Source: icollector.com

During the late 1870’s there were a number of Army marksmen who were interested in competing in long range shooting matches, especially the Creedmoor matches held at Long Island, NY. The U.S. Congress however could not see either the need or the funds for some long range rifle, so the Army concocted the idea of developing a ‘sniper rifle’ and authorised Springfield Armory to produce a Long Range Rifle for testing. These rifles were chambered for the 45-80-500 cartridge, which was a 2.4” case loaded with a 500 gr. bullet. It is estimated that only about 150 of these rifles were made and were made with the addition of a pistol grip, a Hotchkiss-Rifle butt plate that was wider at the top to spread the recoil when firing from a prone position, an experimental 6-groove pattern with wider grooves and narrower lands and faster barrel twist, to stabilize the heavier bullet to provide better accuracy. It was found however that the rifle was more accurate because of the heavier bullet and not the additional 10 grain powder charge. Frankford Arsenal began experimenting with the heavier 500 gr. bullet in January 1882 and shortly thereafter the ‘Cal. 45 Rifle Ball Reloading Model 1882’ using reloadable Berdan cases was adopted and the standard 45-70 service rifle was used for match shooting.