Ken, you asked if Reilly sold complete Westley-Richards. Here are a couple of advertisements which indicate he did:

. . . 1871 Black's Cornwall Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Portion of) 1882 Bradshaw Guide to GB and Ireland.


The 1871 ad must be mid 1871 just before or right after the gun was officially adopted because Reilly is advertising "Henry-Martini". The Martini-Henry was adopted officially in Summer 1871 and the first Reilly newspaper ad for "Martini-Henry"'s for sale I've found is November 1871...I've dated SN 17314, the only serial number Reilly Martini I've found, at Jan 1872.

You'll notice both ads mention several different type of guns he was selling. Now it can get tricky. For instance, he numbered a few Sniders...but if he did not build the gun, he didn't number it. I've only found one serial numbered Martini-Henry SN 17314 (very early) because the Enfield factory insisted on sending over all the parts for assembly when one was ordered (and there are a lot of Reilly Martini's in various calibers around) Etc. Thus I think he did both with Westley Richards - he sold complete guns (not serial numbered); and he sold his own guns based on the WR action (serial numbered).

As for the three SN 303xx Reilly guns with WR actions above, I feel confident in saying he built these - there is an unmistakable balance and look to them.

Last edited by Argo44; 12/11/18 05:47 PM.
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