.50-70 Government
TypeRifle
Place of originUnited States
Service history
In service1866–1873
Used byUnited States
Production history
Designed1866
Produced1866–present
Specifications
Case typeRimmed, straight
Bullet diameter.515 in (13.1 mm)
Neck diameter.535 in (13.6 mm)
Base diameter.565 in (14.4 mm)
Rim diameter.660 in (16.8 mm)
Rim thickness.065 in (1.7 mm)
Case length1.75 in (44 mm)
Overall length2.25 in (57 mm)
Primer typeLarge rifle
Maximum pressure22,500 psi (155 MPa)
Ballistic performance
Bullet mass/type Velocity Energy
425 gr (28 g) lead SP 1,448 ft/s (441 m/s) 1,979 ft⋅lbf (2,683 J)
550 gr (36 g) lead FN 1,375 ft/s (419 m/s) 2,310 ft⋅lbf (3,130 J)
400 gr (26 g) SP 1,849 ft/s (564 m/s) 3,037 ft⋅lbf (4,118 J)
Test barrel length: 28"
Source(s): Accurate Powder [1]

The .50-70 Government, also known as the .50-70 Musket, .50-70 Springfield, and .50-13⁄4" Sharps[2][3]) is a black powder cartridge adopted in 1866 for the Springfield Model 1866 trapdoor 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 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 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 :

  • Caliber: .50 inches (13 mm)
  • Powder charge: 70 grains (4.5 g) of black powder
  • Bullet weight: 450 grains (29 g)[4]

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 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. 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.[6]

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).

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to .50-70 Government.

References

  1. 1 2 .50-70 Govt data from Accurate Powder at the Wayback Machine (archived 2007-09-30)
  2. ↑ jestertoogmailcom, A. (2018b, April 11). (157) .50″-70 Springfield. Military Cartridges. https://militarycartridges.com/category/157-50-70-springfield/
  3. ↑ Barnes, Frank C., and Amber, John. Cartridges of the World (Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1972), p.115, ".50-70 Musket (.50 Gov't)"
  4. ↑ Col. J.G Benton, "Springfield Breech Loading Rifle Musket, Model of 1868", United States Army, 1868
  5. ↑ Remington Rolling Block Military Rifles, by George Layman
  6. ↑ Keenan, Jerry. The Wagon Box Fight, Boulder, CO: Lightning Tree Press, 1990, p. 22
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.