All interesting conjecture indeed Argo44. Well you know Reilly had a presence in Paris, so did he register with the Paris Proof Facility? Did Reilly have a footprint in Liège? If so did Reilly register with the Liège Proof Facility? If not, who was his agent and how did he facilitate export? Did Reilly have a business relationship with Lambin and Compagnie, who was making some of the Comblains?? I suspect Hubert Joseph Comblain of Wandre was a prolific inventor and maybe not a true manufacturer as he had 19 weapons patents between 1854 and 1891. Comblain left the heavy lifting to the talented pool of mechanics in Liège? Why reinvent the wheel whilst they are making wheels next door?? Comblain advertised as >> Comblain Brveté à Paris<< so maybe Comblain & Reilly had a rendezvous in Paris and one or both were registered with the Paris Proof Facility. As I said Hubert Joseph Comblain and Lambin hitched their horses and filed protection periods in the mid to late 1870s for the lever-action Comblain.

Again, Henri Mangeot also hitched his horse with a Comblain, but it appears not to be Hubert Joseph but Dieudonné Joseph Comblain of Trembleur in the 1850s. So there was more than one prolific weapons inventor named Comblain.

I think I remember seeing the name >>Francotte<< coupled with the name Comblain rifle and he was very much like Reilly having his finger in everything. So they may have been an association there that allowed Reilly to get rifles to London??

Serbus,

Raimey
rse