B & R Photography

So, I’m sure you have heard of the .45-70 Government which was designed in 1872 well there is a .50 caliber option that is extremely similar that was designed in 1866.

As with other cartridges of the time the naming convent follows the standard of Caliber, Powder Charge and Projectile Weight. Thus, it was named .50-70-450 which was changed to .50-70 Government.

Originally it was designed and built for the United States military. Who later replaced it with the .45-70 Government. The U.S. Navy had rolling block rifles chamber in the cartridges along with thousands of rolling-block carbines which received a reduced loading that was shorter, had less powder and a lighter projectile.

Some cool history or at least what I think is something neat is that Buffalo Bill used a Springfield Model 1866 chambered in .50-70 Government when he was hunting buffalo to feed railroad workers for Kansas Pacific Railway.

Unfortunately, I don’t have as much information on this cartridge so todays blog post is quite short. An I won’t provide ballistics at this point because I am not able to find a proper chart to pull data from. (However, I will keep looking.)

Short Notes.

Official Name: .50-70 Government. (13.1x44mmR, .50-70 Musket, .50-70 Springfield and .50-1-3/4” Sharps.)

Year Designed: 1866

Designed by: United States Military

Parent Case: Derived from the .50-60-400 Joslyn

Rifling Twist Rate: 1:26 to 1:42 inches is what I have seen listed.

Maximum Point-Blank Range: N/A

I hope you enjoyed this brief overview of the .50-70 Government and will return next week for our Cartridge of the Week series.

Please remember to always practice safe muzzle control when dealing with firearms and happy shooting.

B