Dustin, we are back on familiar ground. I'll restate: You know a lot about guns; you don't know much about Reilly. I have laid out an extensive case for my "New History of Reilly." You haven't contributed much to it.

I'll ask these questions again:
-- Who told you that Reilly did not make guns?
-- Why did you believe him?
-- Have you done any research at all to confirm what you were told?
-- Can you cite one (1) article from the 19th Century press that states Reilly was only a retailer?
-- Can you tell us who made pinfire SN 10655 dated to Spring 1858 pictured above if Reilly did not do it?
-- You have maintained that you are 100% sure Reilly made muzzle loaders (but paradoxically that he had no machinery to do it with). Can you back this up?

This line has proved that virtually every assertion about Reilly made in Boothroyd and Brown is wrong. When we last had this exchange, we agreed that we'd let the market-place and the readers judge this line. They are doing so and I will continue to post the relevant information I find, and hope we can leave it at that for the moment.

In a way you remind me of New Delhi in February 1990. The Berlin Wall had fallen; the Russians had just sold E.Germany to the FRG for $10 billion dollars. Yet the East German Embassy in Delhi was hunkered down, defending the old system, locked up, spying on each other, pretending nothing had happened. I asked a Czech diplomat (communist), headed home to make a new life, what was up. He said, "Oh those German communists are like the Japanese soldiers by-passed on a Pacific Island, guns pointed out to sea, prepared to repel an American invasion, when Tokyo has surrendered."

And Dustin, I don't want to start a flame war...You've expressed your opinion repeatedly. Now, I'll continue to lay out the case for Reilly. We'll see where it takes us.

In spite of all, I don't think you dispute the date chart for Reilly serial numbers, so at least one thing might be positive for you from this line. And Reilly history can't be understood until you can date the guns. smile

Gene Williams



Last edited by Argo44; 12/05/19 09:40 PM.
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