Sharps black powder cartridge for target shooting and medium game; came in both straight and bottlenecked versions, a popular Creedmoor-era long-range choice.
Type: Rifle
Introduced: 1872, 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: .40-70 Sharps Straight · .40-70 Sharps Necked · .40-70 BN · .40-70 SN
History: A mainstay of 1870s long-range shooting competition, the .40-70 Sharps was chambered in Sharps single-shot rifles for Creedmoor-style matches and medium game hunting. The bottlenecked version gave slightly better velocity than the straight case, and both were popular through the early 1880s.