Featured in this lot we have a Whitney-Kennedy Lever Action sporting rifle chambered in .44-40 caliber. Made by the famed Whitney Arms Company in Connecticut, the Whitney-Kennedy repeating rifle was one of the finest lever action rifles of the early cartridge period and was a direct competitor of Winchester and Marlin. The company goes all the way back to when famed inventor Eli Whitney began making the Model 1798 flintlock Musket on contract for the government of the United States. Norm Flayderman writes in his classic work Antique American Firearms, Eli Whitney and the company that bore his name are as familiar to collectors as Colt, Smith & Wesson and Winchester. There is no disputing Whitney's stature among American arms manufacturers and inventors. No other American gun maker produced such a broad range of arms over as many historic and important eras as did Whitney. The name appeared on many models and styles from the earliest American flintlocks to lever action repeating rifles and included a host of handguns from percussion to breech-loading metallic cartridge types. The Whitney-Kennedy lever action repeating rifle was made from 1879-1886 and was considered one of the strongest and smoothest rifles of its type. Only approx. 15,000 of all types were manufactured before production ceased. The earliest rifles had the S-Lever which was changed to the more familiar loop style seen on most lever action rifles to this day. Whitney-Kennedy rifles were made in small frame size (for the Winchester 1873 cartridges .32-20, .38-40 and .44-40) and large frame size (for the Winchester 1876 cartridges .40-60 to .50-90). Both frame sizes were made in the sporting rifle style, carbine and military musket. Considering frame sizes and different styles of arms, any kind of Whitney-Kennedy lever action firearm was a very limited production rifle. Since all of the production of this rifle was made during the Frontier Period, most of these robust arms saw hard service in the Western United States. The Whitney-Kennedy was considered such a superior weapon that in 1888 Winchester Repeating Arms bought out the entire company and ceased production of all Whitney arms! Today, surviving specimens are few and those encountered on the collector market usually show very hard use and often abuse. The barrel top is correctly and clearly stamped WHITNEYVILLE ARMORY. CT. U.S.A. KENNEDY .44 CAL" is also stamped on the barrel top ahead of the receiver. The upper tang is stamped with correct various patent dates ending with an August 12, 1879 stamping. Overall the rifle shows a warm patina and wear across the stock due to use and age. Mechanically the rifle shows a smooth action and working trigger. The piece weighs 9lbs 10oz. Serial Number: 815. This firearm qualifies as an Antique, and does not require FFL Transfer or NICS Background Check.