doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Double Rifles, Paradox Guns & Gauge Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Reilly .500 3" BPE arrived this afternoon.

My friend the late Jack Wood ran Pantiles Vintage Guns.

I think the photos may be souvenirs of his safari in Africa.

Congratulations on a fine acquisition.

In my .500” BPE I found that the Lee 440gr SWC bullet for the S&W revolver worked well in Nitro for Black loads if paper patched to groove diameter.

Lovely rifles. I had it's stable mate except for the safeties. Mine also had the Paris address which I understand dated it to a narrow range. I never opened its case that I wasn't impressed, as with yours.

Mine was superbly accurate with 60 grs. of IMR-3031 and a 350 gr. hard cast bullet or, a jacketed bullet of the same weight.....which I rarely fired. It had Henry rifling. Said rifling and I never could come to an understanding when using black powder without paper patching bullets, something I am loathe to do. So, I sold it to a former employee. He has since successfully hunted with it over much of the continental US.

Beautiful rifle. I have a Reilly in 450BPE with Henry rifling. It shot very well with the first powder charge I tried, so I haven’t done much in terms of load development. Similar engraving. Mine has Damascus barrels and a dolls head extension.

I’ve been very impressed by the quality of these higher grade Reillys

Mike, that is one fine looking Reilly SxS .500 rifle. I assume this was SN 20674, the one sold at Gavin Gardner.

http://gavingardiner.com/BidCat/detail.asp?SaleRef=0049&LotRef=63

A couple of observations. The SN should date to very late 1876 or very early 1877. At that time point no Reilly rifle or shotgun that I know of had steel barrels. The label is from between summer 1887 (closure of the Paris shop) and May 1897 (closure of 16 New Oxford St.). I'd bet it was rebarreled in Whitworth steel by Reilly in that time period - late 1880's or early 1890's.

Gavin's ad said it was proofed for black powder. Does it look as if it has been rebarreled? What is the address on the rib? Could we see a photo of the barrel flats and proof marks? Many thanks. Gene

Before I bid on it I asked Gavin if the barrels were blackened damascus because I didn't believe a gun this early would have had steel barrels.

Well that is interesting!!!
-- The address on the barrels is "502 New Oxford Street and rue Scribe, Paris." The address of the New Oxford Street workshop was changed to 16, New Oxford Street in early November 1881 although a few guns continued to receive the "502". rue Scribe closed in May 1885.
-- And the SN on the barrels is xx067. . .which doesn't fit with the gun's SN (if it is indeed 20674).
-- And I don't see any Whitworth grain sheaf trademark on the barrels. (There is an "S.SM").
-- It's London proofed for Black Powder but since it's a rifle, you can't tell the exact date except it is pre 1896.
-- I don't know what the "500E' stamp means.

I'm at a loss. Is this an early non-Whitworth steel barrel refitted to 20674? What is the SN on the barrel? Is it really steel? The first Reilly Whitworth barrel was Dec 1881. Reilly first advertised them in Jan 1882. There is a shotgun from 1876 SN 19953 which looks to have steel barrels but cannot be confirmed (if so this is a full 4 years before Purdey made his first).

Super interesting for a historian and it doesn't take away the quality and beauty of the gun.
-- what is the SN on the barrels?
-- are they really steel? Any more stamps on the barrel?
-- Could we repost these questions into the main board? Not sure some of the experts look regularly at this one.

The S. Sm is S. Smith, don't know why his name is on them unless he made the barrels. The numbers match on the barrels and the receiver/trigger guard. I've looked at the barrels under different lights with a magnifier and can't see any sign of damascus or sleeving. The 500 ex would be 500 express I would think.

Mike I posted a question about your barrels on BBS and predictably Drew Hause came up with some answers.
so it looks like Reilly was using some early process steel barrels (not Whitworth) in the mid-1870's on big bore rifles. And there was a Sam Smith barrel maker working with his brother in Birmingham.

Thanks for the info.