. 45 - 70 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 several properties of the cartridge : The minimum acceptable accuracy of the . 45 - 70 from the 1873 Springfield was approximately at , however , the heavy , slow - moving bullet had a " rainbow " trajectory , the bullet dropping multiple yards ( meters ) at ranges greater than a few hundred yards ( meters ) . A skilled shooter , firing at known range , could consistently hit targets that were 6 × at — 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 . 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 ( 32 . 5 g ) bullet . The heavier bullet produced significantly superior ballistics , and could reach ranges of 3 , 350 yards ( 3 , 120 m ) , 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 ( 915 m ) with either load , the heavier bullet would produce lethal injuries at . At those ranges , the bullets struck point - first at a roughly 30 degree angle , penetrating 3 one inch ( 2 . 5 cm ) thick oak boards , and then traveling to a depth of 8 inches ( 20 cm ) 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 , the groove diameter was actually closer to . 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 ( see internal ballistics ) . 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 in diameter . When wrapped in two layers of thin cotton paper , this produced a final size of 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 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 hit harder ( see terminal ballistics ) 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 ( 3 . 6 g ) 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 ( 32 g ) 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 ammunitions , 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 ( 26 . 2 g ) 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 - 5 " . 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 . 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 sight s , 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 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 ( commonly converted to fire . 45 - 70 due to it being the only Mauser 98 derivative designed to feed rimmed cartridges , and the limited availability of ammunition for its original 8x50mmR chambering ) 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 ( 2 , 700 J ) 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 .