| .50-70 Government | |
| Origin: | United States |
| Type: | Rifle |
| Service: | 1866–1873 |
| Used By: | United States |
| Design Date: | 1866 |
| Production Date: | 1866–present |
| Case Type: | Rimmed, straight |
| Bullet: | .515 |
| Neck: | .535 |
| Base: | .565 |
| Rim Dia: | .660 |
| Rim Thick: | .065 |
| Case Length: | 1.75 |
| Length: | 2.25 |
| Primer: | Large rifle |
| Max Pressure: | 22500 |
| Bw1: | 425 |
| Btype1: | lead SP |
| Vel1: | 1448 |
| En1: | 1979 |
| Bw2: | 550 |
| Btype2: | lead FN |
| Vel2: | 1375 |
| En2: | 2310 |
| Bw3: | 400 |
| Btype3: | SP |
| Vel3: | 1849 |
| En3: | 3037 |
| Test Barrel Length: | 28" |
| Balsrc: | Accurate Powder |
The .50-70 Government / 13.1x44mmR, also known as the .50-70 Musket, .50-70 Springfield, and .50-" Sharps[1] [2]) is a black powder cartridge adopted in 1866 for the Springfield Model 1866 trapdoor rifle.
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 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 22500psi
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:
0.5inches
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-block carbines chambered for a reduced load version which was officially produced for use only in carbines, using a shortened .50-70 with a 430gr bullet and 45gr 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.[4] 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. 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.
Buffalo Bill used a Springfield Model 1866 in .50-70, while buffalo hunting to feed the track workers of the Kansas Pacific Railway. General George Custer was known to have had and used a sporterized rolling block in .50-70 and was believed to have had it with him at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
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. In 1867, the .50-70 cartridge in U.S. Army Model of 1866 Springfield rifles played a pivotal role in holding off an attacking force of 300-1,000 Lakota Sioux Indians during the Wagon Box Fight.[5]
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 425gr to 600gr.