Can a Highwall be chambered in .50-70?

[MOA]

@MOA - NICE who rechambered your Husqvarna 12.7?

Borchardt rifle barrel in Silver City New Mexico. Al Story an Clay. Clay did my rechambering.

[marlinman93]

Considering how rare this big .50 is as an original chambering I'd guess it's going to be impossible to find a rifle example to see how it's marked, and any old ammo boxes to see how they are marked?
I do have brass for mine that is marked both ".50-140" and some marked ".50-3.25" on the head stamp, but it's all newer brass, not period brass. Some is Bell brass, some Jameison, and some Bertram. And my RCBS and C&H4D die sets are both marked .50-140 on the boxes.
So who is right or wrong, or when it got this .50-140 designation, I don't know. But it seems to be pretty commonly used.

[marlinman93]

Got an email back from Bert Hartman, who told me he's never seen either of the two 1885's sold in the largest .50 caliber. He said the records show them marked as ".50 SHARPS 3 1/4" with the "1/4" being marked with "1" above the "4", not like my computer does it above.
He added he's never seen any original Winchester ammunition or boxes to discern how they were marked.

[Old-Win]

You should probably reread your email.

[Don McDowell]

Interesting that the 1878 Winchester catalog lists the50-70 and 50-90 as an available factory loads, but the 1916 catalog only shows the 50-70.

[Rick B]

Wikipedia article is wrong. Winchester introduced the 50-110 in 1887, the second year of production. Rifle caliber markings on the barrel were 50 Ex. 50 Ex (50-110 WCF) loadings drove a 300 grain bullet express bullet in excess of 2000 fps. This cartridge was dropped by Winchester in 1919.
Rick

[Green Frog]

Just to add a bit to the arguments, Winchester made the high wall in 20 gauge shotgun chamberings, which are roughly equivalent to 64 caliber, so the black powder versions of 50-70 or even longer cases should be no problem to use in the high wall. Modern, higher pressure 50 calibers are a whole different story.
Froggie