity with sportsmen and cowboy action shooters. Reloaders have experimented with a variety of bullet weights from 425 grains (27.5 g) to 600 grains (39 g).
