FALL 2019 GUNSOFTHEOLDWEST 79
Designatedthe.45-70-500,thiscartridge
wasloadedwith 70 grainsofblackpowder
anda 500-grainleadbullet.Later,because
ofrecoilcomplaintsfromsoldiers,itwas
re ducedto 55grainsanda 405-grainlead
bullet.Nowdesignatedthe.45-55-405,it
couldbeusedinallriflesandcarbines.
It’sbeenmorethan 120 yearssincethe
introductionofthe.45-70,andit’sstillgoing
strong,servingasa modernmedium-range
sportingcartridgeforshootersandhunters.
Ubertiandothersproducestrongactionsfor
smokeless-powder.45-70Governmentcar-
tridges,butmodernshootersshouldkeepin
mindthatsmokelesspowderdidnotexistin
1873.Modernsmokeless.45-70ammunition
is loadedwellunderthemaximumpressureof
28,000copperunitsofpressure(CUP)andis
safeforolderrifles,asthisloadsimulatesthe
highest-pressureblackpowderloadusedatthe
time.It is stillrecommended,however,that
youhaveyouroriginalriflecheckedbya com-
petentgunsmithtomakesureit’ssafetofire.
Aboonofthe.45-70is thatit’ssuch
a flexiblecartridge.Youmayloadupor
downandfireothersimilarcartridges,
suchasthe.45-60,givingyougreatversa-
tility.Whichbringsus to thefirstUbertiI
gotmyhandsonforthisarticle.
Thecompanycurrentlyoffersfourdif-
ferentreplicasofthe 1874 Sharps,butI
testedanolderCavalryCarbinevariantin
.45-70Governmentwitha 22-inchbarrel
andwalnutfurniture.Thecasehardened
leverandframepairnicelywiththeblued
steelbarrelandbuttplate,makingfora
beautifulrifle.Ifyou’rea truefanofthe
Sharpsplatform,youwillfindanUberti
replicalikethisveryhardtoputdown.
H r r r
Benjamin Tyler Henry was born on March
22, 1821, in Woodstock, Vermont. He
worked as a foreman at Oliver Winchester’s
New Haven Arms Company in the 1850s. His
job at the time was to make improvements to
Winchester’s Volcanic repeating rifle. It was
that work that earned him a patent on the
Henry repeating rifle on October 16, 1860.
The Henry allowed one marksman to
do what typically took a dozen marksmen
armed with muzzleloaders to do in the past.
It also came right as the Civil War broke
out, and Henrys were put into the hands of
Union soldiers by the middle of 1862. They
found great favor with civilians as well,
despite not being chambered in a powerful
cartridge. But the .44 Henry, a rimfire car-
tridge, still got the job done.
It was the Civil War that elevated the
Henry from rifle to legend, and accounts
from the battlefield praising the rifle were
numerous. At the Battle of Allatoona Pass,
Major William Ludlow stated that 16 of
his soldiers armed with Henry repeating
rifles laid down such a volume of fire that
look like the originals but offer modern performance
U
