Lighter .40 caliber Sharps black powder cartridge for medium game and target use; the bottlenecked version was popular with hunters preferring the .40 bore for deer-sized game.
Type: Rifle
Introduced: 1869, United States
Parent case: .40 Sharps family
Standardization: Proprietary
Bullet diameter: 0.406" (10.31 mm)
Rim type: Rimmed
Primer: Berdan Large Rifle
Production status: Discontinued
Also known as: .40-50 Sharps Straight · .40-50 Sharps Necked · .40-50 BN · .40-50 SN
History: The lightest of the .40 Sharps family, the .40-50 was chambered in Sharps single-shot rifles for deer hunting and target use. Like the .40-70, it came in both straight (SN) and bottlenecked (BN) versions. Less powerful than the buffalo-hunting calibers, it was favored by hunters who valued lower recoil for smaller game.