Factory loads manufactured by any of the Sharps companies were mostly hand-loaded which made them expensive to produce.

All rifles made for the .50-90 Sharps should be able to use the .50-110 and .50-100 cartridges due to the case dimensions being nearly identical.

As a result, the cartridge became immediately popular with the professional buffalo hunters on the Western plains.

At the time of its invention, there were no special powders or bullet types, and the knowledge of ballistics was fairly limited.

[3] Billy Dixon used a Sharps .50-90 at the Second Battle of Adobe Walls on June 27, 1874, to make his legendary 1,538-yard (1,406 m) shot.