Here ae my estimates of the dates of Reilly SN's guns. There are anomalies:

1). I chose 1825 as a start date and gun SN "1". Both assumptions are not proven. Allegedly Reilly was a member of the London Proof House in 1825, the reason for choosing this date. The earliest gun SN found is 169. Thus the reasoning.

2) I estimated the number of SN'd guns produced between marker dates and tried to make increases logical. That's also is not hard and fast data but subjective reasoning. For instance after the 1855 Paris Universelle, he was "overdone by orders" but I've only shown an increase in gun production of about 20.

3). I had a problem in the 1859-67 era, where, if we were to accept 13333 as having been made in early 1862 it would have meant he produced 600 guns from 1859-62, but 360 62-67, so I used the average for the whole period.

4) I assumed the decline of Reilly was pretty sharp beginning in the mid 1890's - it of course could have been later but without analysis of proof marks from a number of guns SN's 32000-35000 is impossible to say objectively; the marking of this decline is therefore subjective based on lack of ads and closing of 16 Oxford St. in 1898. Reilly targeted a specific sector of the market for his bespoke serial numbered guns - low price, quality hand-made wares, rapidly delivered; as the factories went towards mass production and steel barrels, and you could walk into a sporting gun shop and buy factory made guns off the rack, his business model just couldn't hold up.

The reasoning and research behind these numbers and a chart of history, names on gun ribs, case/trade labels, etc. will be a separate post below.

This chart of course cannot be definitive; but enough checks have come in to show that it will get a Reilly owner close to the date his gun was Serial Numbered.
EDIT: Chart has been superseded by new data...see page 17.

Last edited by Argo44; 10/11/18 04:50 PM.
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