Howdy
The purpose of short stroking a toggle link rifle is to take up the extra 'unused' motion of the lever so that the shooter can shoot faster. This is a very common modification in CAS shooting circles, it allows a very fast shooter to shave a few seconds off of their rifle time. Be advised that short stroking a rifle means the lever travels through less of an arc to work the action, so the amount of effort needed to work a short stroked rifle is actually increased. For this reason, when installing a short stroke kit, it is always advisable to do a complete action job, lightening the springs AND polishing the parts to remove as much friction as possible so the shooter does not suffer a disadvantage from short stroking the rifle.
There is no such thing as a 'standard' set of short stroke links. They are made by several different outfits, and some shorten the stroke more than others. After installing the links that shorten the stroke the most, some shooters have been dissatisfied with the result and have gone back to a slightly longer stroke, because of the leverage issue.
Here is a photo of three rifles with their actions opened the maximum amount. From the top they are an Uberti replica Model 1873, a real Winchester Model 1873 made in 1887, and an Uberti replica 1860 Henry. The Henry has been short stroked, the other two rifles have not.
In this photo I have piled the rifles on top of each other to show a comparison of the length of the lever strokes. The short stroked Henry is on top, the original 1873 is in the middle, and the Uberti 1873 is on the bottom. You can see the two unshortstroked rifles have their levers opened almost the same amount, the original Winchester has a stroke ever so slightly less than the Uberti 1873. The Henry short stroke is a moderate version of a short stroke. When I had the gun worked over by my favorite smith, he asked if I wanted the 'wicked' short stroke. I said no, and he put in a kit that did not shorten the stroke quite so much. With a really short stroke, the lever would have been closed even more. CAS rifles with really, really short strokes can be operated by merely flicking the fingers open without removing the hand from the wrist of the stock. I cannot do that with my short stroke. Obviously, with one of the super short strokes, the leverage has been reduced so much that unless the rifle is gone over very carefully to reduce the friction and lighten the springs, one will not have enough hand strength to operate the action by flicking open the hand.
Be advised that the angle of the full stroke of the original Winchesters varied slightly over the years. Some had a slightly longer stroke than others.
Be advised short stroke kits are often not simple drop in parts. With some short stroke kits the timing of the action needs to be adjusted or the rifle will not function properly and will jam.
Be advised that putting short stroke links in your original 1873 may require adjusting the timing so the rifle will feed properly. If this is required, you will be altering some original parts, and that may mean that the original links will no longer function properly in your rifle.
Personally, I can't fathom why anyone would want to short stroke an original Winchester. But it is your gun and your money.
P.S. Why did you stop shooting your 2nd Gen Colt? I shoot mine all the time.