The .45-70 rifle cartridge, also known as .45-70 Government, was developed at
the U.S. Army's Springfield Armory for use in the Springfield Model 1873, which
is known to collectors as the "Trapdoor Springfield". The new cartridge was a
replacement for the stop-gap .50-70 Government cartridge which had been
adopted in 1866, one year after the end of the American Civil War.
Nomenclature The new cartridge was completely
identified as the .45-70-405, but was also referred to as the ".45 Government"
cartridge in commercial catalogs. The nomenclature of the time was based on
three properties of the cartridge: .45: nominal diameter of bullet,
measured in decimal inches, i.e., 0.458 inches;
70: weight of black powder, measured in grains, i.e., 70 grains;
405: weight of lead bullet, measured in grains, i.e., 405 grains.
The minimum acceptable accuracy of the .45-70 from the 1873 Springfield was
approximately 4 inches at 100 yards, however, the heavy, slow-moving bullet
had a "rainbow" trajectory, the bullet dropping multiple yards at ranges
greater than a few hundred yards. A skilled shooter, firing at known range,
could consistently hit targets that were 6 × 6 feet at 600 yards—the Army
standard target. It was a skill valuable mainly in mass or volley fire, since
accurate aimed fire on a man-sized target was effective only to about 300
yards. After the Sandy Hook tests of 1879, a
new variation of the .45-70 cartridge was produced: the .45-70-500, which
fired a heavier 500 grain bullet. The heavier 500-grain bullet produced
significantly superior ballistics, and could reach ranges of 3,350 yards, which
were beyond the maximum range of the .45-70-405. While the effective range of
the .45-70 on individual targets was limited to about 1,000 yards with either
load, the heavier bullet would produce lethal injuries at 3,500 yards. At those
ranges, the bullets struck point-first at a roughly 30 degree angle,
penetrating three 1-inch thick oak boards, and then traveling to a depth of
8 inches into the sand of the Sandy Hook beach*. It was hoped the longer range of
the .45-70-500 would allow effective volley fire at ranges beyond those
normally expected of infantry fire. = Bullet diameter =
Note that while the nominal bore diameter was .450 inches, the groove
diameter was actually closer to .458 inches. As was standard practice with
many early U.S. commercially produced cartridges, specially-constructed
bullets were often "paper patched", or wrapped in a couple of layers of thin
paper. This patch served to seal the bore and keep the soft lead bullet from
coming in contact with the bore, preventing leading. Like the cloth or
paper patch used in muzzleloading firearms, the paper patch fell off soon
after the bullet left the bore. Paper-patched bullets were made of soft
lead .450 inches in diameter. When wrapped in two layers of thin cotton
paper, this produced a final size of .458 inches to match the bore. Paper
patched bullets are still available, and some black-powder shooters still "roll
their own" paper patched bullets for hunting and competitive shooting.
Arsenal loadings for the .45-70-405 and .45-70-500 government cartridges
generally used groove diameter grease groove bullets of .458 inches diameter.
History The predecessor to the .45-70 was the
.50-70-450 cartridge, adopted in 1866 and used until 1873 in a variety of
rifles, many of them percussion rifled muskets converted to trapdoor action
breechloaders. The conversion consisted of milling out the rear of the barrel
for the tilting breechblock, and placing a .50 caliber "liner" barrel inside the
.58 caliber barrel. The .50-70 was popular among hunters, as the smaller
.50 which is larger than the .44 caliber bullet, as well as hitting harder, but
the military decided even as early as 1866 that a .45 caliber bullet would
provide increased range, penetration and accuracy. The .50-70 was nevertheless
adopted as a temporary solution until a significantly improved rifle and
cartridge could be developed. The result of the quest for a more
accurate, flatter shooting .45 caliber cartridge and firearm was the
Springfield Trapdoor rifle. Like the .50-70 before, it, the .45-70 used a
copper center-fire case design. A reduced power loading was also adopted
for use in the Trapdoor carbine. This had a 55 grain powder charge.
Also issued was the .45-70 "Forager" round, which contained a thin wooden
bullet filled with birdshot, intended for use hunting small game to supplement
the soldiers' rations. This round in effect made the .45-70 rifle into a 49
gauge shotgun. The .45-caliber Springfield underwent a
number of modifications over the years, the principal one being a strengthened
breech starting in 1884. A new, 500 grain bullet was adopted in that year
for use in the stronger arm. The M1873 and M1884 Springfield rifles were the
principal small arms of the US Army until 1893.
