.44-40 WCF. 28" octagon barrel with full length magazine tube. SN: 1593 (mfg. ca. 1880). Blued finish, smooth walnut butt with crescent buttplate and smooth forend. Lever action tubular magazine rifle with semi-buckhorn rear sight, dovetailed German silver blade front sight and trap in butt with four-piece cleaning rods. Larger frame, typically found on the express caliber guns, with 28" barrel and weighing in at nominally 9 pounds, 6 ounces. Second type barrel marking reads WHITNEYVILLE ARMORY, CT, U.S.A. and then KENNEDY. Top of breech marked .44 CAL. C.F. Upper receiver tang with first type marking reading PATENTED/JANUARY 7, 1873 - MAY 19, 1879. Matching serial numbers on lower tang and on left side of lever, rifle was not further disassembled. Early production "S" style lever, rather than the enclosed "Winchester" type lever loop. A salty but solid example of a relatively scarce Winchester competitor that never really gained the market traction needed to compete with the "Gun that Won the West." {ANTIQUE}