By the end of the 1860's, self contain metallic-cartridges were still in a preliminary stage of development. Though breechloading longarms capable of handling the rimfire cartridge were issued in limited numbers throughout the American Civil War, the Ordnance Department recognized the value of such arms going forward in the post-war era. With development of such cases, the rimfire cartridge gave way to the first "center-fire" cartridge chambered in the Springfield Model 1866 Rifle.
The Edwin Martin primed .50-70 would only be produced by both Frankford Arsenal and U.M.C. for a short time, as the Benét-Primed Cartridge made its debut in 1868. The system named after the then Assistant Chief of the Ordnance Bureau went on to be incorporated in other military cartridges that followed up to 1885. The system serves as a footnote in the annuals of the development of cartridges as a viable transitional development between early centerfire cartridges and the military’s first true centerfire cartridges.