A public comment initiated by a private query
I have been informed that the text which I described as a seller's puff originated with someone whom one would expect to have known better.
I am not a Trapdoor expert - although I do have one myself, and, of course the definitive work on the trapdoor by Frasca & Hill - "The 45-70 Springfield". Where, on Page 376, Appendix F: Tables and Charts, F-1. Production Data by Fiscal Year, one can read that no carbines were produced from 1882 to 1885, as others have already stated.
But, as I pointed out in my last posts, my comments do not depend on the type of rifle. The fundamental question when evaluating any old rifle is: Do the parts look as if they grew old together?
Many people overlook this, and again and again on the forums I have seen people expounding on "whether this is the correct part for 3:15 in the afternoon of the umpteenth of Octebruary, nineteen hundred and whatever" while failing to see that those parts, as genuine and original as they might be individually, have obviously been put together at a much later date in their existence. That is why I pointedly wrote LOOK at what you SEE. For instance, that may be a genuine lock in a genuine carbine stock, but I cannot believe that they left the factory together.
My opinions are AFAICS - WAHTOIMH
As Far As I Can See - Without Actually Having The Object In My Hands
So I may well be wrong. In that case I would be grateful for corrective evidence.
But until then, I stand by my comments.