It appears to have been an 1894 rifle rather than a carbine.

The dovetail (that is tweaked to the left side) was to accommodate the magazine tube. How it got tweaked is anyone's guess...

In my opinion, it was like this rifle.

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

More particularly, looking at the barrel length, it was probably an 1894 Short Rifle. Not as long as the 24" barrel, but still had the magazine tube dove tail. Not nearly as many of that model were made, vs full rifle, or carbines.

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]


Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla!