GUN FALL 2015
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/5/2015
SCARCE WHITNEY-KENNEDY SMALL FRAME SPORTING RIFLE. WHITNEY SPORTING RIFLE A884 44WCF Cal. 44 WCF Standard grade rifle with 24" rnd bbl, full magazine, nickel silver Rocky Mountain front sight & orig Whitney flat top, V-notch rear sight. Top of bbl has the marking "WHITNEYVILLE ARMORY CT. U.S.A. KENNEDY" forward of the rear sight with Cal. marking over chamber area. Lever is serpentine shaped. Mounted with uncheckered, straight grain American walnut with straight stock and crescent buttplate with trap. SN was observed on bottom of lower tang, left side of upper tang under the wood, rear face of buttstock & inside toe of buttplate. According to Flayderman''s Guide to Antique American Firearms there were about 15,000 Whitney-Kennedy Arms produced during the period 1879-1886 in both large and small frame rifles, muskets & carbines in a large variety of calibers. The small frame arms were produced in 44-40, 38-40 & 32-20. Apparently Whitney serialized their arms from 1 to about 5000 and then began a re-numbering process adding the alpha prefix such as found here. They changed the prefix at number 1000 and resumed with SN 1 under the new prefix. While these rifles were very well made and reliable, they were heavier than the competing Winchester rifles and simply never gained popularity with the buying public. PROVENANCE: The Estate Collection of Phil A. Bleakney, Jr. CONDITION: Very fine to extremely fine, all matching. Bbl & magazine tube retain about 98% crisp orig blue with only faint muzzle edge wear and a couple of small nicks. Receiver retains about 93-95% orig blue, lightly flaked on both sides and thin on the bottom with a couple of small nicks & scratches on the sides. Lever, hammer & buttplate retain dark case colors. Stock has a couple of small chips by the top tang with some minor oil staining around top tang, otherwise wood is sound and overall retains virtually all of its beautiful factory piano varnish finish with light nicks & scratches and a series of small nicks on the forearm. Mechanics are fine. Brilliant shiny bore shows very little use with virtually all of its orig finish on bolt face & carrier. 49059-112 JR (7,000-10,000)