So when General Sheridan decided that the buffalo needed to be killed to thwart the Indians he had a good supply of needle guns and furnished them to civilians. More importantly he also furnished ammo and after the adoption of the 45-70 in 1873 the army had plenty of 50-70 ammo to give away. Why buy a Sharps and pay for ammo when you could get a rifle and ammo from the government for free?

Maybe I missed it. But did the OP confirm its a .50-70?  Remington did make .50-45 carbines too.

oneatatime wrote on Dec 14^th, 2021 at 5:12pm:

Just to clear up few misfigures, the Sharps was chambered in capable buffalo rounds in 1869 and the model 1874 was first produced in 1871.

Although we are way off original question, the carbine is .50-2 1/2'. I believe that is .50-90.

Thanks for the update Nimrod.  A .50-90 carbine will be quite a thumper.  That is much lighter than the 30" barreled Dixie Gun Works heavy rifle.  I once had an original .50-70 Sharps conversion carbine. With full load .50-70s, it thumped pretty good.  Can't wait to see photos of yours.

Looks like an 1873 to me?
My dad always said the best use of a pistol in a battle was to fight your way to a rifle.

Steve   

The remains of the rifle action (with his name inscribed on it) have been measured and have confirmed it is a 1866 Winchester Yellow Boy.

Also the 1873 never had a brass receiver.

It is well documented the rifle he held in the photo had a brass receiver.

In 1883 hide hunters were having trouble finding their prey. 
Hunts were fruitless the next year. 
Buffalo were found dead — but they hadn't been shot; they'd simply collapsed and died.
Ten federally listed diseases of concern for buffalo conservation in North America that originated from cattle.

anaplasmosis
anthrax
bluetongue
bovine spongiform encephalopathy
bovine brucellosis
bovine tuberculosis
bovine viral diarrhea
hemorrhagic septicemia (outbreaks have occurred in the past)
Johne’s disease, and
malignant catarrhal fever

Of these, hemorrhagic septicemia and malignant catarrhal fever pose the most immediate threats to buffalo.

From Wikipedia.

Jerry Potts Firearms:

The last rusty remains of Jerry Potts Firearms came from the Fort Whoop Up rifle collection.

Many people believe Jerry Potts had a Henry Rifle but the pictures of Jerry with the rifle show it had a side loading port. The Henry Rifle did not have the side loading port. Jerry Pott's rifle was a 1866 Winchester Lever Action YellowBoy. The last remaining 1866 Winchester rifle part (with Jerry Potts name on it) was chambered in .44 Henry (Rimfire).

Jerry Potts also had a Top Break Auto Eject Revolver. It was a Smith & Wesson Double Action Frontier Model chambered in .44-40 Win.

Interestingly, the rifle in the photograph with it's prominently raised side plates on the receiver, appears to be an 1873 Winchester. This rifle would also fire the .44-40 cartridge, same as his revolver.