Dustin, Let me review 1880 which which I've mentioned above:

-- in 1881 Reilly made the decision to sell "off-the-rack." His Serial Numbered production jumped from 600 - 650 a year, where it had been for 12 years to over 1000 a year. How did he do this? He had two huge buildings but it seems like 650 a year was pretty much their capacity. At that point it is certainly possible he began to buy actions or guns in the white and finish them himself. His stocks and engraving remain very consistent.

-- So it's perfectly possible his business model changed about 1880...i.e. He could no longer compete with Birmingham...and I've mentioned that his military lines (Green and Comblain) and cutlery lines dried up in the 1870's and he had to find new streams of revenue. Please read the above. (I really don't think you've read anything)

-- Oh, Dustin, by 1898 Reilly was pretty much toast.

As for patents paid...they are stamped on the guns. Unfortunately few sellers publish these (Toby Barclay excepted)...I have put them in brown on the extant Reilly chart and you'll see lot's of use numbers paid to Purdey et.al. (Dustin...please read).

A Reilly "House Style"?? Dustin - really?

Anyway...as they say in the Hash House Harriers. ...."On On." I'll continue to let you know what I turn up. And Dustin....I am nutty but in a historical context - I got interested in this particular subject....I also wrote 173 papers on the Pashtun tribes along the Durrand line...it's just interesting to me.

Last edited by Argo44; 12/05/19 11:42 PM.
Baluch are not Brahui, Brahui are Baluch