For some 30 years, I have been a huge advocate of single shot Remingtons, Sharps, Springfields, Martini Henrys and Sniders. Hunting season often finds me with one in my hands and as I encounter fellow hunters, I always get that "confused" look. Why, what? Just wondering if there are any more weird people such as I out there.

You are not alone. Not only do I shoot a 50/70 I also shoot a 577 Snider.
Rest easy

I like to hunt with single and double rifles. No 50-70 but there is always room in the gun case for one.

Unfortunately, my eyes are too old for iron sights. So I'm backing off the Sharps and other historically interesting pieces.

I am about 30 min. new to this site and sure like what I have seen. The 50-70 is a big interest to me because I have 5 different Springfield trapdoors, one is an all original 1874 rifle and the rest are guns I have assembled from parts. My most recent project is a Hawken style rifle using all Trapdoor parts a carved stock and a GreenMountain barrel. On Ebay a 50-70 receiver appeared today! Maybe I can get it and have a new project gun. Is the 50-70 receiver about the same as the 45-70? If so which parts are interchangable?

I killed a buffalo with a 50-70. The cartridge was an 1870's vintage and the rifle was an original Sharpes 1863-1868 model carbine.

I, too, enjoy these old cartridges. I have an 1873 Springfield Carbine in .45-70. I have, also a longlever Martini-Henry 577-450 (and a Martini Cadet in .310). My 50-70 is, alas, a modern gun. SSK made a 50-70 barrel for my T/C Encore.

Pete

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"Only hunting and mountain climbing are sports. The rest are just games."

Killing a Buffalo with an original vintage cartridge and rifle! Wow is that ever cool! I bet that was one day you can never forget. I see you live up at 14,000 feet! My airplane won't even go that high, guess I need to stay on the beach.

I dont live at 14,000 feet but I do live on a 14,000 foot mountain. Im a flatlander, my front porch is at 9050 feet. I would like to say I hunted the buffalo but alas no I didnt. It was a harvest.

Its always been my goal to own all three of the first buffalo calibers: 40/70; 44-77; and 50-70. I still don't have a 50-70. Wanted a Lone Star roller but with the untimely passing of Dave Higginbotham I may opt for a Shiloh.

A couple of days ago, walking the dog near my house and looking for meteorites, I spotted a cartridge case on the ground. It looked at first glance to be a 50-70, but it had no visible primer, just a firing pin imprint in the center. The head of the case was totally smooth , no markings whatsoever, except for the firing pin hit. I did some research on it, and apparently the first 50-70 cartridges were called bar primed. After a year or so of producing those, Frankford Arsenal switching to the Benet priming system in March 1868 and produced cartridges with this priming style up until 1882. Rem/UMC also produced 50-70's for the government, possibly others as well. What I found was one of these Benet-primed cases, tarnished almost black but very well preserved from the Arizona climate. It looks like a big .22 rimfire from the back, no visible primer, but these rounds had a crimp around the case about 3/16's above the rim, meant to hold the primer cup against the head of the case. It was government issue during the height of the battles with the Apache ( and the Sioux and Cheyenne further north). This round could have been fired in a skirmish with the Apache, or it could have been some old timer or kid shooting at a deer 30 years later, as army surplus rifles and ammo were used by civilians then, as now. I like to think it was the former, but a nice find none the less, and it got me to thinking about hunting or combat back in those days. It must have been very high tech then, to have a breechloader and self contained cartridge, instead of a muzzleloader, and a powerful round to boot.

I try to never litter. When I shoot in the woods I pick up my brass most times. The one exception to my rule is hunting. If I fire a round at a head of game, whether I get it or not, I leave the brass for future generations to find like SANDOG found. When hunting or wandering the woods and I find an old cartridge case, I try to date in and determine its useage. In our part of the world its mostly big game hunting. If more than a few are found I assume just some kids years ago target shooting. A single or 2 and some deer or elk most likely went into the smokehouse. When I shot my first bufflao a few years back I used an original Sharpes carbine and used a 50-70 cartridge loaded in the 1870's. As much as this pained me, I left the brass where it fell. Maybe some knowledgable soul will find it in the future and wonder if it took a buffalo. Yes it did, just 130 years later than the evidence would appear.

I love this kind of stuff, stories like these are what I search for!

The 50-70 has been my favorite for years, my first was a Garrett Arms 1873 carbine, then I picked up a 1868 trapdoor rifle, then finally a Freund Bro alteration of a New York State Remington. Several years ago, I wrote an article on the 50-70, as I had a lot of fun working up loads etc. For anyone who would like to read my article, here is the link. http://www.defenseactions.com/historyantiques/gaining-respect-for-the-5070-government

My 1872 Rolling Block was a real tack driver.I used the Lyman 454 gr slug in it.With either black or smokeless powder.It preferred the black powder loads,as the sights were calibrated for that,but 3031 would get close to the smokey stuff.Great gun/cartridge,lost it in a robbery.

A lonnnng time project for a .50-70 Peabody...26" Badger barrel, NECG sling swivels, and with the skills of those gifted in it's creation.
Haven't had the time to put it through it's paces yet.
I'll mostly use AA-5744 powder behind a 420 gr. LBT WFN type of cast bullet. Hope the picture uploads or however it gets on here.

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Well I do like and own a 1876 Cenntenial in the 50-95! I also have a bit of a mistake in a Sharps version in a 50-120. It is not as accurate as I would like it to be by a long shot.

I own a John Bodine in a Rolling block with set triggers....45/90. Also a 1874 model of the Quigley Down Under only caliber was punched out to the 45/120. Now both these rifles are very accurate down range.

I’m going to be getting a 50 Alaskan made for my TC in an Octagon from MGM.

Also on the spent brass side note, I grew up in the southern finger lakes in upstate NY (took forever to escape from NY but I made it to Alaska and call it home now), anyway, when I would shoot a deer with my NEF 12ga Single shot I would pick up the hull and slip it over a freshly broken twig on the nearest tree to mark my shooting spot. I picked that up from my friend. Some of my hulls are still in place after over 20 years. Brings back some really good memories… walking through my parents woods and seeing them still in the trees.

If you have a hankering for a .50/70, a close relative to the .50/70 is the 12.7x44r Swedish rolling block.

Simpson Ltd. - Collectors Firearms has a pile of them.

You can cut down .50 Alaskan cases to use for cartridges

Bayou Ogre

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The Bayou Ogre
aka The Honey Island Swamp Monster

Recently came up with a Peabody conversion to .50-70. Originally it had been a .50 rimfire, but a gunsmith had converted it to .50-70, changing the rimfire firing pin to a center fire pin system - rather cleaver how he did it. He then re-case colored the action. This carbine came from his estate. I'll be redoing the stock to get away from the shiney finish. Haven't worked up loads yet, but figure to use an LBT 440 gr. WFN.

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Nice looking rifle.