A question to be asked is why the '76 was never chambered for the .45-70 Gov't round. What I have heard repeatedly is that the toggle-link action could not handle the .45-70-405, or the government round was too long for the action. Whatever the case, Winchester requested of John Moses Browning, inventor of the single-shot HiWall, if he could come up with a rifle action that could handle the .45-70 and the 2.4" cartridges like the .45-2.4 Sharps Straight (which became the .45-90 WCF). The latter rifle may have saved Winchester's bacon because of the Marlin M1884 (I'm not sure of the exact designation). The M1886 easily transitioned into the smokeless powder age, chambered for the .33 WCF, and, with some slight modifications the M71 in .348 WCF.