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1868 Reilly Comblain, Reilly sole manufacturers in UK:


Again this was covered on P.12. However, in view of questions about Reilly's manufacturing ability, acumen and practice, this will be posted again to drive the point home - Reilly was not your ordinary "retailer":

The 1866 Snider Enfield was regarded by the British Army only as a stop-gap until a fully dedicated breech loader could be developed and adopted. In 1867 Ordinance put out the call for a breech loader design - Ordinance had found the .577 bullet went sub-sonic at about 400 meters and was interested in a smaller caliber round with a faster muzzle velocity (see the post on the Martini Henry on p.12):

In 1867 the Belgian firm Comblain took out a patent on a breech loader. The patent presented as "Reilly-Comblain," was described in “The Engineer” of May 15, 1868 on page 347. https://books.google.com/books?id=2E5HAQ...fle&f=false



Reilly went into partnership with Comblain to try to market it to the Ordinance. The bid didn’t progress very far. Apparently the Army felt it was too similar to the Snider. The Comblain breech loader was adopted by Belgium and for 30 years by the Brazilian army. However, Reilly became the “sole manufacturers” of Comblain’s in Britain and his name is on at least seven of them that are extant.

. . . . . . . . . . 1969 Bradshaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1968 Black's Guide
Note Paris medals, appearance of the new branch at rue Scribe, Paris, addition in 1969 of "suppliers to the Emperor" to the advertisements:


Most Reilly-Comblains have only the London address-it was a British army trials after all and having a Frenchy address would not have been a plus; however one trials gun has “Paris” stamped on the butt plate. Some of the below guns were proofed in Belgium; none of them have a Reilly Serial Number on them; I don't know how many were manufactured in UK. Thus, I've concluded they were not made by The Reilly workshops in London. Some of the examples below have “E.M.Reilly & Co., Sole Manufacturers, New Oxford St London just ahead of the breech; The patent use numbers range from 25 to 5298 - and that's a lot of guns being marketed and sold by Reilly.

Patent use #25. .577 Snider, 20 1/2" barrel. The top of the action is engraved "H. HOLLAND / 98 NEW BOND ST. / LONDON", the lockplate is engraved simply "H. HOLLAND" and the breechblock is marked "REILLY-COMBLAIN / PATENT NO. / 125". A brass plaque affixed to the bottom of the stock beneath action is beautifully engraved "Reilly / Comblain / Patent / No. 25”. (I cannot explain how H&H made this gun - perhaps it was before Reilly became "sole manufacturer).





Patent use #32. .577 Reilly-Comblain rifle, serial no. 32. Blued 30in barrel, block and blade fore-sight, ladder rear-sight, the nocksform signed 'E.M. REILLY & Co. RIFLE MANUFACTURERS, NEW OXFORD STREET, LONDON', lift up lever with horizontal bolt handle mounted to the right hand side lifting and drawing out the breech-block, the block signed 'REILLY-COMBLAIN PATENT No. 32', plain colour-hardened lock signed 'E.M. REILLY & Co. LONDON’.



Patent use #???. This rifle is stamped on the barrel ahead of the breach E.M.Reilly & Co Sole Manufacturers New Oxford St., London on the lock plate E.M.Reilly & Co. London. Caliber is .577.



Patent use #5048: Reilly Comblain rifle; 30”, barrel with Birmingham proofs "25", sabre bayonet lug and typical period Enfield sights; 5-groove rifling like the 1860 or '61 Short Rifles. Chambered for the .577 Snider round. Receiver ring stamped "E.M.REILLY & Co / SOLE MANUFACTURERS / NEW OXFORD STREET / LONDON" . Breechblock stamped "REILLY-COMBLAIN / PATENT No 5048". Butt is marked with a large 3" ink stamp "PATENTED BY E.M. REILLY & Co., LONDON & PARIS".



Patent Use #5298. Fusil d'infanterie à percussion centrale, modèle E. M. Reilly ; calibre 14,8 mm ; canon poli blanc, poinçonné et signé : "E. M. Reilly & C° Sole Manufacturers new Oxford Street London" ; culasse marquée : "Reilly Comblain patent n° 5298" ; platine avant polie blanc, marquée : "E M Reilly & C° London”. (Poli Blanc = carbon steel).


Last edited by Argo44; 02/05/19 02:49 PM.
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