Thanks for posting the article from Gun Digest.
Any idea how many Peabody Sporting Rifles Providence Tool Company produced?   I can't find it, but I thought long ago had read where around 65 Sporting Rifles were produced?  Then again it could be more senile memory brain cells creeping to the front again!!

No one has a definitive answer on side-hammer sporting production.   Conventional wisdom seems to dictate 65-85 as a total number.  The actions seem to have been pulled at random from military production, as if they were testing the waters.  No doubt a few specials for company big-wigs and gifts to possible influential people.  With so many Civil War surplus arms available in the early 1870's, and a number of other companies well-entrenched in the sporting rifle business, I guess it was an upstream swim to introduce yet another brand sporting rifle in the mix, especially one with no "name-recognition" amongst the veterans of the army.  Too bad they couldn't parlay their "win" of the 1872 trials into sales this side of the pond.  Europe and the Near East sure took notice of the gun , even before the trials!