HI wilson: you asked if they had center fire then, Yes they did, but of earlier impractical designs, including needle guns in which the primer was in the base of the projectile.
The origional 50 70 had internal center priming, but it looked like our present .22 rimfire cartridges. Later they went to Berdan, then standard priming. The 45 70, which replaced the 50 70, used the present type of priming.
The original 50 70 used the 1863 muzzle loading action, modified for breech loading, the familiar trap door action.
Both were straight walled casings. The sample shown in the picture appears to me to be a later version. Possibly Italian for reloading because the base construction and lack of armory markings.
Obviously neither were used in the civil war, but the 50 70 was Custer's main arm at the little big Horn. Unfortunately custer did not appreciate it's long range capabilities and allowed the battle to develop into a relatively short range where the lower powered Indian's repeating arms were effective. He could have halted the Indians charges out to 800 meters if he had used them as they were designed. In other words, the Indians could never have closed in. Most of their weapons would have been ineffective.
Don Jose de La Mancha
