There has been a lot of mystery concerning the 45/110 Sharps cartridge. Did or did it not exist? I have had one of those smack-myself-on-the-forehead moments. I was looking through some old catalogs of the short that would have been used by market hunters and sports hunters running from the mid-1870's through into the 1880's. On the pages showing what they had on sale in loaded cartridges was the .45 2 7/8 case after which they listed loadings using this case for different rifles. Listed for the Sharps using this .45 2 7/8 case where loads with either a 500, or a 550-grain paper patched bullet loaded with 110 grains of black powder. This is the mysterious 45/110 Sharps. You could also get this case loaded with 95, 100, and 105 grains of black powder. This same case was used to make up the .45/110 Winchester.
The 45/110 did not exist as a cartridge with this designation as a headstamp, instead, it was the .45 2 7/8 case loaded with 110 grains of black powder. It is easy to forget after 120 or so years the old black powder cartridge designation had, in many cases, very little to do with the case, so there were a bunch of cartridges with the same load, and the only thing that what different was what the cartridge was loaded for, Ballard, Marlin, Remington, Winchester, etc., Yes there was a .45/110 not as a head stamped
cartridge but as a loading for the .45 2 7/8 inch case.
The 45/110 did not exist as a cartridge with this designation as a headstamp, instead, it was the .45 2 7/8 case loaded with 110 grains of black powder. It is easy to forget after 120 or so years the old black powder cartridge designation had, in many cases, very little to do with the case, so there were a bunch of cartridges with the same load, and the only thing that what different was what the cartridge was loaded for, Ballard, Marlin, Remington, Winchester, etc., Yes there was a .45/110 not as a head stamped
cartridge but as a loading for the .45 2 7/8 inch case.