The Navy used the .45-70 caliber in several rifles, the M1873 and M1884
Springfield, the Model 1879 Lee Magazine Navy Contract Rifle, and Model 1885
Remington-Lee Magazine Military Rifle, the last two being magazine-fed turnbolt
repeating rifles. The Marine Corps used the M1873 and M1884 Springfield in
.45-70 until 1897, when supplies of the new M1895 Lee Navy rifle in 6 mm
caliber, adopted two years before by the Navy, were finally made available.
Realizing that single-shot black-powder rifles were rapidly becoming obsolete,
the US Army adopted the Norwegian-designed .30 Army caliber as
the Springfield Model 1892 in 1893. However, the .45-70 continued in service
with National Guard and the Navy and Marine Corps until 1897. The .45-70 was
last used in quantity during the Spanish–American War, and was not
completely purged from the inventory until well into the 20th century. Many
surplus rifles were given to reservation Indians as subsistence hunting rifles
and now carry Indian markings. The .45-70 cartridge is still used by
the U.S. military today, in the form of the CARTRIDGE, CALIBER .45, LINE
THROWING, M32, a blank cartridge which is used in a number of models of line
throwing guns used by the Navy and Coast Guard. Early models of these line
throwing guns were made from modified Trapdoor and Sharps rifles, while later
models are built on break-open single-shot rifle actions.
Sporting use As is usual with military ammunition,
the .45-70 was an immediate hit among sportsmen as well, and the .45-70 has
survived to the present day. Today, the traditional 405 grain load is considered
adequate for any North American big game within its range limitations, including
the great bears, and it does not destroy edible meat on smaller animals such as
deer due to the bullet's low velocity. It is very good for big game hunting in
brush or heavy timber where the range is usually short. The .45-70, when loaded
with the proper bullets at appropriate velocities, has been used to hunt the
African "Big-6". The .45-70 has been loaded and used to harvest everything
from birds to elephant and the cartridge is still undergoing new development work
well over a century after its introduction.
The trajectory of the bullets is very steep, which makes for a very short
point blank range. This was not a significant problem at the time of
introduction, as the .45-70 was a fairly flat-shooting cartridge for its time.
Shooters of these early cartridges had to be keen judges of distance, wind and
trajectory to make long shots; the Sharps Rifle in larger calibers such as
.50-110 was used at ranges of 1,000 yards. Most modern shooters use much
higher velocity cartridges, relying on the long point blank range, and rarely
using telescopic sight's elevation adjustments, calibrated iron sights, or
hold-over. Sights found on early cartridge hunting rifles were quite
sophisticated, with a long sighting radius, wide range of elevation, and
vernier adjustments to allow precise calibration of the sights for a given
range. Even the military "creedmoor" type rifle sights were calibrated and
designed to handle extended ranges, flipping up to provide several degrees
of elevation adjustment if needed. The .45-70 is a popular choice for
black-powder cartridge shooting events, and replicas of most of the early
rifles, including Trapdoor, Sharps, and Remington single shot rifles, are
readily available. The 45/70 is a long range caliber but it
takes adequate knowledge of windage and elevation. The .45-70 retains great
popularity among American hunters for the niche it is suited for, and is still
offered by several commercial ammunition manufacturers. Even when loaded with
modern smokeless powders, pressures are usually kept low for safety in antique
rifles and their replicas. Various modern sporting rifles are chambered for
the .45-70, and some of these will benefit from judicious handloading of
home-made ammunition with markedly higher pressure and ballistic
performance. Others, which reproduce the original designs will take the original
load, but are not strong enough for anything with higher pressure. In a
rifle such as the Siamese Mauser or a Ruger No. 1 single shot rifle, it can be
handloaded to deliver good performance even on big African game.
In addition to its traditional use in rifles, Thompson Center Arms has offered
a .45-70 barrel in both pistol and rifle lengths for their Contender single shot
pistol, arguably the most potent caliber offered in the Contender frame. Even the
shortest barrel, 14 inches, is easily capable of producing well over 2,000
ft·lbf of energy, double the power of most .44 Magnum loadings, and a Taylor
KO Factor as high as 40 with some loads. Recent .45-70 barrels are available with
an efficient muzzle brake that significantly reduces the muzzle rise
and also helps attenuate the recoil. The Magnum Research BFR is a heavier gun at
approximately 4.5 pounds, helping it have much more manageable recoil.
Only with the recent introduction of ultra-magnum revolver cartridges such as
the .500 S&W Magnum have production handguns begun to eclipse the .45-70
Contender in the rarefied field of big game capable handguns.
See also 11 mm caliber other cartridges of
similar caliber. .444 Marlin
.450 Marlin .458 SOCOM
List of rifle cartridges Table of handgun and rifle cartridges
References External links
Breech-Loaders In The United States, The Engineer, 11 January 1867, on the
adoption of a military breech-loading rifle and cartridge
Shoot! Magazine article on the .50-70 cartridge