The .45-70 Government cartridge remains a popular choice among hunters, sport shooters, and black powder enthusiasts today, over 150 years after its introduction.

While it was originally designed as a military cartridge for use in the Springfield Model 1873 Trapdoor Rifle, it has since become a versatile cartridge that can be used in a variety of firearms, including lever-action rifles, single-shot rifles, and even some revolvers.

The cartridge has undergone several modifications and improvements over the years, with the most notable changes being the transition from black powder to smokeless powder, and the development of modern bullet designs that offer better accuracy, consistency, and terminal performance

The .45-70 Government cartridge was introduced in the United States in 1873. It was originally designed as a military cartridge for use in the Springfield Model 1873 Trapdoor Rifle, which in 1873 became the standard-issue breech-loading rifle adopted by the US Army.

The cartridge was developed by the Springfield Armory and was based on an earlier black powder cartridge, the .50-70 Government, compared to which the .45-70 cartridge offered better performance on long-range targets, a fact which American cavalry units had the opportunity to verify extensively during the Indian Wars, in the years 1873-1890.

The .45-70 cartridge featured a shorter case and a larger bullet than the .50-70, which made it easier to load and more effective against targets at longer ranges.

The name "45-70" refers to the caliber of the bullet (.45 inches) and the weight of the powder charge (70 grains). The original bullet was a lead round-nosed design that weighed 405 grains and was propelled by a black powder charge.

The .45-70 Government cartridge quickly became popular among hunters, settlers, and law enforcement officers, due to its reliability and effectiveness against a variety of game and threats. It was also used by many famous historical figures, such as Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders, who used the cartridge during the Spanish-American War.

Along its long life, the.45-70 Government cartridge has been chambered in practically any kind of lever-action and single-shot rifles, and even some revolvers. And obviously, it remains a preferred cartridge in many brands of modern historic replicas rifles manufactured by Uberti, Pedersoli, Chiappa, in models like Winchester 1886, Sharps rifles and carbine, Remington Rolling Block, Winchester Single Shot, and of course, Springfield Trapdoor rifles and carbines, the models for which the cartridge was first developed.

The .45-70 Government cartridge is a centerfire rifle cartridge developed in the late 1800s for the Springfield Model 1873 rifle, which was the standard U.S. military service rifle at the time. It has since been used in a variety of rifles, including the Marlin Model 1895 and the Ruger No. 1.

The accuracy of a rifle depends on various factors such as the quality of the rifle, the ammunition used, and the skill of the shooter. In absolute terms, the .45-70 Government is not a precision cartridge like some of the more modern calibers and ammunition available today, but within 200 meters it is anyway capable of very good accuracy.

Generally speaking, in a high-quality rifle with a well-tuned sighting system the maximum effective "hunting" range of the .45-70 Government cartridge with modern factory loads is typically considered to be around 300 meters, but for informal target shooting the distance can go beyond this.

The .45-70 Government cartridge was originally designed to be used with black powder, and some shooters still use black powder or black powder substitutes today, whe shooting with modern replicas of classic historic models, such as Sharps, Remington Rolling Block or Winchester rifles.

Black powder shooting can offer a unique shooting experience, and when reloaded with black powder and properly selected lead bullet designs and weights (the choice is wide!), in the hands of experienced shooters the .45-70 still proves to be a very accurate ammunition at 500 meters and beyond.