The .50-70 Government (also called the .50-70 Musket and .50 Government) is a

black powder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate ( saltpeter). T ...

cartridge adopted in 1866 for the Springfield Model 1866

trapdoor A trapdoor is a sliding or hinged door in a floor or ceiling. It is traditionally small in size. It was invented to facilitate the hoisting of grain up through mills, however, its list of uses has grown over time. The trapdoor has played a pivot ...

rifle.

Description

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 The Springfield Model 1865 was an early breech-loading rifle manufactured by U.S. Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was a modification of the Springfield Model 1861. It was later replaced with the Springfield Model 1866. Description Dur ...

rifle. The .50-70 Government cartridge became the official cartridge of the U.S. military until replaced by the .45-70 Government in 1873. The .50-70 cartridge has a pressure limit of 22,500 PSI. 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 : *

Caliber In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore ma ...

: .50 *Powder

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aq ...

: black powder *

Bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. Bullets are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax. Bullets are made in various shapes and ...

weight: The

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnag ...

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 A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges. The smaller size and lighter ...

chambered for a reduced load version which was officially produced for use only in carbines, using a shortened .50-70 with a bullet and of black powder. The U.S. Army ordered both rolling-block rifles and carbines in caliber .50-70 and made some rolling blocks at their

Springfield Armory The Springfield Armory, more formally known as the United States Armory and Arsenal at Springfield located in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, was the primary center for the manufacture of United States military firearms from 1777 until ...

facility in this caliber. The U.S. Army also had a large supply of

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

-fired Sharps carbines at the close of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government poli ...

and had the Sharps Rifle Company convert about 31,000 of those to caliber .50-70 for

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light 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 through 1873. After 1873, with the advent of the .45-70 cartridge, the Army declared the .50-70 to be surplus, and while some rifles 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 William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but he lived for several years ...

used a Springfield Model 1866 in caliber .50-70 while hunting buffalo to feed the track workers of the

Kansas Pacific Railway The Kansas Pacific Railway (KP) was a historic railroad company that operated in the western United States in the late 19th century. It was a federally chartered railroad, backed with government land grants. At a time when the first transcontin ...

. General George Custer was known to have had and used a sporterized rolling block in caliber .50-70 and was believed to have had it with him at the

Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, N ...

. As Army General

Philip Sheridan General of the Army Philip Henry Sheridan (March 6, 1831 – August 5, 1888) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close a ...

had embarked on a plan to eliminate the bison during the course of the

American Indian Wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were fought by European governments and colonists in North America, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settle ...

, 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 (and later .50-90, .50-110, etc.) and 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 300-1000 Lakota

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota: /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations peoples in North America. The modern Sioux consist of two major divisions based on language divisions: the Dakota a ...

Indians during the Wagon Box Fight.Keenan, Jerry. The Wagon Box Fight, Boulder, CO: Lightning Tree Press, 1990, p. 22 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 caliber of .50-70 still enjoys some use and popularity with sportsmen and cowboy action shooters. Reloaders have experimented with a variety of bullet weights from 425 to .

References

External links

Gaining respect for the .50/70 Government

{{DEFAULTSORT:50-70 Government Pistol and rifle cartridges Military cartridges Rimmed cartridges

Description

See also

References

External links