[IronJack]

You're correct. It's a Model 1873. The octagonal barrel fooled me. And I didn't remember the 1873 having a sideplate on the receiver.

My mistake.

So it appears to be an 1873 manufactured in 1882. But that doesn't mean it's been sitting against that tree since 1882.

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

“But that doesn’t mean it’s been sitting against that tree since 1882.”

_______________________________________________________

Exactly! Someone could have left it there, for whatever reason, at some point during the 20th century. We’ll probably never know the exact year.